Happy Canada Day eh!! Canada Flag Pallet Sign
Today is our national holiday here in Canada and in celebration of Canada Day I want to share a How-to for a Canada Flag Pallet Sign. I whipped up this quickie DIY to use in the redesign of my oldest son’s bedroom…. but now that I see it finished I totally love it and think I need to hang this puppy proudly on our deck!
We created the sign out of pallet boards using the same method as I previously shared for our reclaimed wood sign in the Entry Hall and the Reverse Ombre Pallet Sign for our bedroom.
We started off with one of the boards from this fabulous score of a pallet I picked up a few weeks ago…
Remove a board. Then remove all nails from said board.
Decide the length you want for your sign. Cut your board appropriately.
Select and cut some wood to use on the back of the boards to join them together. We are still using leftover paneling from our Laundry Room.
Predrill the wood so that you don’t split it into a bazillion pieces when you screw through it.
Check out how this does a nice little job of keeping the pallet boards together.
Tip: Make sure your screws are an appropriate length so you don’t see their nosy tips poking through the front of your pallet sign.
Here is how the pallet sign looks from the front. The black dots are where nails have been removed.
Prime and then paint your pallet sign. I used a water based primer and brush followed by a coat of white trim paint (Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White).
Print out a Maple Leaf design. You can find one by ‘googling’ Canada Flag design (or other similar terms).
Colour along the back of the maple leaf, creating homemade ‘tracing paper’. I like to hold my paper up to a window to facilitate my view of the image.
All coloured along the back. “Tracing Paper” complete.
Determine appropriate placement of your maple leaf. I measured the sign, found and lightly marked the center point (top and bottom), and then lined up the center of the leaf with this point.
Measure and mark the lines for the red stripes. You can look at an image of a real flag to get the approximate spacing.
Trace over the lines on the front with your pencil, thereby transferring the image onto the pallet sign.
Check and make sure it is transferring correctly before moving the design. It would be hard to line it up again properly if it was not transferring through a strong enough line to see.
Gather red craft paint, a small dish, and craft paint brushes (I recommend a fine point brush for outlining and larger brushes for filling it all in.
After outlining with your fine brush, fill in with your wider brushes.
I did two coats of red.
Now I can’t wait to see it up in my son’s bedroom… if it makes it that far and I don’t hang it outside first:)
Some cool things you might not know ’bout Canada:
- Canada is the second largest country in the world by size but is the ninth most sparsley populated country in the world
- The border between Canada and the US (including the border to Alaska) is the world’s longest border between two nations
- Canada has the world’s longest Coastline
- Canada has two official languages: English and French
What about ten things you should never say to Canadians? All in good fun I’m sure, eh??
If you haven’t already I would love to have you join me on Facebook. I am starting to post projects and ideas that don’t make it to the blog.
Thanks for reading! And remember my housie friends, HOME isn’t built in a day. Enjoy the journey.
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How can I make this sign “weather-proof”? I’d like to mount it on a tree on the road into our camp.
Thank you for the detailed tutorial 🙂
Hi Melissa,
You could make it weather proof by applying a clear outdoor sealer (like an outdoor rated varathane finish) to the whole sign. Good luck with your project!
I love this! I think I might just make one for my screen porch! It is nice to see some Canadian decor ideas!
Thanks Maureen! I agree… you don’t see much Canadian patriotism and we should change that:)
Great sign Krista! And fabulous detailed tutorial 🙂
Thanks for sharing on Project Inspired, pinned !!
Nancy
Thank you Nancy… maybe too detailed? That might be the K-teacher in me at work… breaking it down a little too much:) LOL
Happy Belated Canada Day Krista!! xoxo
The pallet art is AMAZING!!!! We don’t see enough Canada decor!
Hi Christine!
I agree… all the red/white/blue USA patriotic art I have seen lately must have gotten me inspired to show some Canadian patriotism:)
Happy Canada Day! What a patriotic piece. Something to cherish and use for many July Firsts to come! (And I’m sure it is perfect for your son’s bedroom too!)
Hi Bronwyn!
Thanks… I think it looks nice and crisp and fresh, need to make a bigger one for outside I think:)
Love the sign! Happy Belated Canada Day! Thank you for sharing at Give Me The Goods!
Dimples & Pig Tales
Thank you Amber!!
I love your pallet flag, Krista! Really good tutorial, thanks!
Thanks Cristina! All your red/white/blue décor was inspiring me to get a little more patriotic too:) Sorry to read about all the troubles on your blog last week, glad you got it figured out!
Love this and your tutorial is perfect. Thanks tons for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, marty
Thank you Marty! And thanks again for hosting:)
Hi Krista, Happy Canada Day! I remember you just showed us your son’s inspiration board for new bedroom, it turned out awesome, I think it’s time to open an etsy store (lol). But I would be a customer.
Hi Sonya! Lol… I think you could do this one yourself pretty easily – save yourself the cash (it probably only cost me $1 in paint since the wood was free!).
You have a nice flag, and you did a great job putting it on those old boards. Very patriotic. Australia has a difficult flag to copy and not nearly as nice!!! Thanks for the snippets of info re Canada. 😀
Hi Petra!! Our flag is quite an easy one to do, I can count myself lucky for that:) Australia, though, certainly seems to offer many appealing things that we can’t boast, like warm sunny weather much of the year and fascinating wildlife…I would love to travel there one day to see it all for myself. I love House Hunters International and often fantasize about moving to Australia for a time!
Hi Krista!
This is great. I would love for you to start selling your creations at the Harbour Quay!! I would buy a flag in a heartbeat 🙂 Happy Canada Day!!
Ahhh Pam you are too funny – I could definitely make one just for you:) I wish I had known, it could have been your year end gift!
Happy Canada day to you my friend! I LOVE, LOVE your pallet flag, you did an amazing job with it! Oh! how I wish we could be neighbors and come admire your beautiful pieces of work Krista! 🙂
I hope you are enjoying today with your family, we are relaxing but will be having BBQ later! Happy Canada day eh! 🙂
Thanks Ingrid! I wish we were neighbours too!! We greatly enjoyed our holiday today, I hope you had a fabulous Canada Day:)