15 Memorial Day Crafts to Celebrate & Honor Our Heroes
Get ready to show your red, white, and blue pride with these 15 patriotic Memorial Day crafts! This collection of craft ideas features a variety of projects suitable for all skill levels, from crafts and activities for kids to fun and easy decorations for a Memorial Day event.
So grab your supplies and get ready to celebrate Memorial Day - there's a perfect project here for everyone! (These patriotic crafts would also work well for the 4th of July, Veterans Day, and other holidays.)
1. Felt Poppies
First up, this project from All Things G&D teaches you how to make poppies out of red felt in honor of fallen soldiers.
The poppies can be made in different sizes and styles, either open and large/medium sized with two petals sewn together in the center, or small and closed by rolling up a single petal and tying it with string.
You can use these felt poppies to decorate a Memorial Day wreath or tie them to a bucket to bring to a parade. They're also a great Memorial Day kids' craft for older children. Get tutorial here
2. Easy Shutter Flag
This tutorial describes a quick and easy way to paint shutters to look like American flags.
Diana recommends painting the side of the shutter without the tilt rod and using a small foam brush to paint the stripes.
She then uses a paint pen to add stars and finish the shutters with a clear sealer so they can be displayed indoors or outdoors. Get tutorial here
3. Flower Pot Uncle Sam
Next, Chas' Crazy Creations demonstrates how to make a patriotic Uncle Sam decoration from three terracotta pots.
Paint a large pot flesh-toned and add a face. Cover a medium pot in red and white stripes to resemble his jacket. Slide a white shirt over a small pot for the hat.
Stack the pots and glue them together. For finishing touches, hot glue a bowtie, belt, denim shirt, and hands on your Uncle Sam, or add a hat or plant flowers in his head. Get tutorial here
4. Rustic Stick Flag
For a more rustic look, Lisa from Recreated Designs shows how to make a United States flag using sticks from your backyard.
First, gather sticks and cut them into various sizes. Paint a scrap piece of wood blue for the background.
Then arrange and glue the sticks onto the painted wood. Finally, glue small wooden stars onto the flag to complete the design. Get tutorial here
5. Americana Scarf Wreath
This project by Dawn Stewart from Craftidly shows how to make a patriotic-colored wreath in under 15 minutes using a dollar store laundry basket cut to form the base.
Wrap red infinity scarves and a blue patterned scarf around the base, securing them with safety pins. Decorate with a bow and other embellishments and hang on your front door. Get tutorial here
6. American Flag Door Hanger
Next, Beth @CreativelyBeth creates a vintage ruler American flag door hanger. You'll need wooden signs, yardsticks, a vintage ruler, paint, and hardware.
First, sand and prep the wood. Paint the sign brown, some yardsticks white, and others red. Next, antique the remaining yardsticks with brown paint.
Finally, assemble the pieces by attaching eye hooks and arranging them on the sign to resemble a flag. Get tutorial here
7. Pizza Pan Flag
This simple craft project by Shelly L Nemeth shows you how to make a patriotic wreath/sign using a dollar store pizza pan.
Cover the pan with scrapbook paper cut into stripes and stars. Layer and tie ribbons to create a bow in the center.
String beads onto twine and thread them through holes drilled in the pan to hang it in your home. Get tutorial here
8. Patriotic Garden Sign
For a naval twist, this tutorial from Nancy Ludwig shows you how to make a patriotic garden sign with an anchor motif.
Paint ten garden stakes red, white, and blue. Glue the stakes together in a red-white-blue pattern, with an extra half-painted blue stake for support on the back.
Then glue two layers of red, white, and blue bottle caps onto the front of the sign in a staggered pattern. Finally, drill holes and screw the support stake to the back for stability. Get tutorial here
9. Stars and Stripes Wine Glasses
This tutorial teaches you how to make festive wine glasses for the 4th of July or other American celebrations, such as Memorial Day.
You can create a fireworks design with splattered paint or a stars and stripes design with star stickers and painted stripes.
After painting your design, cure the glasses in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to set the paint. Get tutorial here
10. Patriotic Pickle Jar
Mary Ann Goldberg turns a pickle jar into a patriotic decoration in this fun project.
First, paint clear stones white if needed and coat the jar with Mod Podge. Then, glue a small American flag to the jar.
The key to attaching mosaic stones in a red, white, and blue pattern is to use a double dose of glue: E6000 for adhesion and hot glue to hold the stones in place while the E6000 dries.
Finally, fill the jar with clear marbles to stabilize the flag. Get tutorial here
11. Patriotic Felt Wreath
This tutorial from My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies creates a patriotic felt wreath.
Cut out many teardrop shapes from red, white, and blue felt. Overlap the short ends of each teardrop to create a petal shape, then secure them with straight pins to a straw or Styrofoam wreath form, working your way from the outside in a scallop pattern.
Finish with blue felt pieces and white star stickers. Get tutorial here
12. Red, White and Blue Bandana Wreath
This fun and easy Memorial Day craft involves making a patriotic wreath using bandanas and a foam wreath form.
Fold red, white, and blue bandanas into strips and secure them to the wreath form with wire. Scrunch the fabric to create volume.
Glue white star stickers onto the blue bandanas for extra detail. Finally, add a dot of glue to secure the bandana ends and fluff out the bottom pieces. Get tutorial here
13. Dollar Store Mesh Wreath
For another easy Memorial Day craft, take a look at this patriotic wreath made using dollar store supplies.
Cut red, white, and blue mesh into strips and attach them to a wire wreath form using floral wire. Alternate the colors to resemble the United States flag.
Add artificial flowers for extra detail and hot glue a plaque to the center of the wreath. Get tutorial here
14. DIY American Flag Build
Next, Gabe builds a wooden American flag challenge coin holder for a veteran. It's made from pine boards and painted red, white, and blue.
The stripes are individual boards 1 13/16" thick, representing the 13 colonies.
The blue union rectangle with stars is measured carefully for accuracy. Stars are individually cut from a template. Get tutorial here
15. Patriotic Pallet Flags
Finally, this tutorial creates 3 non-traditional pallet flags. The first uses various colors of paint and stain to create a distressed look.
Paper mache stars are nailed on for embellishment. The second uses a grapevine wreath spray painted white and hung on a pallet with a nail.
The third uses a metal star spray-painted white, stained, and nailed to a pallet. Get tutorial here
