pretty parasols

When I was a little girl my grandmother would often walk me to or from school. Whenever it was sunny she always showed up with two parasols, one for her and a little one for me. I loved walking around with my parasol, I think it was a red plaid one, and even today I can't resist picking up a pretty one to add to my collection.

 

I still can't wait for the first rain so I can use one of my umbrellas. Many of which have accumulated in the trunk of my car. I wish more ladies used them here in sunny California like they seem to in the south. I think there is some strange unspoken rule that says umbrellas are just for the rain and only little old ladies use them on a sunny day. How silly is that?

I have been revisiting my parasol fascination again and I recently came across this really fun project at Dollar Store Crafts.

It looks super easy. I really wanted to make one first before posting it but I couldn't wait to share. I'm also still on a hunt for the right umbrella. So here is the project. Thank you to Disney from Ruffles & Stuff for creating it.

Materials:

• boring old umbrella (on hand)
• Dollar Store shower curtain liner $1
• An old button

Cost Estimate: $1

1) First you want to measure all the way around the bottom of your umbrella, and double it for how much curtain liner you will need (plus extra for a flower, and top ruffles). For example, my umbrella was 120" around, and I cut four 2" sections that were the full length of the curtain, for a total of about 280 inches. No need to add seam allowance because it doesn't unravel! Yay!

2) Then sew a straight stitch (on your machine's longest stitch length) down the middle of all the strips, and pull the bottom thread to gently gather.

3) Hand stitch them onto your umbrella, wherever you like! So easy!!

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I also wanted to share another beautiful wedding with you. This one was posted on Green Wedding Shoes. What I love about this wedding isn't just the way they used all these beautiful parasols...

...but the theme for the wedding was also a vintage carnival! So if you need a little inspiration for your carnival booth take a look at what this couple did. I also added links to Le Mysterieux Carnival's homepage under CURIOSITIES. You'll find another amazing carnival wedding, artists and even an old  TV series about a mysterious dark carnival.

Hope you're having a great week. It's been crazy hot here, 110 this weekend and our air has been bad due to several wild fires. Good time to stay indoors and work on our blog party!