red, white and crafty

This USA flag project can be quick for your kid but requires a bit of work on your end...depending on how you want to do it! 

I made a stencil out of a piece of black craft paper and then cut out the shapes with an X-acto knife. I am not anywhere near a perfectionist so I eyeballed the lines and used a ruler to sort of make them straight. If you are looking for perfect you can get that with some more effort...I just wanted to finish drinking my coffee.

You don't even have to make a stencil! Use some painters tape or washi tape, something that easily peels off the paper when you have finished painting.

Once your less than perfect stencil is cut out tape it down to a white piece of paper with some tape that is easy to remove. Also, tape that piece of paper to some other paper or material you don't mind destroying. And then tape that material to your surface. You'll thank me later.

Now the fun part, painting everything in.

There are so many possibilities for the stars, a qtip dipped in white paint, stickers, stamps, drawn on with a white pencil or crayon, anything that vaguely resembles a star works. I glued a small wooden star to a clothespin and let my kid dab away to give the idea of stars. This was his favorite part, along with destroying the makeshift stamp which is why I have no photo of it. 

If you are feeling festive and want to vacuum, add some glitter! I was not feeling festive.

The end result is really cute, kind of messy and imperfect, just like my life :-)

If you peel the stencil off carefully you can reuse it to make multiple flags. My four year old was done after one flag but I'll save it for later because four year olds forget nothing. Happy Fourth of July and happy crafting!