I absolutely love celebrating Independence Day with my family. I also happen to adore patriotic decorations too which means I love a good 4th of July craft. Military service runs very deep in my family and I love the ability to make things and create things that help celebrate that. I also LOVE taking regular old household items and making them fit into that decor that I’m looking for. Take this this Stars and Stripes Flower Planter for instance; using a regular terra cotta flower pot, you can very easily create an awesome piece of home decor that fits multiple holidays and will stay well within your budget! It works perfectly if you’re looking to have a kids/Mom craft day! You could do a themed 4th of July craft day together! You can make the planter and your kids can make our Kids 4th of July Button Flag! Finish the day off with our Red, White and Blue Mini Cheesecakes and you’ve got an amazing day spent with the family!
This easy 4th of July craft is perfect for anyone that wants to show their patriotism and looks great enough to be used any time of the year. Not only is it great during the 4th of July season, but it works well for Memorial Day and Veterans Day too. It’s also versatile enough that if you wanted to make it kid friendly, you could use mini terra cotta pots and give each child their own to finish.
4th of July Craft – DIY Stars & Stripes Flower Planter
When you make this Stars and Stripes flower planter, keep in mind that the finished look really is up to you. If you would like it to have a weathered look, simply do one coat of paint instead of two. If you would like your 4th of July craft to look super polished, take the extra time to make it look super spiffy. In my case, I wanted a weathered look so I wasn’t too concerned with drawing lines to perfection, etc.
Having lived in apartments most of my adult life, I am pretty new to learning how to landscape a yard on a budget so I love that I can use different crafts such as this one to create the look that I am going for. Easy craft ideas like this one are a great way for anyone who is looking for a few landscaping tips for beginners to give their yard that pick me up they’ve been looking for without costing an arm and leg.
You Will Need:
- Terra Cotta Pot
- Red Acrylic Paint (I used an all purpose acrylic in tomato red)
- White Acrylic Paint (I used Apple Barrel Snowflake)
- Blue Acrylic Paint (I used Apple Barrel Cobalt Blue)
- Foam paint brush
- Small Paint Brush
- Foam Star Stickers
To start, I made sure to that my pot was clean and dry then added the star stickers in a random pattern around the rim of the terra cotta pot. I used a thick, foamy 3-D star sticker because I wanted them to pop instead of just appearing to be painted on. If you want yours to have a flat appearance, use a flat sticker.
Next, paint the lower half of the pot with the white paint and let it fully dry. Once it’s dry, go ahead and give it a second coat if you want. If you want a sort of distressed look, keep it to one coat so a bit of the pot shows through. The paint should dry quickly which means you really shouldn’t have much downtime between this step and the next one.
Next, use the foam paint brush to create a red stripe right under the rim. If you are worried about your lines being straight, use painters tape or masking tape to help guide them. It really isn’t necessary though since the foam brush has a steady line that will help. Your lines don’t have to be perfect. That is part of the charm of this project!
Once you have the top red stripe done, do a second solid red stripe around the base of the pot. Again, your lines don’t need to be perfectly straight unless you want them to be.
Once I had my top and bottom lines painted it was easier to create the middle lines. Go ahead and paint them on making sure to leave a white stripe in between each red one. Again, I wasn’t too concerned with perfectly straight lines, but if you are, you’ll want to take the time to create them. Allow the paint to fully dry.
Once the red stripes were dry, I painted the entire rim blue right over top of the stickers. I also painted around the rim of the inside of my pot. Painting the inside rim will give the top of your terra cotta pot a bit more depth. Don’t worry about painting over the stars since you will be painting over them in the next step. By painting over them with the blue, you are making sure that each one is fully painted right up to the edges. This will keep the pot from showing through.
Once the blue has fully dried, grab a small paintbrush and paint each of the stars white. Again, they don’t need to be perfect unless you want them to be.
Allow your flower planter to fully dry and spray it down with a coat of clear coat. This will make sure that the paint doesn’t run or fade if your flower planter happens to get wet from rain. After everything is dry, grab your favorite potting soil and plant your favorite flowers! Your Stars and Stripes flower planter looks fantastic on the porch or anywhere you might plant flowers!
*Originally Published June 2015 – Updated June 2018