Don’t just have a July 4th BBQ, have a July 4th BBQ with Crafts! Before the fireworks, gather your family and friends around and make these awesome DIY Craft Stick American Flags.
What You’ll Need to Make Your DIY Craft Stick American Flag
- 33 Craft Sticks
- Glue
- Red, White, and Blue Acrylic Paint
- Black Sharpie
- Kraft Paper (to protect your painting surface)
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
Step 1: Prepare Your Working Space
Layout your Kraft Paper or anything you have that’ll protect your painting surface. Squirt out about a teaspoon of Red, White, and Blue Acrylic Paint. Have your Craft Sticks at hand (we used 4 1/2″ craft sticks, but you can use jumbo ones if you wanted a bigger flag).
Step 2: Paint Your Craft Sticks
Grab 10 Craft Sticks and paint them red.
Grab 9 Craft Sticks and paint them white.
Grab 7 Craft Sticks and paint them blue.
Step 3: Let Your Craft Sticks Dry
This step is self-explanatory but here’s a nice little photo of them drying in action!
Step 4: Cut the Tips Off Your Craft Sticks
All your Craft Sticks will need to have one straight edge. So, grab your Scissors and start cutting off just the tip or the rounded part of one side of every Craft Stick.
Make sure you’re just snipping the tip so the Craft Sticks are still even with each other.
Step 5: Glue Your Craft Sticks Together
Grab one of the unpainted Craft Sticks and cut one of the rounded edges straight.
Next, squeeze a thin line of Glue down it.
Carefully place the rounded end of the blue Craft Sticks on the Glue and press down firmly.
Continue until the unpainted Craft Stick is covered. You’ll use all the blue Craft Sticks. Once you’ve glued all them to the unpainted Craft Stick, alternating red and white. Below the blue Craft Sticks, you’ll have 3 alternating red Craft Sticks and 3 alternating white Craft Sticks.
The unpainted Craft Stick will be just shy one red stripe / red Craft Stick. Grab another unpainted Craft Stick, cut the tip off and put Glue on the end of it to stick it to part of last white Craft Stick and to stick on the last red Craft Stick.
Step 6: Let it Dry
As you may notice, this is only half of the flag. Don’t worry, we’ll finish the other half once this part dries. So, set it aside for a few minutes or until the glue dries.
Step 7: Add Support
Next, grab another unpainted craft stick. Squeeze glue down it and press it down firmly behind the painted craft sticks you just glued down. Make sure half of the unpainted craft stick is sticking out from behind because you’ll also be using this stick to glue the other painted craft sticks.
You’ll need another unpainted craft stick to support the rest. If you cut it first, the craft stick will split. So, glue it down first. Cut the excess off later.
Step 8: Glue Down Rest of Your Painted Craft Sticks
Start by laying the straight edge of a red craft stick onto the glue and press down firmly. Continue this process alternating red and white craft sticks.
Step 9: Let it Dry
Put it aside again and let the glue dry.
Step 9: Add Support
Grab another unpainted craft stick, squeeze a line of glue on it and press it firmly on the back of the right side of your finished craft stick American Flag.
Step 10: Add Support to American Flag “Pole”
Grab two unpainted craft sticks, squeeze a thin line of glue down both of them and stick them to the back of what is the “pole” of your American Flag.
Step 11: Paint Stars
While the rest of your craft sticks are drying, you can now paint the stars. To make this simple, I just paint little round circles with white paint. Otherwise, it can get pretty tricky and pretty sloppy.
Step 12: Write Out the 13 Original Colonies
The 13 stripes on the American Flag represent the 13 British colonies that declared independence from the U.K. becoming the first 13 states of America. These include New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia,
Write each of these on a stripe on your American Flag with your sharpie.
Step 13: Write Out State Abbreviations on Stars
The stars on the American Flag represent the states of our country. Write the abbreviation for them in each star (white circle) with your sharpie.
Make sure you cut the excess craft stick off too.
These last two steps is an awesome way to teach your child about the history of the American Flag and the importance of our Independence Day. It’s also a great way for them to learn all 50 states and their abbreviations.
This DIY Craft Stick American Flag project is not only a perfect July 4th Craft but one that can be used time and time again and I hope you love it and find it as a useful learning tool!
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Who’s Econocrafts? Econocrafts is a manufacturer of unique and exciting arts and crafts kits and hobby supplies. They sell to Schools, After-School, Camps, Recreation Centers, Nursing Homes, Hospitals, Government Agencies, and crafters all over the world. From the classroom to your home, for a party to a DIY project, Econocrafts has everything you need to keep you creatively entertained.
Written by: Amanda Kearns
Amanda attended Columbia College Chicago where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism. She happily accepted a job in the sunshine state of Florida, where she worked for many years blogging, editing, and managing mostly legal content. She now resides in South Carolina with her beautiful son and loving husband.
In her free time, Amanda loves to stay active whether it be at the gym, hiking, or throwing around a baseball. She’s also a big DIYer. In fact, much of the artwork and design elements in her house were created by her and she’s even made some of her own clothes!
