I LOVE Americana and any American flag decor in my home, especially for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. I dream about finding the perfect vintage bucket or tin can to hold flags, but I’ve never found quite the right one. So, I decided to take something that was close to what I needed and turn it into what I envisioned for a vintage inspired American flag tin can display.
I found this old tin can with a lid for $8.00 and even though it’s not the right color I know I can use spray paint to make it perfect!
Additional Supplies
- Rust-Oleum Apple Red Spray Paint
- Gator Sander
- Waverly Antiquing Wax
- Behr Wax
- Mod Podge
- Printable (Free to print and use for personal use.)
- 13 8″ X 12″ American Flags
- Drill
First I’ll give the can and the lid several light coats of Rust-Oleum spray paint in Apple Red. I’m taking my time on this part and waiting between light coats to get complete coverage because a paint run would ruin the look! Once the paint is completely dry I’ll use my Gator sander to sand paint away in all the right places!
Next, I’ll wipe Waverly Antiquing wax over the can and lid to darken it a bit.
Now I want to make the can look vintage so I’ll use this printable I created using canva and adhere it to the front of the can. This one is printed on material but it can be printed on printer paper or even tissue paper to use. I’ll brush Mod Podge on the can and press the material onto it.
Finally, I’ll brush some dark wax onto the image just to darken it a bit.
Now, if I just want to sit the flags down into the bucket this project is finished but I’m thinking about how I can use my lid too and not discard it. I think if I drill holes in the top of the lid that are the size of my flag sticks and insert them that will help hold them up and in place a little better.
All finished and I’m ready to give this a try! I did cut the ends of my flag sticks down just a little and varied the lengths so that all of my flags were not the same height. One last thing, I’ll also stain the flag sticks with some Waverly Antiquing wax.
Oh my goodness it worked better than I imagined!! I LOVE this so much and even though it’s not authentically vintage, it has a wonderful vintage feel! I would love to know if you try this one and if you love Americana decor as much as me!!
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