kinda rustic, kinda fancy, Americana initial wall decor

My cousin Daniel returned from the Middle East in April, reunited with his wife, and all within a couple of months had completed his enlistment and moved back home to Ohio.  All just in time for a Fourth of July party at his parents house.

Little did Daniel & Bethany know, it was also a surprise housewarming shower for them!  I decided to make a holiday wall hanging for them.  Which holiday?  Fourth of July of course!!!

I started with...

...their last name initial, a flower like I made for the wedding, some lace, red paint, Mod Podge, seed beads...

I mixed the seed beads with Mod Podge and put that in the middle of the flower.  

When it dried all you could see were the seed beads and they all stuck together.

I had beads left over, so I covered it with cling wrap, just in case...

I sanded the S down and painted it red.  It wasn't quite what I wanted I wanted, so I dry painted some gold onto the edges.  It gave it an "aged" or "shabby chic" look to it.

Using the Mod Podge, I put the lace on part of the S.  

I was disappointed that once it was all dried, the lace was kind of translucent.  

But it was still there, and I did like it.

I put some of those seed beads in the Mod Podge that I had left over, and put them on the edge of the letter, for a little extra shimmer.

I used super glue to glue the flower onto the the lace.

All in all, I think it turned out great.

And, guess what?  Bethany said that she is decorating her kitchen in red, white, and blue!