I have full blown spring fever which means I have been spending a lot of time on outdoor projects! One of the big things on my list has been a whimsical umbrella for our deck. We've got plans to spend a lot time on our deck this summer so I wanted something fun to create a little shade for our outdoor meals.
I was on a budget for this project and we also don't have lots of room for a giant umbrella so I went with this umbrella from IKEA, it was only $14.99 and it was about 63" which was perfect for our space.
I wanted to completely re-vamp the umbrella so I started by painting over everything! I used house paint and it took me two layers to get those green areas covered up.
Then I got busy adding details! I used Golden High Flow Acrylic Paint for this process. It's my favorite supply for doing line work with a brush on just about any surface. It has the consistency of ink but it's (VERY) permanent.
My plan was to paint a really decorative mandala that would compliment the pattern on the surface of our deck. This process was time consuming and took me DAYS to finish but the end result was totally worth it!
NOTE: For those who will ask- no I did not seal it. We get so much rain here (even in the summer) that I only plan on using the umbrella on sunny days. And no, I am not that worried about it fading. In fact, I welcome fading! My goal was to create a whimsical umbrella to last us for one or two summers.
