I needed to replace my small flag that I hang in my garden as it had gotten faded from light damage. This is my duct tape over a take-away-bag* version.

* ^{OK, I admit I have a few of these even though we use cloth bags at the grocery store...But sometimes I forget to have one of those bags in my car and I get one of these. I DO RECYCLE them faithfully and even use for crafts, as this example shows, but I FEEL GUILTY for having any of these in my eco-friendly, don't even use napkins, household.}

Step 1: Needs

take away plastic bag
duct tape in flag colors
scissors
sharpie/permanent marker

optional: flag to copy

Step 2: Tape It Up!

I. Take handles and fold in half. Tape over to make loops to hang flag. Tape along opening of bag to close (and not inflate with the wind).

II. Use duct tape to cover both sides. I used my old flag as a reference. It happened that my old flag and bag were very close to the same size.

III. Use permanent marker, I used a silver sharpie marker to draw any small details like stars.

IV. Display!

Step 3: Tips

Boldly tear: I tore my duct tape in half for my stripes. I found that if you "boldly" tear, it works better than small careful jerks.

Hide your mistakes: I didn't mess up on my stars- or actually where I messed up, I hid it successfully. No one is going to take that much time to critique things like your inner critic. And the true artist is one who knows how to hid their mistakes!

If it doesn't work out, try again!: I made a smaller version for my car antenna. It looks great. But when I drove the car it seemed to whip around a lot more than I was comfortable with, so I cut it off before I broke my antenna. I figure I put it up too high and I just need to put down lower...

Step 4: Having Fun

This craft took me about 30 minutes to craft. It was fun! And I'll enjoy seeing the flag in the yard for much longer.

It is important to have fun when you're making things. Why else would you do it? I probably could've found another flag for less money even though most of the materials I already had, but it was more fun and creative to make my own.

And...my brain got exercised too. Counting and figuring out the placement of the stripes and stars. All of these things help my brain be healthy and gave me some fun problem solving.

Thanks for instructables for the opportunity to show and tell. First grade was a long time ago, but with instructables I get to do it all over again!