Patriotic, Boating, Outdoor Decor

I purchased 10 24" Garden stakes. Trying to get the flattest and smoothest ones in the stack.

Also Martha Stewart Craft Paints in Red, White and Blue.

I ordered these flag themed bottle caps on eBay. A package of 100.

Before starting I laid out my pattern on my boards.

Initially I was going to paint six boards, but after laying down my pattern, I did three of each color. Because the wood is thirsty and coarse, I use an old washcloth cut into three strips, wet it and apply the paint. One strip for each color.

When they were all painted, I used wood glue to secure each stake to the next one. I didn't have any extra wide clamps, so I secured them together with some floral tape.

Wood glue application.

I cut the final stake in half and chose to paint it blue. This will be used to support the stakes on the back. I should have purchased one at 36" for this part as they did come up short of reaching end to end.

I used wood glue, drilled pilot holes and screwed them into the stakes using 1.1/4 inch wood screws. This is the finished back.

Then I layed out my pattern single layer. When I had everything lined up, I used Clear Gorilla Glue to attach each cap to the boards. When they were dry I added a secondary layer for visual effect. The finished product. I hope they like it. It is good sized. 24" X 14".

On Vacation in an Antique store, this was my inspiration. However I printed a picture of an anchor to use as a guide. I had one fail and still have to fix it with touch up paint. I originally had White Gorilla Glue and it shows badly on the blue or red. This glue expands and at first I was putting the glue on the outer edge of the caps, I soon found out that that was creating too much glue on my boards. So I finished up by applying the glue to the inside of the cap on the outer edge and it will run down and glue in place cleanly and nicely.

if I were going to make this for inside I would use burlap glued to the back of the stakes for stability. My next one is going to have the stake points going to the right. I am spelling out BEACH in actual beer caps.