DIY Patriotic Painted Lawn Decorations

These DIY patriotic painted lawn decorations are really easy to make and are a fun addition to your outdoor Memorial Day or Independence Day decor.

How to make patriotic lawn stars decor for Memorial Day and the 4th of July

When it comes to outdoor decor for Memorial Day or the 4th of July, most people think of bunting, patriotic wood signs and red, white and blue wreaths.

Those are all great decorating options…

But sometimes I like to do something a little different.

So when I saw this idea for decorating the lawn by Jeannine at The Concrete Cottage, I just had to try it!

It’s a fun DIY project that doesn’t take long to do and really makes a statement. 

I did mine in the backyard for a 4th of July party, but they would also be a great way to add some red, white and blue decor to your front yard (assuming your Home Owner’s Association is okay with that).

Keep reading to find out how easy it is to make these patriotic painted lawn decorations.

Supplies

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Materials

  • Marking spray paint in red, white and blue*
  • Piece of cardboard
  • (optional) Star printable pattern – you can either cut the star free-hand or get our printable pattern. If you’re already a subscriber, you can find it in our resource library in the 4th of July section (the password is at the bottom of every email we send out). If you’re not a subscriber, you can get access by signing up for our newsletter below.

Tools

  • Pen or marker (I used a Sharpie marker*)
  • (optional) Printer – if you are going to use our printable pattern
  • Pair of scissors
  • (optional) Utility knife*

What Is Marking Spray Paint?

Red, white and blue marking spray paint cans used to make diy patriotic lawn decorations

Before we get started on the project, I thought I would talk a bit about the paint we’re using.

It is the same spray paint that is used to draw the lines on sports fields and mark where underground pipes are when you are digging.

In other words, it is meant for spraying on grass, and won’t hurt your lawn.

It washes off after it has rained a few times. Or you can cut it off as your grass grows.

While you could use regular spray paint, these marking spray paint works when it is pointed straight down, which makes it much easier to use for this kind of project.

The paint also dries really fast…less than 5 minutes so you don’t have to worry about it getting tracked into the house.

How To Make DIY Patriotic Lawn Stars

Okay…now let’s get on to the fun part…making the lawn stars!

How To Make The Star Template

I don’t have a lot of confidence that I can free-hand draw a perfect star so I decided to print the images.

Printing them at home presented a bit of a challenge since my printer will only handle standard letter size sheets of paper, and I wanted my stars to be bigger than that.

So I decided to print half the pattern on one sheet of paper and flip it over to draw the other half..in case you were wondering why the pattern is only half a star 🙂

(If you missed it, you can get the star pattern by signing up for our newsletter above).

Here are the steps for making the star stencil:

Star pattern being cut from paper

1. Cut out the printed half star.

Half a star pattern on cardboard

2. Draw around the outline of the star onto the cardboard.

Star pattern being traced onto cardboard to make template for patriotic painted lawn decorations

3. Flip the half star over and line it up to the first half.

Square piece of cardboard with a star drawn on it

4. Trace around the edge so that you get a full star on the cardboard.

Scissors cutting out a star from a piece of cardboard

5. Use scissors or a utility knife to cut the star out of the cardboard.

Note: I think using the utility knife is easier but make sure to put the cardboard on a surface that can be cut (I put it on top of another piece of cardboard).

Also, always start your cuts at the points and cut towards the middle. That way if you go a little too far, you’re cutting into the part that will be removed anyhow.

Star template made out of cardboard

5. Cut the cardboard into a square around the outside of the stencil.

If you have more than one person helping you make the stars, you’ll want to make more than one of these templates so everyone can have their own. I would trace around the first one to make the extra ones so they are all the same size and shape.

How to Draw the Stars On The Ground

Blue spray paint outlining the star template

Since my stars were still a little small, I decided to paint them on a background which makes them stand out more.

Square outline in blue spray paint

To do this, I sprayed blue spray paint* around the outside of the stencil to create a square outline.

Filled in blue square made with spray paint on the ground

Then I moved the stencil out of the way and filled in the middle of the square with the color.

White star being painted in the middle of a blue square

Finally, I put the stencil back and used the white spray paint* to paint the white star in the middle.

The finished blue and white star decor painted on the ground

To get the cleanest edges, make sure to hold the can straight down, about 4″ above the ground.

Also, if you’re spraying in an area that has a lot of mulch or leaves (like I was here), it helps to move the loose bits out of the way before you start spraying. Otherwise, the air from the spray paint will move them around and you’ll get jagged edges. 

The backyard with many blue squares painted on the grass

After I did the first one (just to make sure it would turn out), I painted all of the rest of the squares first.

The backyard with blue and white star decorations painted on the grass

Then went back and filled in all of the stars.

If the outside of the stencil has a lot of paint on it, you’ll want to wipe it off with a paper towel before you start the stars. That way you’ll get less paint on you.

My original plan was to do some of them in red, but I like the blue and white so much I ended up doing them all this way. (Of course, feel free to mix and match the colors however you want to!)

The Finished Patriotic Painted Lawn Decorations

The backyard with red, white and blue stars painted on the grass as 4th of July party decor

Since I didn’t do any red and white stars, I added some red lines to make them look something like fireworks or shooting stars.

The whole thing took less than half an hour!

And I love the way my stars turned out.

Another great thing?

Since the paint is meant to be outdoors, you can make these DIY patriotic painted lawn decorations a few days ahead of time.

If you’re having a party, that means one less thing to do on the day of your celebration!

A lot of the paint will come off when you mow the lawn, though, so you’ll have to plan around that.

Have comments or questions on how to make patriotic painted lawn decorations? Tell us in the section below.

This post was originally published on June 20, 2017 but was updated with new content on December 13, 2023.


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