Texas pride is a whole decorating style, and these 21 DIY ideas for everyone who loves Texas prove it fits on just about anything. A Texas craft is any handmade project built around the Lone Star State: the flag, the outline of the state, the bluebonnet or the longhorn, painted, stitched, stenciled or nailed onto whatever is lying around the garage. Old fence boards become a four by six foot yard flag. Two license plates turn into wall art. A plain metal pot gets a dotted state outline in Sharpie. There are bluebonnets to paint and fold from paper, plus wreaths, a bottlecap trivet and a T-shirt for the Texan who moved away. Most of these use pallet wood, paint and patience, so the bill stays small. Browse more DIY wall art ideas once you’ve picked a favorite.
1. Texas Flag Mason Jars
These Texas flag mason jars use three wide mouth quart jars and a little painter’s tape trickery. Prime every jar with two coats and give the primer a full 24 hours. Wrap washi tape about halfway up two of the jars, press the edge down with a fingernail and paint the bottoms red. For the third jar, cut a star from painter’s tape, seal it on and paint the jar blue. Peel, touch up any bleeds with white, wait another day, then distress the raised lettering with 80 grit sandpaper and seal with a matte clear coat.
Get the full tutorial at Mason Jar Crafts Love.
2. DIY Texas Planter
This DIY Texas planter turns a plain metal pot into a dotted state outline with nothing fancier than oil based Sharpies. Wipe the planter down with rubbing alcohol or soapy water so the ink grips. Tape a paper Texas cutout to the side, folding the tape under so the edges stay free, then dot all around the outline in one color. Let it dry before adding the next color, until red, white and blue are all in. Lift the cutout, brush off any bits and spray a sealant so the ink lasts and the metal doesn’t rust.
Get the full tutorial at Ginger Casa.
3. How To Make Paper Bluebonnets The State Flower Of Texas
Paper bluebonnets look fiddly but come together with paper, scissors and wooden skewers. Cut a strip 2 inches wide and 11 inches long, fold a quarter inch along one side, then snip strips about a quarter inch apart, stopping at the fold. Curl the strips by rolling them around a skewer (a pencil is too wide). Wrap the uncut edge around the skewer at a 45 degree angle and keep winding. The tighter you wrap, the fuller the flower. Mixing white, blue and light blue paper gives the real variegated look, and the leaves use the same cuts, rolled loosely.
Get the full tutorial at The Pin Junkie.
4. Pallet Wall Art Texas Sized
Pallet wall art, Texas sized, starts with a free roadside pallet. Pry it apart with a crowbar (expect plenty of stubborn nails), then nail the slats back together onto an N shaped brace across the back so the front stays solid. A Texas road map from a gas station makes the stencil: cut out the state, trace it onto the boards and fill it with silver acrylic paint. Add a small turquoise heart over home. Wear gloves for rusty nails, check any pallet for bugs before it comes inside and never burn treated pallet wood.
Get the full tutorial at Crafty Texas Girls.
5. Texas Star Headboard Bench
A Texas star headboard bench turns a $15 garage sale bed into porch seating painted like the flag. The headboard and footboard are rebuilt into a bench and secured with pocket hole screws and wood glue so it can take years of use. Older furniture bleeds through light paint, so a coat of stain blocking primer goes on first, then chalk paint in white, a deep blue and a bright red, with a stenciled white star. A water based polycrylic topcoat adds protection for life outdoors. The post shows the finished piece; the full build steps were promised for later.
Get the full tutorial at Curb Alert!.
6. Paint Texas Bluebonnets
This free lesson shows how to paint Texas bluebonnets in acrylics with a #6 or #8 filbert and a #12 flat. Double load the flat brush with two greens, pull the main stem up on the chisel edge, then flick in smaller strokes for side shoots. Load the filbert with a deep navy and press, twist and drag toward the stem to form each bud, checking a reference photo as you go. Rinse, pick up white and add a soft cone shaped tip to every flower. Less is more: step back often, since adding is easy and taking away is not.
