Now is the perfect time for a patriotic cross and we have a FREE tutorial for you! All the supplies are available at Trendy Tree right now, but when they sell out, you can take the idea and just choose different supplies.
Supplies
F19070 Cross
4154-B Blue Penta Blossom Bush
24178 Red Geranium Bush
62254SP24 Daisy Geranium Spray
RG0167224 2.4" Red God Bless America Ribbon - SOLD OUT - Substitute:
RG01671 2.5" Red Gingham God Bless America
RG01673 2.5" Striped God Bless America Ribbon
18191 2.5" Red Outdoor Velvet Ribbon
Our Favorite Tools
Gorilla Glue Sticks - https://amzn.to/38wlADB
7" Electric Skillet - https://amzn.to/2v2iTff
Flower Bush Cutter - https://shrsl.com/26wah
Steelpix Machine - https://amzn.to/39kYhNw
2 1/8" Steel Floral Picks - https://amzn.to/2wQHQLs
Spanish Moss - https://amzn.to/3dv0eu0
Styrofoam Blocks - https://amzn.to/2QKRsOM
4" Wired Wood Floral Picks - https://amzn.to/2wPMsBz
Cross
The cross is made of grapevine and wire and measures about 22-24" in ht. It is flat and fairly lightweight, making it a really good size for a smallish door or something like a nursing home door or wall. Every resident who has been sequestered in their room with no visitors deserves a patriotic cross on their door right now, so I'm sending this one to my sister.
The grapevine cross has a rusty metal star and we just cut this off. The red pip berries also came off but were easily reattached to the cross with floral wire.
Florals
Cut the florals with fairly short stems since they are being inserted into the grapevine cross and there is not a lot of thickness there. If we were going to make a large floral, we would have attached a piece of Styrofoam to the cross to use to hold the florals. But, for this patriotic cross, we didn't use too many florals so we just worked with hot glue and cut the stems short.
We used a liberal amount of hot glue. Gorilla glue sticks are our favorite brand of glue to use and there is a link above for that. We also use a small 8" electric skillet. Ours came from Amazon and the link is above. When you use an electric skillet to melt your glue sticks, just keep it on low and if the glue is smoking it's getting too hot. When you are finished with your project just let the glue cool and harden again and cover with the lid.
Bow
The red bow for the patriotic cross was about 10" in width and had tails of 12" We added an extra tail with a piece of the God Bless America ribbon and attached it to the back of the bow. Attach the bow to the cross with the chenille stem.
Summary
The patriotic cross was an easy project and simple enough that any beginner could do. This one will be boxed up and shipped and I know my sister will enjoy it. She loves getting packages and cards in the mail. This is so important, especially right now since visitors are not being allowed in nursing homes.
If you have someone if a nursing home, I encourage you to send cards, letters, just anything that lets the resident know that someone is thinking about them and they are not forgotten.
A few weeks ago before our traveling and shopping were limited, I made a run to Dollar Tree. You can pick up inexpensive items like hand cream, socks, lotion, lipstick, nail polish, note pads, pens, and pencils. Individually packaged snacks and candies are great too. I divided the items up into 6-7 packages and mailed one every 3-4 days. She was delighted when her packages started arriving. It's time now to go shopping again because we don't know how long the "no visitors" will last.
Also, don't forget that you can facetime, or video connect on Messenger. Using video chat has been so rewarding during this difficult time.
Thanks for visiting our blog. I hope this patriotic cross tutorial gives you more ideas. We have tons of wreath and floral supplies at Trendy Tree for just about any kind of project you can imagine.
More Tutorials
Easy Hand Tied Bow Tutorial
God Bless American Patriotic Wreath Tutorial
How to Make a Fabric Face Mask
I (Jeannie Pence) engage in affiliate marketing whereby I may receive funds through clicks to affiliate programs through this website or receive funds through the sale of goods or services on or through this website. I may also accept advertising and sponsorships from commercial businesses or receive other forms of advertising compensation. This disclosure is intended to comply with the US Federal Trade Commission Rules on marketing and advertising, as well as any other legal requirements which may apply.
