Americana Patriotic Bunting

I love, love, love to decorate my home for the different seasons!  Come summertime, when our Patriotic Holidays roll around, I like to decorate with the traditional red, white & blue.



Inside…and outside!



This year, I wanted to add some Patriotic Bunting to my outdoor decor.   Trouble is, I’m too cheap to go out and buy it (have you SEEN the price of nice fabric bunting?)!  So I decided to ”fake” my own using an old Queen Size Bed Dust Ruffle I picked up at a yard sale for $0.50 and a couple of cans of red and blue spray paint!





First, I cut the fabric right down the center, also removing the bottom edge of the ruffle.



Next, I took some painter’s tape and roughly made stripes across the ruffled part of the fabric.



Then, I used the painter’s tape to create various primitive-style starts on the flat part of the fabric.



I took the ruffle outside and gave it a good spray with red and blue spray paint.



Here’s the result.  I left it to dry for about 3 hours.  I guess spray paint takes a little longer to dry on fabric.



I removed the painter’s tape to reveal the unpainted stars and stripes underneath.



Next, I glued a piece of twine under the top of the fabric using Fabri-Tac to give it some stability and to neaten the rough edge.

 

I then pleated and gathered each end of the bunting with twine and tied it with a primitive bow.



Finally, I tied either end of the bunting to the railing on my front porch.  I then took some additional twine and gathered up two center parts of the bunting to make it appear scalloped.

 

It’s a rather Primitive Americana version of Patriotic Bunting, but I think it goes well with my other decor!

The Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:

Fake Patriotic Bunting, 3 Ft x 6 Ft (Dust Ruffle $0.50, Spray Paint $2.00)

Total Fake-It Cost: $2.50

Purchased Patriotic Bunting: This one is $16.95 on www.unitedstatesflag.com


…and this one is $22.99 on www.unitedstatesflag.com


I figure that mine is somewhere in-between the two!

Total Fake-It Yourself Savings: $14.45/$20.49


**If you liked this, check out my other Crafts!**