Patriotic Decor from Dollar Tree Sign

Hello friends! I am sharing a new Dollar Tree craft that I am super excited about! What gets me super excited? Fun, cute and easy DIYs that are…(pause for added drama)

CHEAP!

For this, you could only get cheaper if it was free because I used extra wood we had around the house, three Dollar Tree signs and craft supplies.

Donnie had a 2×4 that I asked him to cut into three sizes: 1 foot, 9 inches and 5 inches. I used a hand sander with 120 grit paper to sand it. I wasn’t looking for it to be perfectly smooth but did a good sanding to remove the splintered edges and to avoid any rough areas.

I painted each wood block a different color. I used regular craft paint for this. Two coats covered the blocks well but I did paint the white block three times so it didn’t look so streaky. I took the blocks back outside and lightly went over them with the sander and wiped the blocks with a paper towel.

Here’s where our Dollar Tree sign comes in…

I removed the sign from the flowers and then pulled the flower apart. Wire cutters were used for this.

I did not like the blob of white on the blue flower so I spray painted each of those with my own royal blue spray paint to try to reduce/eliminate the white center.

I just shared how I made a wood pallet into an American flag HERE. I used the same flowers from Dollar Tree to decorate around the flag. These came on a metal stick to put in the ground and didn’t have a white center. When I went back to DT to buy more, only the hanging signs were left. If you find the ones with the metal sticks at your store, I’d recommend getting them.

Also, I did not want the same color-on-color when I put the flowers on the blocks so I spray painted a few other flower pieces. (At this point I probably am confusing you so feel free to scroll down and see the finished product so you’ll know where I’m heading with this…)

For the next step, I pulled out my Cricut. If you don’t have a Cricut, this step can be completely eliminated OR you could purchase alphabet stickers from the craft store. I printed the words “red”, “white” and “blue” in lowercase using a font that looks like a typewriter. I used black vinyl.

I used a weeder to remove everything but the lettering. Using contact paper from Dollar Tree, I lifted the letters by pressing them to the contact paper and then applied the letters to the top of each wood block. I am very new to the Cricut. This was my first unsupervised time with the Cricut so I kept it very very basic. I even surprised myself that I was able to make this on my own. I have let that machine intimidate me for months so I am now taking baby steps with it.

Needing a little added texture to this piece, I pulled out some twine and wrapped it in a semi-neat way around each block, tied it in the back and placed a small amount of hot glue at the knot for stability.