16 Upcycled Patriotic Décor Ideas

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Colorful closeup and feature image of two clothespin American flags in a pot of summer flowers. The flags are made of four painted red, white for stars and blue attached to a wood stick.

These patriotic décor ideas use recycled materials, thrift store finds, and Dollar Tree supplies to create simple, vintage-inspired Americana accents for your home.

1. Bowling Pin Upcycle

These striped bowling pins have a classic vintage feel. The chipped red, white, and blue paint adds just the right amount of character and imperfection.

A large and a small bowling pin shown with red white and blue stripes and DIY Patriotic decor idea.
Stripey Bowling Pins

2. Thrifted Flag Holder

Look for chunky wood post caps or old finials that can be drilled to hold small flags for a simple patriotic display. Flea Markets and estate sales are great places to snag architectural salvage. You could also buy and stain a new chunky post top at the home improvement store for a similar look.

Easy patriotic decor ideas using a Flag holder made from a vintage wood post cap from an old set of wood stairs, filled with American Flags.
Large Wood Post Cap Flag Holder

3. Rusty Star Tin Table

I found this large rusty red tin at an antique store and immediately knew it would be the perfect top for an old table pedestal I’d been saving.

Red large tin with white stars used to make a pedestal table. The bottom pedestal a navy blue.

4. Glassware

Thrift stores and even Dollar Tree are awesome places to snag inexpensive glassware. Group pretty red, white, and blue glassware on a shelf or onto a tray to use as a centerpiece.

Clear glassware on a shelf in red, white and blue is another no-fuss patriotic decor idea.
Red, White, and Blue Glassware.

5. Vintage Pan Lid Flag Holder

Using vintage pan lids and a bit of spray paint, I created a simple flag holder for the porch. The bottom lid already had a white finish and red stripe, so I only painted the top lid blue and added U.S.A. vinyl lettering. Find more repurposed pot lid ideas here.

Photo of two vintage pan lids, blue on top, white with red trim on the bottom. U.S. Flag inserted into the two handles. Pan Lids repurposed to make a flag holder which is shown hanging on a porch post with blue sky in the background.

6. License Plate Holder

Shape an old license plate around a round object to create an easy Americana-inspired décor piece for flags or flowers.

Texas, red white and blue license plate rounded to make a holder. Here It has a flag in it but you could use it for flower or anything you dream up!
Patriotic license plate holder.

7. Painted Baseball Vase Filler

Fill a basket or vase with a few old baseballs painted with stars and stripes. You may already have some tucked away in the garage.

Basket of worn baseballs painted blue with areas of blue stars and red stripes.

8. Patriotic Duct Tape Garland

Use duct tape and wooden beads to make a simple garland. Fold a long strip of duct tape over baker’s twine, then cut it into a triangle for pennant-shaped flags.

Photo of red and blue duct tape flags garland with small to medium white wood beads separating the flags, hanging on an old window pane.
Patriotic Duct Tape Garland

9. Scrap Wood Signs

Use scrap wood from your garage to create simple rustic signs for patriotic décor. I’ve also made versions for every season and am sharing the SVG files. Find the full sign tutorial and download the free SVG stencil art files here.

Two finished wood block signs shown with EST. 1776 & AMERICA on them with two small american flags in the background.
Scrap Wood Signs

10. Wood Block Fire Crackers

Here’s another scrap wood idea: blocky firecrackers. I love them in muted colors, but bright pops of red and blue work just as well. Make a version using thick wood dowels for a slightly different look.

A patriotic decor idea that I found atht he antique store! Photo shows a Tall square, hand painted fire crackers with rope for fire cracker top. Set of three shown.
Scrap wood firecrackers.
Photo of hand painted firecrackers in a bundle of three tied with raffia and made out of dowels. The paint is sanded to give a chippy, rustic look and each has a tuft made from shredded twine for the lighter top. The tallest one is white with a red vertical stripe, the second is blue with white stars and the third and smallest in the set of three is red.
Decorative firecrackers made from dowels.

11. Wicker Baskets

Pick up a wicker basket at the thrift store and paint it red, white, and blue to hold linens or pillows.

Easy patriotic decor idea to paint a plain wicker basket with red, white and blue stripes on the inside and outside. Basket shown with a white blanket inside.
Painted Wicker Basket

12. Pop Can Planters

Soda cans make great little planters! Just remove the tops with a can opener and punch a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage.

Coke and Pepsi soda cans turned planters and placed in a wood holder with sparklers in front.
Pop Can Planters

13. Vintage Croquet Wind Chime

Repurpose mismatched croquet mallet pieces to make a quirky wind chime. The top is an old aluminum utility light, but wood spindles, dowels, or other found pieces work just as well in place of croquet parts.

Photo of a wind chime made out of salvage croquet set pieces and an old utility light for a top, painted red, white and blue.
Vintage Croquet Salvage Wind Chime

14. Clothespin Flags

Make clothespin flags to add a bit of warmth and nostalgia to your flower pots or patriotic centerpieces.

This easy patriotic decor ideas features american flags made from four clothespins that were painted like a flag and clipped to a stick.
American Flags Made From Clothespins

15. Marbled Mason Jar Solar Lights

Try this easy mason jar craft to add a soft glow to your home or porch. These simple solar lights come together in just a few minutes using Dollar Tree supplies. Find the full marbled solar lights tutorial here.

Photo of two finished red, white, and blue Marbled Mason Jar Solar Lights with beaded handle.
Marbled Mason Jar Solar Lights

16. Wine Cork Star

Learn how to make this patriotic wine cork star. You’ll find more creative ways to use wine corks here.

Wine cork star decoration shown on a vintage wood clipboard. The patriotic star had different red beads at the corners and is strung from the clipboard with a blue ribbon.

17. Spindle Stick Flags

Make vintage-style flags using old or new spindles. I had a few left over from another project, so I turned them into simple flag sticks by attaching store-bought flags, painting the spindles white, and finishing them with a wood bead on top.

Star divider used has two hand drawn lines with a star in the center, used as a content break and signals new or different content below. This doodle style illustration is in a medium charcoal gray.

– MORE TO EXPLORE –

Cork Sailboats + Sweet Pineapple Crafts + Three-Tiered Tray DIY

Square feature image of two DIY Cork Sail Boats with patriotic sails.
Feature photo for 8 pineapple crafts roundup post that shows an overhead photo of a wicker basket with four white fabric napkins with jute napkin rings in the center that feature colorful fuchsia, spring green, yellow and orange pineapple silhouettes. This is just one of eight easy pineapple crafts in this series to brighten up your home.
Square feature image of a tall 3-tiered tray made from candy and cookie vintage tins on a desk with vintage postcards in the background.
Square feature image of two DIY Cork Sail Boats with patriotic sails.
Cork Sailboats
Feature photo for 8 pineapple crafts roundup post that shows an overhead photo of a wicker basket with four white fabric napkins with jute napkin rings in the center that feature colorful fuchsia, spring green, yellow and orange pineapple silhouettes. This is just one of eight easy pineapple crafts in this series to brighten up your home.
Sweet Pineapple Crafts
Square feature image of a tall 3-tiered tray made from candy and cookie vintage tins on a desk with vintage postcards in the background.
Three-Tiered Tray DIY

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