Get the full tutorial at pamelagroppe.com.
7. Texas Wreath
This burlap Texas wreath needs an 18 inch wire wreath form, about 20 feet each of red, white and blue burlap and an 8 inch rustic metal star. Red fills the bottom three bar to bar sections, white the next three and blue the last three, so the colors share the ring equally. To ruffle, knot the burlap to a middle bar from the back, then push the strand up through the bars one at a time until there are three ruffles per row and nine per section. Run out mid section? Just tie on a new roll. Twine hangs the star.
Get the full tutorial at Texas Craft House.
8. Texas Flag Old Fence
This Texas flag made from old fence boards is a four by six foot piece of yard art built for the cost of paint. Lay the boards out with their tops pointing right, since that ragged edge reads as a flag snapping in the wind. Scrub them with a wire brush (clean, not new) and fasten them to three vertical boards across the back. The star is the tricky part: use a compass, a straight edge and a protractor, and mark the five points every 72 degrees. Then paint the blue field, the stripes and the star.
Get the full tutorial at Scarydad.
9. How To Make A TX State Map
This TX state map is foam board covered in a real road map and finished with a stitched line. Print a free state outline from a map site in tiles (a 4 by 4 grid made it big), tape the pages together, tape them onto the foam board and cut the outline with a craft knife, taking the tight curves slowly. Mod Podge a road map over the front, slitting and snipping the edges so they wrap neatly. A sewing machine jammed on the board, so the line between two cities was stitched by hand through the holes.
Get the full tutorial at C.R.A.F.T.
10. Rustic Flag Key Holder
This rustic flag key holder starts as a wooden pallet tray painted in milk paint. Paint the frame black, the small rectangle blue, the top two boards on the right white and the rest red. Once dry, sand the edges and raised spots for an aged look. For the 3D star, paint a 6 inch square of burlap with white paint plus fabric stiffener, let it dry on both sides, trace a 4 to 5 inch star and cut it out. Crease each point in half, pinch two folded points together all the way around, then hot glue it on and screw in the hooks.
Get the full tutorial at walnuthollowcrafts.
11. Texas License Plate Wall Art
Texas license plate wall art starts with two old plates, from your own garage or an antique shop (older ones cost more). Soak them in warm soapy water for 20 minutes and scrub them clean. Join the plates with strong adhesive, tape a Texas outline over them and spray outdoor red paint around it. The spray creeps under the stencil, which adds a nice worn edge. Brush bottled paint over that for a vintage finish, then clear coat. Two plates fit a 12 inch square plaque perfectly; stain it ebony and screw the plates on through their own holes.
Get the full tutorial at The Craft Caboodle.
12. Texas Flag Pallet Board Bottle Opener
This Texas flag pallet board bottle opener was made as a welcome home and housewarming gift. Cut a single pallet board, then paint a small Texas flag near the bottom with sample size paint pots. A star sticker from the craft store works as the stencil, so the star comes out crisp. Brush antique glaze over the whole board to age it, then screw on a wall mounted bottle opener near the top. The whole project came in around $10, and it is easy to personalize with initials or a date.
Get the full tutorial at Our Pinteresting Family.
13. How To Make A Home T-Shirt
A HOME T-shirt is a freezer paper stencil project that makes a great gift for a Texan who moved away. Print a simple state outline big enough to fill the shirt, add the word home and a star over the right city, then trace it all onto freezer paper. Cut out the shapes with a craft knife and iron the stencil shiny side down onto the shirt. Slip newspaper inside, then dab on fabric paint in four thin layers, letting each dry about an hour and a half. Peel the paper, cover with a towel and iron for 30 seconds to set.
Get the full tutorial at Freshly Completed.
14. Texas Flag Bottlecap Trivet
This bottlecap trivet is a beginner concrete project made with Texas brewery caps. Pour about 2 inches of fast setting concrete into a small bucket and add water gradually until it is just slightly soupy, then tap the bucket on the ground until the bubbles stop. Press the caps in fast, since it thickens in about five minutes, and level them with a second bucket. Wipe the cap tops at 30 minutes, then pop it out after 24 hours. Brush on a proper sealer, because a poured lacquer soaked in and ruined the first one.
