My inspiration for this simple craft came from this Pinterest post for a Patriotic tea towel. This version involves making a patriotic handprint flag to celebrate the Fourth of July. It is a great project to do with young children.
This craft came together in just a few steps. First, gather the following materials:
Cover your worksurface with an old vinyl tablecloth or newspapers. This craft will be a little messy. Ask your little artists to don their art smocks.
Next, cut out an aluminum foil rectangle that is large enough to fit your child’s handprint. Place it in the top left corner of the cardstock or canvas.
Then, use the painter’s tape to secure the aluminum foil and add stripes horizontally across the canvas.
Squirt red paint onto a paper plate. I used acrylic paint from Apple Barrel in the color “Flag Red.”
Now, instruct your little artists to paint all of the open stripes with the red color.
I forgot to label the backs of each canvas with the artist’s name, so I quickly scrawled an initial on each tinfoil rectangle. When the paint dried, I was able to add names and dates to the back side of each board.
Allow the flags to dry fully, then remove the painters tape and aluminum foil. My son applied a heavy layer of paint, so it bled a little under the tape. I think the rougher stripe edges look good!
Next, squeeze out blue paint and grab a clean, large paint brush. We used Folk Art’s acrylic paint in the color “Cobalt Hue.”
Paint and apply each artist’s handprint to the canvas.
Use your brush to fill in any “missed” spots. My daughter had a blank spot in her palm print that filled in easily with a brush.
Finally, allow the flags to fully dry. Easy, peasy!
Putting together this post made me a little sentimental; I remembered other favorite crafts created on top of the platform of this old, Easter vinyl tablecloth:
Jackie Baird Richardson is an interior designer, editor at The WON and avid junker. Watch for her design tips and occasional crafting ideas, bringing the outdoors indoors. View all posts by Jackie Richardson
