Reclaimed Wood Flag

I have traded in my sewing machine for power tools!
For the past couple of weeks, I have had a few wood projects in the works. One of which was to make my own wood flag inspired by this wooden flag. Here is how I made my own:

I started with reclaimed cedar fence boards.
First, I cut four 6 foot boards in half with a chop saw.

Then sanded each board.

Next, I had my hubby rip all 4 boards on the table saw.

After sanding the fresh cut edges, I painted 13 sticks - following the layout of our flag.

Making sure everything looked good when pushed together, I flipped it over...

and attached two boards vertically to the back to hold all the pieces together.

For the stars, I stenciled on 5 rows of 6 stars and 4 rows of 5 stars.

It looked good up to this point but I had one more step to complete...

which was to sand it in places to give it a slightly worn and weathered look.