We’re told that our barn was built in the late 1700’s, brining it 20+ years older than our house. There’s so much character in that old barn, including hand -hewn beams and reeeaaaalllllyyy old saddle hooks.
Right now our barn houses yard equipment rather than animals, however a red-breasted black bird has made a home in the loft. Still, in my book, a barn and a tire swing are the epitome of country living, and ever since we moved into our house, I have wanted to enhance the Americana feel to the outside of our barn. I wanted it to scream American country living. A great big American flag for this small town USA.
On Friday, Sean taped out the measurements for the flag, and over the weekend, I got to work.
I knew that this project was going to be a little challenging for me as my fear of heights is intense. Just looking at a ladder makes me break out in a sweat. But I had to conquer and move on. No looking down…
Since I wanted the flag to look a little old and faded, I dry brushed the paint on. I started with the white stripes.
When I was picking out the blue, I knew I needed to heed on the brighter shade as the dark red of the barn would darken up the blue. I used a Benjamin Moore (2066-10), and painted that in place.
Now the tedious part. I had to do all kinds of math to figure out the right size of the stars and the spacing. Somewhere along the way I figured out that the stars needed to be 7 inches.
I made a pattern the exact size of the blue area. I cut out the 50 stars and spaced them by eye. At this point, I had a math headache. I taped the stars in place, cut 9 inch strips, numbered each one, and then hand cut out each star with an x-acto knife.
Tedious!!
I tacked the strips in place on the barn, one at a time, and painted on the stars like you would using a stencil.
Painted. Moved the ladder. Painted. Moved the ladder.
I was so glad to paint on that last star. After I was done cleaning up my mess, I stood back and looked at that flag.
I put my hand over my heart and said the Pledge.
The flag turned out exactly how I wanted. And it brought true Americana to our barn in our small town USA.
Carolyn says
It’s perfect ! Just in time for Memorial day….
Susan says
Wonderful – I love it!
Eleanor says
I just love this!
Angela Muller says
Absolutely beautiful…..made me cry to see the finished flag. Congratulations!
Dawn Sela says
LOVE IT BROOKE!!!!! Fantastic:)
Trish Ann Silverman says
Beautiful!!!
JeanH says
Well done!
Crystal @ Serving Joyfully says
Love this!
Leanne | The Transplanted Southerner says
Wow! That is gorgeous! I remember seeing barns with writing on the roofs when traveling as a child. My grandparents had an old barn at their house, and when I sold the house I was so sad when the new owner pulled it down and burned it. The barn hadn’t been used for anything but storage in years, but it held many memories for my family.
coco says
Brooke, this flag is AMAZING! You better get ready for a magazine cover because this is THAT awesome. I can’t imagine how long this must have taken or how many times you had to move the ladder. Wow, it’s gorgeous. Great job! hugs, CoCo
Alex says
I grew up in rural Kansas and still live close to the country. Lots of barns and farms. I really like that flag too.
Heather says
Very cool! I love small town America – we live in Maine but it is rural, and very much has this type of feel to it 🙂
Kendra says
I LOVE THIS!! So cool. My family would love this….now we just need a barn!!!
Penny Rogers says
That came out amazing to say the least! I bet it was a ton of work.
Bree Courtney says
That looks fantastic and so even! MIne would be sooo crooked. Haha Well done!
marlene weber says
The Flag is amazing Brooke! Great Job!
Karen says
Just beautiful. Well done!
Thank you so much for sharing at Something to Talk About.
Karen
Debi @ Surroundings by Debi says
I love seeing things painted on old barns. From the Midwest I remember seeing this type of thing – you brought back some good memories! Thanks again for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop!
Wendy says
Love, love, love this! I can only imagine how tedious those stars must have been, but it was worth it! Looks great! I love that you said the pledge when you were done. Thanks for sharing! Now I want a barn… 🙂 Found you on #SimplySundays
Michelle Westbrook says
Love it! I live in small town usa also. And, there is a barn not too far from house that did this exact same thing. There’s a garage I think also that painted one the their roof 🙂
Thanks for linking up to the Pinterest Love weekend Pin-It Party!!
Kristen from The Road to Domestication says
SO COOL! I love how that turned out! Thanks so much for taking the time to come and link up with us over at the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again on Friday!
Karissa says
Gorgeous! Love the faded look of the dry brushing.
Angie says
Love this!!! It looks like it was original to the old barn. Very nice job!!
Rosemary Lackey says
Oh wow! I think this is great! Really like the way the red stripes are the barn color. That makes the whole thing so cohesive. I am an artist and have painted murals in my younger past. Don’t do it now because it absolutely wears me out, making me too tired to enjoy the fun of painting. So, I can truly appreciate the work that went into this, the math involved in getting those stars right, and the fact that you had to keep climbing down and moving the ladder. I get that because I’ve done it. Isn’t it worth it, though? Just beautiful . . . and definitely Americana.
Chantal Bernard says
This is so cool, what an awesome idea! Thanks for joining the Link-It To Me link party, I hope you will join us again next week!
Ashleigh says
Love this project, really wish I had the room to do this. Hope to see you link up at the Happy Home Life again!
Julie Bagamary says
This is fabulous! Great tutorial too!
Martie says
Phenomenal! I absolutely love this! I don’t think I could have stood on the ladder at all, not to mention stood on the ladder and painted anything! You are to be commended for your bravery. Lol! Beautiful job!
Sharon says
Absolutely beautiful! Love it!
Linda says
Love your flag! We wanted to do this too. And I found your blog. We just finished our flag yesterday. It makes me smile at my kitchen window!
Brooke Fedigan says
Linda, I am so happy you came across my post! Glad to hear that your barn flag came out so beautifully! Would love for you to share a photo!
Best,
B