Project YAY!

I brought up the concept of "yay" flags a couple of months back. Well, they have come to fruition much sooner than I thought. I decided to make them for my wedding cohort of Young(s) and in Love; an early wedding present if you will.

In trying to be a good blogger, that or just to document the process so that I can possibly repeat the project, I took pictures along the way.

Step 1: Purchase premade canvas flags from Oriental Trading Co.

Step 2a: Upon receiving flags, remove wooden dowels and iron fabric flat.

Step 2b: Outsource dowel modification to friends with wood working experience. Big thanks the A. and C.! The dowels are sharpened at one end, like a skewer. For safety reasons, I choose to have it filed down.

Step 3: Size and print out design on paper.

Step 4: Trace design onto plastic stencil. Blank stencil plastic was purchased from Michaels.

Step 5: Cut out design with exacto knife.

Step 6: Mess up and repeat steps 2 and 3.

Step 7: Paint! I used acrylic paint and a sponge brush. Tip: I used a damp paper towel to wipe away excess paint between flags; making sure to wipe away paint on the back side of the stencil (the side that touches the fabric) to keep the image from bleeding. Oh and depending on the paint you use, you might want to take breaks for make sure that you have the windows open ;)

Step 8: Let dry.

Step 9: Dip end of dowel in glue (Elmer's is fine), you just need a dab. Insert dowel into flag and let dry.

Step 10: Say "YAY" and wave them around!