Have you ever seen something from a big box store and thought, I can make that!

Well that was the case with this Pottery Barn driftwood flag.

The neutral color palette was the first thing that caught my eye.

It’s sometimes hard to find neutral Fourth Of July decor, so when I see some I get really excited!

Don’t get me wrong, I do love decorating with the good old red, white, and blue as you can see in this post.

But my love for neutrals will trump color any day.

I found this fairly simple to make, of course it helped that I had a plethora of driftwood on hand that I collected last summer.

If you really want to make this but don’t have driftwood, I found some here for a reasonable price.

COST BREAKDOWN:

The Pottery Barn flag art retails for $299 and is on sale for $209, but then you have the tax and shipping, which brings it to a grand total of $254.41.

My version cost me approx. $49.69 and I have materials left over for other projects.

I don’t know about you, but I love saving money, especially over $200 on a small seasonal piece of art.

MATERIAL LIST:

Like I said, I had a bunch of driftwood I saved from a camping trip to the beach last summer. If you don’t, here is a good source.

You will need small wooden stars. These are the exact ones I used.

You’ll need white spray paint, any sheen. I had this on hand so did not add it to the cost in the breakdown. I linked up the exact one I used.

Next up you will need wood glue. I grabbed mine while I was at Home Depot getting the other supplies.

This stain called sunbleached is the perfect match to the driftwood color. Just get the smallest size available.

You need this piece of this wood as your base. It comes in a 2×4 sheet.

I had Home Depot cut it down to 20×30, which they will do for no charge.

You’ll also need a thin artists paint brush and paper towels or a foam brush to apply the stain.

And an optional tool that is handy is a nail gun to get those stubborn pieces that just won’t stick with wood glue alone.

Another optional and handy tool is a jigsaw, and you’ll see why in the instructions.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1- The first thing you will want to do when you bring your materials home is stain one side of your wood. Also stain the edges. You can stain the back but it is not necessary, as it will not show.

2- Once that is dry, start laying your driftwood out in horizontal lines. Driftwood is not always straight, so dry fitting your pieces first will ensure you get tight fits.

Once it is all laid out covering your board, you can use wood glue to glue them on.

If you have any small gaps, do not worry about it at this time.

I let my pieces run past the edge on the right and left. You can leave it jagged like this, or opt to cut them off after they are adhered. Let this dry 24 hours.

3- At this point I noticed a few pieces were not totally sticking. If you’d like now is the time use your nail gun and secure those pieces. I ended up nailing in every piece just to make sure I didn’t have pieces falling off later. This step also is really helpful if you are going to trim the edges, as step 4 will demonstrate.

4- If all the driftwood pieces are nice and secure, flip the entire board over and use a jigsaw to cut away any pieces sticking out past your wood.

5- Flip back over and if you have any gaps, use the pieces you just cut off to fill in. Let dry.

6- At this point I noticed discoloration where glue had dried after oozing out under certain pieces. If this happens to you simply dip a small fine artists brush into your stain and apply right over the glue.

7- Using the same method you dry fit your driftwood pieces, dry fit your stars. I think I was only able to get about 23 stars on mine but depending on the size of your piece, you might be able to use more, maybe less. Using wood glue, glue them on. After the glue is dry if any feel loose, use your nail gun to secure them.

8- Add a hanger to the back. You can use sawtooth hangers or have a wire hanger put on the back at a craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. They will easily do it for you in their framing department.

That is it! Hang and enjoy, and pat yourself on the back for saving over $200!

If you don’t have time to make it for this years festivities, pin these images so you can come back to it later.

I really love how it blends in with our other neutral decor.