Patriotic Driftwood USA Tutorial

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Beachy and Patriotic this Driftwood USA has two things I love.  I adore the beach and I love patriotism.  So why not combine the two and create the perfect centerpiece for my summer mantel.

Driftwood USA

I absolutely LOVE how this turned out.  I have to tell you that as I was trying to figure out how to layout all the driftwood I felt like I was on survivor with one of those crazy puzzles.  That’s the most challenging part, but still worth it!

Driftwood USA Supplies (affiliate links provided for your convenience)

• 1″x 6″ x 8′ common pine board
• kreg jig (you can use a 1″ x 2″ x 8′ board if you don’t have one)
• kona stain
• white acrylic paint
• foam brushes
• printout of continental USA
• driftwood
• chalk
• painter’s tape
• pencil
• hot glue gun

How to Make a Driftwood USA

1. Create your background.  I took the 1″ x 6″ x 8′ board and cut it down into four 24″ pieces.  I used a kreg jig to attach the board together.  If you don’t have a kreg jig you can use a 1″ x 2″ x 8′ board and cut it in half.  Then attach the 1″ x 2″ boards to the back of the 4 boards horizontally to hold them all together.
2. Stain the background with kona stain.  I love this deep stain!
3. Let stain sit 3-5 minutes and then wipe off excess.
4. Once the stain is completely dry use white acrylic paint and dry brush it on top of the stained boards.  You want to have barely any paint on your brush while you’re doing this.  Fill in as you like, leaving parts where the stain is showing through.
5. Take your USA template and turn it over.

6. Take white chalk and rub over the black outlined areas.

7. Now flip over the template and carefully place it where you want it on the boards.  Attach with painter’s tape.  Now trace over the USA outline FIRMLY.

8. Once you’ve finished the tracing, gently remove the paper template and you will see the chalk outline of the continental USA.  This is a great trick when you have a darker surface.

9.  Start placing your driftwood within the USA outline gluing it down with hot glue.  I would place a small section down making sure it all fit well and then I’d glue in on one piece at a time.

When you finish you’ll be left with a perfect addition to your summer decor – a driftwood USA!

I’m loving it on my mantel.  I’m still finishing off all of my summer mantel, but I couldn’t wait to share with you this project.

Thanks for stopping by!