Americana & Patriotic Craft Ideas: "Land of the Free" Tin Sign

Vintage tin signs are a fabulous and easy way to decorate your home in Americana or Patriotic fare. However, many vintage creations can be pricey or not fit exactly what you desire. This simple wall art project states an important message -- "Land of the Free... Because of the Brave" - with a classic look.

For this project, you will need:

- A large piece of crafting tin

- Ruler

- Fine tipped black permanent marker

- Tin snips

- Work gloves

- Medium grit sandpaper

- Soft cloth

- Krylon Indoor Outdoor Primer in All-Purpose White

- Krylon Indoor Outdoor Paint in True Blue

- Krylon Indoor Outdoor Paint in Banner Red

- Krylon Indoor Outdoor Paint in Sun Yellow

- Masking tape

- Fancy script, three inch lettering stencils

- Awareness ribbon shaped stencil (or make your own template from cardboard)

- Artist's paintbrush

- Black acrylic paint

- Hanging wire

- Hot glue gun and glue sticks

- Newspaper or a large drop cloth

As always, any project requiring a large amount of spray paints or glues should begin with a quite airy workplace that is covered with adequate amounts of newspaper or a large drop cloth. Not only is this for safety, cleanup will be far easier.

Place the large piece of crafting tin flat on your work area. With the ruler, measure a rectangle that is eight inches tall by fourteen inches long. Mark the tin with a fine tipped black permanent marker. Wearing work gloves for safety, very carefully cut the shape out. Gently sand the sharp edges of the tin with medium grit sandpaper to "dull" them. Wipe away any excess dust from the metal with a soft cloth.

Spray the entire face of the tin rectangle with three to four coats of Krylon Indoor Outdoor Primer in All-Purpose White. Allow the primed surface to dry completely, which should take a few hours. Repeat this process using Krylon Indoor Outdoor Paint in True Blue. Dry overnight.