Tag Archives: Independence Day

Fourth of July Pottery Barn Knock-off {Tutorial}

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Julie

I was browsing through Pottery Barn the other day and spotted these:

Pottery Barn Fourth of July burlap stars

I had seen them in one of the catalogs, but thought they were even more stunning in person. They are much bigger than I expected…one is 16″ and the other 18″ in diameter!

They’re already sold out online. In the store, I think the price was somewhere around $19 for the one I saw.

I immediately knew this was something I could create at home — especially because I already had everything I needed and wouldn’t need to spend any money.

My 8-year-old was up for the challenge and couldn’t wait to get started! (It’s nice having a helper!)

We began by making a paper prototype and then practiced folding some burlap to see if the fabric I had would fold nicely. We quickly decided that making the chevron stripes and cuts might be a little more than we wanted to figure out, so we stuck with making a circle.

The first step: Cutting the fabric

When I did my paper prototype I came to the mistaken conclusion that I would need two individual squares of fabric. Duh! One long rectangle would have been much better. I guess my brain is foggy from the rain and humidity!

I cut two 18″ by 18″ squares, so if I were to do it again, I would cut an 18″ x 36″ piece of burlap.

Step Two: Measure the stripes

I used a ruler to measure the distance between stripes so when I pinched the ends together to make a complete circle all the lines would match up perfectly.

I found that measuring from the outside in worked best. The center line needs to be dead center.

Step Three: Painting the Lines

My daughter decided to get creative and make a line consisting of circles. It turned out to be the fastest, too! Our tight-woven burlap really absorbed paint.

Also…our center line turned out to be way too thin and didn’t show up well when we folded and fanned the burlap. I would recommend making this line at least three inches thick, maybe even four.

Step Four: Bake and Eat Oatmeal Cookies!

Okay…this isn’t a necessary step, but this was the part where we let our paint dry and my daughter was dying to bake cookies, so we did!

I’m only sharing this because the recipe was SO GOOD!!

It’s from the blog, “Nine and Sixteen.” You have got to try it!

Step Five: Accordian Fold the Fabric

(My daughter is folding our test fabric here)

Try to get the folds as evenly as possible. Our burlap held a crease pretty well, but I still ran an iron over it to make sure the creases held.

Step Six: Tie the Middle

I used a piece of twine to bind my middle together. I cut off the excess and then moved on to Step 7.

Step Seven: Hot Glue the Edges Together to Form a Circle

My daughter was at Art Camp when I did this step so I don’t have a picture of doing it, but you just pull your fabric so the ends meet and the fabric fans out to create a giant circle. Watch your fingers because it’s very easy to burn yourself when doing this step!

Step Eight: Hot Glue Twine for Hanging

The best place to hot glue this is in one of the seams so try to do this at the same time as Step 7.

Step Eight: Hang and Enjoy!!

Even though mine is a circle and not a star, I think it’s every bit as cute as the Pottery Barn version.

You can see that I added a center circle because my paint line wasn’t very big. I just painted and cut a piece of burlap and hot-glued it on to the front. Easy!