I can't believe that May isn't even over and I am breaking out the 4th of July crafts already! But I know it will be here before I know it so I mine as well get crackin' at some point.

I can't remember exactly when it was that I heard "God Bless America" for the first time, but it was fairly recently. At least, the first time I recall it making such an impression on me. I honestly can't remember what the reason was, but if memory serves me right, I believe some of the members of Congress sang it after 9-11. But in any case, I fell in love with this song. I love our national Anthem, but I LOVE "God Bless America." Probably because it isn't over sung and the message is still one of unity and patriotism.

So when contemplating what I wanted to add to my 4th of July decor this year, I couldn't get that song out of my head. As a result, using vinyl from Expressions Vinyl, I created this beauty:

First I designed my entire board in the Silhouette software.

Before you cut though, be sure to remove one of the text layers and only cut one color at a time.

After I cut my vinyl and weeded it, I discovered the most amazing thing! Before all vinyl was on white backing paper.Expressions Vinyl now uses blue backing paper for their white vinyl!! HURRAY! It is so much easier to weed and see the white vinyl now!

I took a scrap piece of wood that I had, mixed my red paint with water to thin it a bit and painted it. I only wanted one thin layer of paint for this project and adding water to my craft paint worked perfectly!

After it was dry, I sanded my edges.

Next, apply the vinyl, one layer at a time.

I find that if I pull off my transfer tape at an angle, my vinyl hardly ever sticks to it and it adheres really nicely to the wood.

This was such a fun and simple project and I can't wait to display it in my home!

This project was made using the following vinyl from Expressions Vinyl:
~Oracal 631 Dark Blue~Oracal 631 White