While searching in my Dad's barn, I found a pile of century-old tobacco sticks, gnarled from weather and use...and perfect. I quickly shimmied up the rickety old latter up to the hay loft and threw a bunch out the loft window, onto my truck bed below. A flag seemed the perfect project for these old warhorses, perfectly sturdy, perfectly southern, perfectly American.
Ok, now for the how-to. Very simple, really. I started with 9 sticks, painted 5 red, 4 white. The red ones started out as blue (oops), but then quickly got a coat of red on top. I LOVE the way it looks, the blue peeking out, highlighting the grooves, bends, gnarles in the wood. The white, I brushed a coat of Americana craft paint over with a foam brush, leaving some wood to show underneath. I blocked off a square and spray painted that blue. For stars, I tore white rags and tied them on, in an alternating fashion, three on each stick. I took another stick and sawed it in two pieces, arranged the painted sticks on top, drilled pilot holes and screwed in the screws. I made sure to use mismatched screws for that eclectic feel. That's it people! SO SIMPLE and CUTE!
