patriotic wood tray

The American flag is such a strong graphic symbol and it’s both a meaningful and beautiful decoration. Flag artwork and symbols are obviously perfect for this time of year with July 4th coming up, Memorial Day having just passed, and also as a great dedication and remembrance for 9/11. However, the American flag symbol is something that can be used all year round.

I needed a way to display cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday party with a patriotic theme. I wanted something a little unexpected and but I also wanted it to be a piece I could use later as a possible decoration. So I decided to paint a long piece of wood and use it as a centerpiece and tray for the party cupcakes. Painted wood – love it! And so versatile. So I’m calling this project a wood tray but I think it has many uses: cupcake display, add a hook and you can hang it, or just lean it on a shelf, or add some votive candles and make it a permanent centerpiece. Whatever it’s purpose, it’s an easy project to make. It involves some painting and sanding but I went for the rustic, worn look so it’s a very forgiving painting project!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• long piece of wood – I bought a 6′ long x 5.5″ high x 0.75″ piece of knotty pine at Home Depot and had them cut it down to 54″ long.
• red, white & blue acrylic paint
• paint brush
• sandpaper or electric sander
• clear polyurethane
• pencil
• ruler

Here are the instructions:

1. Cut your piece of wood to the size you want {or have a home improvement store do it for you!} and sand the edges so they are somewhat rounded.

2. With your ruler and pencil, mark the area you want for the stars – I made this area 12″ long. Then draw lines for the stripes. I think an odd number is visually more appealing so I went with 5 stripes.

3. Paint the red and white stripes and be sure to continue the paint around to the edges. You could use painters tape to make the edges clean but I like the more natural look of freehand painting. Plus I have a helpful tip on painting straight lines: don’t look at the spot your painting, look just ahead of it. You hand will follow your eye and stay more straight. This tip applies to drawing and cutting too. You’re welcome!

4. Let the stripes dry and paint the blue area. Then decide how many stars you want. You could do so many different configurations for the stars: one big star, 2, 3, have them in a grid, a circle…and so on. That’s what’s so great about the image of the American flag – it’s recognizable even if it’s not an exact replica. I went with 8 stars and hand drew them old school. This was the best way for me to make the stars look real. I just drew top and base lines as guides. You could also go online and print out a picture of a star, trim it out and use it as a template. Yeah, that would have been much easier.

5. Paint the stars white. Let dry and touch up an additional spots as needed and erase any pencil marks.

6. Then admire your mad painting skills….

7. Here’s the tough part: Use your electric sander or regular 80 grit sandpaper and sand all that goodness down so that it looks antique. This takes some courage to “ruin” what you just created but you’ll love how it looks. I like to make one or two areas look really worn and then just go lightly around the other areas. I also sand the paint off most of the edges too. I told you it was very forgiving.

8. Once you have sanded the tray to how you like it, paint a coat of polyurethane on to protect it. When dry, display as you wish! I added some store bought cupcakes so I could show you how it will look for our party. But I’m having my super-talented niece make the cupcakes for the real celebration so it will look so much better with her creations! But you get the idea and I really like how the cupcakes look running down the tray. It’s perfect for a party where everyone can see and pick their own cupcake right in front of them!

So I’m using this painted board as a centerpiece/tray/party decoration but after the party I might lean it horizontally on a shelf as a nice design element or just stand it up against a wall in our entry way. I love projects with multiple uses – and I just love flags! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and have a wonderful weekend and lovely Father’s Day!

If you’re interested, check out these related posts:
flag art print – free download
patriotic wind catcher
father’s day DIY gift idea