DIY Monogrammed Burlap Garden Flag and Stake

In case you haven't noticed I've been happily doing outdoor projects recently - ahem, my vinyl window garage door makeover and my patio makeover is coming together...finally. Today I'm going to share another outdoor project, this one not nearly as involved...or as much of a commitment. I made this flower pot garden flag using nothing more than a scrap of burlap, a piece of freezer paper, my inkjet printer and some craft paint.

Usually when I want a design on burlap, I just print it onto the burlap...but since I plan to keep this outside I wanted to make sure the ink wouldn't run so I used paint instead of ink. I did, however, use my printer for the first part of the process. I started by designing my flag in PicMonkey. It's a free photo and editing site that is just full of awesomeness. It's easy to use, free and has tons of font and designs to pick from.

Since I have to cut out the design to make it a stencil, I tried to keep it pretty simple. To make the circle I first made a black circle, then made a smaller white circle, placed the white circle on top and then added the 'V'. Once the design was ready, I saved it. I like to bring my designs into PowerPoint to size them since each slide is the size of a piece of printer paper and I can get a better idea of how big my design actually is.

Now I'm ready to print the design.

I printed it on cardstock and then once it was printed, laid a piece of freezer paper on top (shiny side down) and taped them both to the table.

Then I could use my x-acto knife to cut out the design on the freezer paper. I don't have the steadiest of hands....clearly!

I have burlap scraps out to wazoo so I just grabbed a piece, cut it down to about 12"x8" and then ironed it nice and flat. Then I laid the freezer paper stencil on top with the shiny side down and quickly ironed it onto the burlap. Don't keep the iron on there too long or it could burn. It will adhere quickly and create a tight seal.

Now it's time for painting. I used craft paint and a sponge brush to blot on the paint in an up and down manner. This way the paint isn't being dragged across the burlap where it can leak under the stencil.

After the entire design is painted, peel off the stencil and let the paint dry. Fold over the top inch or so of the burlap to create a pocket for the flag stake. You can either sew across or hot glue it down. it helps to iron down the pocket to create a crease.

I made a stake from a wire hanger. I just untwisted the top hook area with some plyers and then reshaped it into a flag stake so that I could pop it into one of my potted plants.

This is actually the second burlap flag I have made this spring. The first was made with my Silhouette cutting machine which makes the job quite a bit easier and allows you to get a lot more detail. Since I know many of you may not have a Silhouette or other die cut machine, I wanted to share this method too.

If you're interested in the other version (or lots of other Silhouette tutorials and project ideas) click the photo below to hop over to our sister site, Silhouette School.