T-Minus 11 days until it's the 4th of July! We couldn't resist throwing in a DIY project into all the festivities. As you enjoy fireworks, tasty food, and plenty of fun, you can also make a quick and easy 4th of July decoration. Here's how we made these wood pallet stars:

To start off, we chose Behlen's Solar-Lux in American Walnut. Obviously, we had to choose the stain called American. We also used Behlen's Solar-Lux Dye Stain Reducer. We then used DayGlo Screamin' paints in Rocket Red and Horizon Blue for the stars. For the white paint, any acrylic paint will do the trick.

To begin, we took pallet wood and cut it down to the size we wanted. In our case, we went with 12" by 12". However, you can make it as big or small as you want. You can also purchase pallet wood online. We then put the pieces together using a pinner and some wood glue.

If your wood pieces are splintery on the ends,  just take some 100-200 grit sandpaper and sand them down. We didn't do any sanding to the rest of the pallet to give it a rustic feel. 

We then stained the pallet using Behlen's Solar-Lux in American Walnut and Behlen's Solar-Lux Dye Stain Reducer. We mixed 1 part stain and 2 parts reducer. 

We decided to use stars since this project is for the 4th of July. You can change this part to make a design for any season. We then printed and cut out the stars - the size depends on how big your pallet is.

A very important part of this project is to line up the star shape in the middle of your pallet and trace it with a pencil. Repeat this step on the other two pallets. This comes in handy when you paint the stars.

We're ready to paint! Paint the inside of the star shape you just traced. You'll paint one red, one white, and one blue.

Now all that's left to do is put them in a cute spot to show them off. Whether it's in front of your door, or in the driveway, it's bound to light the area up.

Simplified Project List:

• DayGlo Screamin' Paint: http://amzn.to/2tD789H
• Solar Lux Stain in American Walnut: http://amzn.to/2sKSywV
• Solar Lux Reducer: http://amzn.to/2t0hyCp
• Any white acrylic paint (find on Amazon or any craft store)
• Paintbrush
• 12 by 12 Pallets
• Any shape to trace that your heart desires (we chose stars)

Now it's your turn! Share your 4th of July projects with us on Facebook , Twitter , or Instagram . We can't wait to see them, we'll even share our favorites!

Stay tuned for the next blog post - we'll have something new every Friday.