Air Dry Clay Flag

Make this vintage American flag frame using air dry clay! To start you will need to gather the supplies: picture frame, air dry clay, clay moulds, glue, paint,wax, and a flag stencil.

To begin I used an 8x10 frame and start by tracing the inside of the frame on the cardboard backing or wood backing if you prefer that way you know where to stop your moulds. You can see in the picture above. I regret using the cardboard because it kind of warped from the moisture of the clay so if I did it again I would have cut out a piece of wood underlayment for the backing but the cardboard worked out once I put it in the frame. After you trace the inside frame draw your rectangle lines where your stars will be. I made mine long enough to fit 10 stars by judging the size of my star stencil.

I used a trimmings mould made by Iron Orchid Designs and a few others for my flag lines. You can purchase these from a local stockist by searching their webisite or you can purchase them usually on Etsy. Dust your mould lightly with cornstarch to keep the clay from sticking.

Using my DAS air dry clay I began to fill my moulds and scrapped off the access clay around for a clean edge.

Flip over your mould and lift corner edge to pop of the mould gently

Flip your mould over to the back carefully. Using Titebond Quick and Thick wood glue I began to glue my moulds into the frame backing while leaving the square at the top left empty for my stars. 

After you add all your clay moulds let it dry overnight to firm up.

Once the clay was dry I began to paint the moulds as my stripes alternating red and white.

Here is a look at all the moulds in place and painted.

I painted the recatangle where my stars will be white first for a distressed look.

Then painted over that with blue chalk paint.

Now its time to stencil some stars. I used this one I found at Dollar Tree. The small stars on the bottom were perfect!

I placed my stencil down and using white acrylic paint I began to stencil. Dip your paintbrush or stencil brush into the paint but offload most of the paint into a plate or something. You want minimal paint on your brush so the paint does not bleed underneath your stencil. Pounce your brush up and down to apply the paint for cleaner lines. I made 5 fows of starts with 10 stars in each row for a total of 50 stars.

Next we are going to seal our painted moulds with clear wax so we can later add some aging for a vintage look. Here is what I used:

This will not only seal our paint but also help us to control the amount of darker wax we apply later. Pour your wax out of the bottle to apply and use a different brush for each color as the paint may bleed a bit.

After you apply the wax to all of your moulds start dabbing away the excess wax with a paper towel or lint free rag.

Be sure to use a different rag for the white moulds than you do for the red. Some of the red paint may bleed onto the rag. Let the clear wax dry for a few hours.

After it is dry, I applied a black wax to each mould being sure to work it down into the details of the moulds. I used a black finishing wax made by Jolie that I ordered off of Amazon. You can see difference the wax makes at the top.

Once I finished the dark wax I began to wipe it back using a paper towel. Wipe back however much you like until you get the look you want.

If it is still too dark you can try removing some more with a wet baby wipe. If that doesnt work use clear wax to remove however much you like. You want the wax to stay in the details of the moulds to make them pop!

Now its time to work on the frame. I removed the old staples that held on the backing with my needle nose pliers.

My frame was from the thrift store so it had its share of scratches. So I used some antique wax to hide them. Using my paint brush I painted it all over the frame to darken the scratches. Wipe off the access wax. Let dry.

You can see how well it hid the scratches!

I placed my backing and flag back into the frame and using my Logan dual point driver I added new flex points to the frame to hold the backing nicely in place. This step may not be necessary if you choose to leave the original staples or flex points in your frame. Mine needed replaced though because the staples were falling out.

Now it holds nicely!

All done! This is perfect for a vintage Americana look!