This project was designed in cooperation with Elmer’s.

wood shim flag

This summer I’m in a country contest with my brothers and sisters and their families.

My mother hosts the competition and we all choose countries and whoever picks the country with the most gold medals wins cash.  You can’t choose USA and there’s other random awards for number of medals and guessing the exact amount of team scores and so on.

Somehow I slept through the country choosing.

By the time I figured out what was happening, China was gone.

Russia was gone.

Brazil was gone.

Australia and Japan and Hungary and South Korea and Canada were gone, too.

So I ended up with France.

wood shim flag project

You are supposed to cheer for your adopted country in all the contests.

I mean this is a competition.  Cash is on the line.  You want to win, right?

I know I’m supposed to be cheering for France.  I get it.  I understand.

But I can’t help it.

I’m on my feet for the USA.

Screaming at the television and jumping up and down and waving my hands in the air and yelling for America.

And when they won and I kissed my smiling heart-eyed emoji’s goodbye….

….I couldn’t be happier. 🙂

wood shim

I’m celebrating America with this easy, DIY wood shim flag.

It only took about an hour to finish and under $20 for supplies.

plywood

I used a sheet of very thin plywood for the base.

There’s a whole section at the home improvement store with not overwhelming pieces of plywood already cut down for you.

This piece is approximately two feet by three feet.

They can even trim it to size if you want to make a smaller one.

elmer's glue gun

I also used four to five packages of wood shims.

You know, the kind you use to shim up furniture that are about $1.50/pack.

And I attached the shims with hot glue using the Elmer’s CraftBond glue gun.

rustic flag

I marked off an area for the space where the stars would go and then just started gluing the first row of shims.

I added them back to back with the higher end on one side and the lower end on the other side.

You don’t really need a lot of hot glue because the shims are so light.

I just added a dot on each side before I placed the shim on the plywood.

wood flag

Keep adding layers of the shims until you’ve finished all the stripes on the flag.

wood shim pieces

When you finish with the stripes, you’ll have a gap at the end of the row like this.

We just cut the shims in half to fill in the gaps.

Then they were glued in place.

rustic wood flag

I dry brushed a little bit of gray where the stripes are and added a few painted stars.

Then we hung it out on the workshop.

Maybe I should have made the French flag instead to support my adopted  country.

But I couldn’t.

I’ll always be a fan of the red, white and blue.

Go America.

You totally got this. 🙂

disclosure:  This post was created in collaboration with Elmer’s.

All opinions are my own.

Please see my disclosure page for more information.

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Comments

  1. Image for Nancy @ slightly Coastal Nancy @ slightly Coastal

    You and your glue! You always amaze me with the projects you are able to dream up. I too love the Olympics because we get to see sports normally not covered on TV. My favorite? Fencing. I'm thinking there must be a Groupon for fencing lessons somewhere. Go USA!

  2. Image for Marisa Franca @ All Our Way Marisa Franca @ All Our Way

    Très bien, mon ami. *kiss* *kiss* one on each cheek. We have to do the Continental thingie. France will come up with some award, I'm sure. The most use of butter and cream? The best chocolates? No, I think that's Switzerland. We'll think of something. I love your flag -- your award is finding the most use for frog tape and glue. Yep! Gold medal all the way! Have a great day -- you rock!

  3. Image for Susie @ The Chelsea Project Susie @ The Chelsea Project

    Love this flag! And at a time when so much disgrace has come to our beloved flag, it is wonderful to see this tutorial and tribute to flag and country. We've been watching the Olympics around here, too. What a great day for the patriots. Love the post! Thanks so much for sharing. Susie

  4. Image for Leslie Watkins Leslie Watkins

    The flag is so very cute! But good luck with cheering for another country... I'm a nervous wreck just cheering on USA!! I hope I survive this...I not only cheer but I catch myself helping them from the sidelines on my couch---you know moving over and helping them balance on that beam--oh, my the calories I'm burning, but my nerves are already shot! Hahaha

  5. Image for Michele Michele

    Love this DIY flag and your family competition...what a fun way to watch the Olympics. We killed it yesterday in swimming and gymnastics! Go USA!

  6. Image for Susan Susan

    C'est magnifique! What a lovely way to show your patriotism...this is such a great project for those Americans cheering on the USA in the Olympics! I'm Canadian, but even I found myself cheering on Michael Phelps...he is amazing! Don't give up on your adopted country just yet, though...France is small, but it can be mighty when it wants to be! Good luck, KariAnne!

  7. Image for Michelle Michelle

    I love the whole family Olympic games and adopting a country to win...what a great idea!! And what an adorable, fun and easy project to celebrate :-) Go, France!! But yay, U.S.A!!!

  8. Image for Lisa Lisa

    This is a great project! I guess I need to hang out at my home improvement store more - i didn't know about such fun things as packaged shims. Thanks for sharing your creative idea. And the Olympics are so much fun to watch, whatever team is competing - I can't help but cheer on everyone (my teenager keeps telling me I'm not supposed to do that, but I can't help it!), though, of course, I'm pretty fanatical about the Red White & Blue!

  9. Image for Pat Pat

    Love the flag!♥ How fun for your family to have such a great competition for the Olympics.....supporting all the countries as well as team USA just makes the world a better place. ☺

  10. Image for Judy Judy

    Good luck with France, but USA is rocking right now!!!! Had a great time at Becoming 2016 hope to see you again soon:)

  11. Image for Michele Riggsbee Michele Riggsbee

    I totally love this project! I went out and bought my shims tonight! I hope to try putting it together this weekend! Thanks, friend! Have fun watching the Olympics!

  12. Image for Sue Sue

    Karianne, something is rotten in Denmark. Somebody is cheating. WHY did you get left out of the drawing. The very idea,hope France knows they got to win. The flag is great. My grandson is wanting a wood flag,so Grammy Sue is going to give it a try. Wish me luck!

  13. Image for botanic bleu botanic bleu

    Hi, KariAnne, The wood shim flag is too cute for words! Silence..... Adorable (same word in English and your adopted France). Of course, I would be perfectly fine with having France as my Olympics country. And I love that you used blue/bleu for the stripes! Someday when I grow up I am going to be as creative as you. Until then, I'll just copycat. Judith

  14. Image for Monica Monica

    Where do you come up with these awesome projects???????? I need to move between a craft store and a home improvement store so I have supplies at the ready, because these projects of yours always get me wanting to run out and make them!!!!! Keep 'em coming!!!!!

  15. Image for Rebecca Turner Rebecca Turner

    What a great idea! I might make one to hang on our front gate. But I'll probably paint it. Red, white and blue! I wonder how one BIG star would look? Sort of a melding of two flags...cause this is Texas, y'all. Thanks, KariAnne!

Comments are closed.