Get the full tutorial at Table and Hearth.
15. How To Make A Texas Folder
This Texas flag folder is a classroom project that holds everything from a Texas unit. You need 12 by 18 inch construction paper in blue and white, a 4 1/2 by 12 inch strip of red, a white star cutout, glue and a stapler. Glue the red strip to the right side of the white paper and fold it in half on the vertical line. Fold the blue sheet in half both ways, tuck the white and red sheet inside, fold the stack like a folder and glue the star onto the blue. Staple the blue edges for four pockets.
Get the full tutorial at Frugal Teacher.
16. Scrap Wood Wall Art
This scrap wood wall art is a Texas wall hanging made from boards rescued from an alley. Enlarge a Texas outline to the size you want and print it in sections for a template. Cut the scrap boards to rough lengths and paint them in a few coordinating colors. Glue every board onto one sheet of masonite (quarter inch plywood works too) and let it set overnight so the boards hold together for cutting. Trace the template on top and cut the whole state with a jigsaw. Distress the edges, add a coat of poly and paint a little heart over a favorite city.
Get the full tutorial at Adventures In Creating.
17. Dallas Cowboys Yarn Wreath
This Dallas Cowboys yarn wreath starts with a 14 inch foam ring wrapped three full times in denim blue yarn, with the end glued down. Print a star and trace it onto the back of silver and blue glitter cardstock, cutting the silver one larger so it frames the blue. White wood letters with a little bling spell out the team name, and a wooden football goes on the side. Punch a hole in the star, hang it on thin white string and dab a bit of glue on the string so the star doesn’t spin each time the door opens.
Get the full tutorial at Pink Texas Chick.
18. Texas Wildflower Wedding Invitations
These Texas wildflower wedding invitations come from a custom stationery studio, and they are full of ideas for a DIY suite. The invitation carries a hand painted watercolor frame of bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, coneflowers, winecups and primrose spilling across the card and mirrored on the reply card. A playful script paired with a traditional serif keeps the type fun but readable. The standout detail is a watercolor crest wrapped in flowers with a tiny Texas icon, set off by kraft paper and warm brown tones that suit a rustic Hill Country venue.
Get the full tutorial at Whimsy Design Studio.
19. Big Wooden Custom Signs As Room Decor
Big wooden custom signs fill a large empty wall fast. These boards finish at 48 by 28 inches, and the designs are painted around custom vinyl stencils for a painted look rather than a sticker. The longhorn sign has jagged plank edges and a brown stain, with the longhorn painted in burnt orange through the stencil. Real worn wood would look great too. The finished signs are very heavy, so mount them with D rings on the back anchored into the wall, rated well over the sign’s weight.
Get the full tutorial at Capturing Joy.
20. How To Paint A Texas Bluebonnet
This lesson on how to paint a Texas bluebonnet is about looking before painting. Grab a basic watercolor set, colored or watercolor pencils and thick, absorbent paper. Study a single bluebonnet photo for several minutes and name what you see: a pointy white tip, light green where new buds pull away, blue and white half circles, then full cobalt pea shaped blooms that get sparser toward the bottom. Lightly sketch those shapes, a diamond for the tip and ovals below, then wet the brush and lay in green and blue a little at a time.
Get the full tutorial at Texas Hill Country Art.
21. Texas Flag DIY Reclaimed Wood
This Texas flag in reclaimed wood gets its crackle from plain school glue. Six boards from old shipping crates happened to match the flag’s proportions, so check yours against a flag proportion guide. Spread a thick coat of white glue with a foam brush, wait about 30 seconds and paint the color over it. Cracks appear within minutes on the blue and take longer on the white and red. Lay the glue on thick, especially on the red. Paint the star the next day the same way from a cardstock template, then join the boards with metal mending plates.
Get the full tutorial at Lady Ford's Guide to Everything.
