How to make a Patriotic Wood Shutter

With Independence Day being my favorite holiday, the desire to decorate my house has overtaken me. Shutters are a relatively easy decoration project, but if you are a perfectionist like me, it will still take some time.

Materials

• Shutter

• Sandpaper or sanding block

• Paint brush

• Paper plate or paint palette

• Painters tape

• Red, Blue, and white Paint. Green paint optional (see Step

• Clear coat paint

• Magic Eraser (optional)

• Paper towels

I had this shutter left over from when we installed shutters in our bedroom and this one was broken. I saved it for a project, I just hadn't decided what I wanted to do with it.

Step 1: Clean your shutter.

Since my shutter was over 10 years old and has been sitting outside, it was very dirty and needed to be washed.

Additional Materials

• Sponge

• Bucket

• Soap

If you bought a new one, then skip this step.

Step 2: Sand your shutters. My shutter was painted and sealed, so I needed to sand down the paint a little to make sure the new paint I added stayed. If you bought a new one, I will still sand it down to make sure there are no frayed edges.

Step 3: Wipe down your shutter with damp paper towels. Make sure all sanding and foreign material is removed from the surface so the paint adheres to the shutter.

Step 4: Decide what shutters you want to paint red, white and blue. I decided to paint every 2 shutters red and white. The center piece in the middle I left white.

Step 5: Using the painters tape, tape off all the areas you do not want paint. I mean, every area! It is easy to remove tape, it is harder to remove paint.

Don't forget to tape off the back of the shutters if you do not want to paint that too.

Step 6: Paint your top section blue. I had to do a few coats to make sure it was as dark as I wanted.

Step 7: Print a large star and cut it out.

Here is a start template for your convenience. See below.

star template.pdf

Download PDF • 4KB

Step 8: Using painters tape, tape off the area around the star to make a stencil.

Step 9: Remove the paper start and paint the center white.

Step 10: Once the white paint is dry, remove the painters tape around the star.

Step 11: Paint every other layer red. I painted 2 shutters for one layer. Go back to your planning stage on Step 4 to remember what you planned out.

Step 12: If your shutter was not white, paint the rest of the shutters and the edges white. If your shutter was white, skip this step.

Step 13: Once all the paint is dry, remove all the painters tape.

For fun, make a tape ball and play some soccer!

Step 13: Using the clear paint, spray the whole shutter to seal it and make it last a long time.

YOU'RE DONE!

Add your shutter to your front door decor or display it inside your home. Perfect for all flag bearing holidays!

Diesel, the dog, approves of this decor! 5 Barks!

TIPS!

⭐ Make sure the shutters are facing downward, that way they will naturally stay shut.

⭐ If you are using an old shutter, remove all old fixtures, sand and paint white.

Do you like the flag hanging on the door? If so, check out that tutorial HERE.