Oh no, Jamie! Once We painted the stars and stripes I sanded them by hand very lightly. I hesitate to even call it sanding because you really are just applying enough pressure to give the stars a slight distressing. I wouldn’t recommend using an electric sander. Hang in there! If they’re too distressed, I would just add a little more paint to them, let them dry really well to make sure the paint is adhering well and give the sanding another go. Use very very light pressure!