Polka Dot 4th of July Mantel

It’s the 10th of June which means another fabulous themed roundup from this talented bunch of bloggers!  This month’s theme is POLKA DOTS!  Who doesn’t love polka dots, right?  So fun, playful and classic.  Each month I love seeing how each blogger takes the theme and runs with it… and this month is no different.  Such amazing projects!  You can see my POLKA DOT 4th OF JULY MANTEL below and then be sure to go and see what everyone else is sharing as well!  Lots of pinworthy fun!

I was very excited for the polka dot theme this month because I have been wanting to do a little 4th of July/polka dot mashup for a while now!  I LOVE decorating for the 4th of July and I LOVE polka dots… so yeah, this is a no-brainer.  As you can see from the photo above, I didn’t exactly go for subtlety this year.  My mantel screams PROUD AMERICAN and that is fine by me!  The signs are actually not very hard to make.  With just a few things you can pull this together as well!

What you’ll need:

• USA wood letters from Hobby Lobby
• Plywood or MDF in sizes you want.  I had some scraps in my garage so I used those.  You can get pieces at Home Depot and have them cut them if you want!  My boards are 24″x24″ (the blue polka dot one) and 31″x16″ for the USA board.
• Red, white and navy craft paint
• 1″ painters tape
• sandpaper
• 1.5″ white vinyl dots (or use a circle punch and white cardstock!)
• Mod Podge

STEPS TO PUT IT TOGETHER:

1. Paint one of your large boards white and one navy and allow to dry. Also paint your letters navy.
2. After white board is dry, measure every 1 inch down each side and make a little pencil mark.  Then tape off stripes with painters tape using pencil marks as a guide.  Paint stripes red and then remove tape.
3. Sandpaper edges of boards and letters to give a little distressed look and then give them all a coat of Mod Podge to seal them all.
4. Hot glue USA letters onto striped board. (detail shot of letters below, before gluing, obvs :))

5. Either cut or punch white dots out of vinyl or cardstock.

6. Apply polka dots to navy board!  I used a ruler and exacto knife to cut the vinyl along the edge where it was hanging off.  It gave it a little bit of a more finished look.

I then put it all together on my mantel!  I pulled out my DIY Mercury Glass Mason Jars and put some little American flags in them which, c’mon, doesn’t get more 4th of July than that!

I also created a printable bunting to string along the top!  I printed it out ( you can download it HERE), cut it apart, hole punched the corners and then strung it up with some red and white baker’s twine.  Easy!  Note: I needed to print the file twice to get this many triangles.

And that’s it!   I love my bold patriotic mantel with polka dots!  It makes me happy.  God Bless America! 🙂

OTHER POSTS YOU WILL LOVE!

• 4th of July Mantel: Red White and Blue!
• DIY Love Valentine’s Day Sign
• 4th of July Decorations to Show Your Patriotism!
• Free Summer Printable to Make Summer Fun!
• Summer Craft Ideas for Kids!

Now go check out and pin the other fabulous POLKA DOT projects from this month’s blogger round up!!

1. Summer Punch Card from Thirty Handmade Days

2. Popcorn Cake from Your Homebased Mom

3. Polka Dot Jewelry Boxes from eighteen25

4. Polka Dot Photo Booth Background from Kristen Duke

5. Framed Polka Dot Dry Erase Board from Lolly Jane

6. Polka Dot 4th of July Mantel from Landeelu

7. Polka Dot Surprise Cake from Or So She Says

8. Polka Dot and Striped Flag from Simply Kierste

9. Summer Printable from Two Twenty One