Alright, I’m admittedly a little late in the summer for an outdoor decor post, but this tasseled outdoor umbrella is just too cute to hold onto until next spring when outdoor stuff starts going back in the stores. The bright side…if you don’t already have an umbrella that you want to makeover, they’re on major sale right now. Also, temperatures will be cooling off soon, which makes it so much easier to work.
I’ve been eyeing a tasseled umbrella from Frontgate for years now. I’m a huge fan of tassels (you can check out this post or this one to see a couple of projects where I’ve used them), but the $1000 price tag on their umbrella wasn’t going to be possible. Luckily, this is a fairly simple DIY!
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Here’s what you’ll need:
- Outdoor Umbrella
- 4 Spools of Nylon Crochet Thread
- 3 Rolls of Satin Ribbon
- Water Shield Spray
- Needle & Thread (I matched the color of the umbrella)
- Glue (I had E6000 on hand)
I started by making 26 tassels with the nylon crochet thread. I chose a nylon thread because of its water resistance so they would dry quickly after it rains. The number of tassels may sound a little intimidating, but each tassel only takes 2-3 minutes to make. I made them over the course of a few days, probably working on them for about 30-45 minutes at a time. If you haven’t made tassels before, they’re very easy, and I have a detailed tutorial on how to make them on this tasseled blanket post. I used a 4 inch piece of cardboard that I wrapped 150 times for each tassel. I also left about a 5 inch tail that I used to tie them onto the umbrella.
Once I was done with the tassels, I started working on the ribbon that they would hang from on the umbrella. I was not able to find nylon ribbon that I liked, but I found a polyester satin that I sprayed with a water shield to help it dry faster. I completely unrolled the ribbon from the spool, laid it on a large piece of cardboard that I use for painting in my garage, and lightly sprayed both sides of the ribbon. The instructions said that it only needed one coat of the spray and that seems to be working well so far.
After I sprayed the ribbon, I started pinning it to the umbrella. My umbrella tilts, which makes it a little easier to work with.
I pinned the ribbon to the umbrella in 8 sections on the long sides and 5 on the short sides letting the ribbon hang a few inches below the umbrella. Once I pinned the ribbon into place I secured each spot with 3 small stitches.
Once again I put one of our house guests to work when she came to visit us. One of my best friends came up all the way from Texas for a girls’ weekend to Cape Cod (check out our trip here and here…we weren’t prepared for a wind chill factor of 55 degrees F in July!!!), but before we could leave I really wanted to get done with this project. She was a huge help to get all the tassels tied onto the umbrella. She’s also an amazing photographer and gave me some great photography tips. If you live in North Texas, and have a high school senior looking for their senior photos, check out Corrie Barto Photography. Make sure to tell her how impressed you are with her knot tying skills!
We tied the tassels with square knots. The nylon thread is a little slippery, and I noticed very quickly that the tassels kept getting loose and falling off, so a dab of glue on the knot with a toothpick works great to keep the knots tied.
We’ve been updating the balcony that overlooks the backyard quite a bit this summer, but this is by far my favorite project! I spent about $120 on this project, including the umbrella, so I’m pretty happy with a savings of $880 off the cost of my inspiration umbrella. Have you finished up your summer projects, or do you still have anything in the works? I love taking advantage of the summer clearance sales, so this is one of my favorite times to buy outdoor decor!
Don’t forget to pin it, so you’ll have it when you need it!
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Ivory says
I love this idea. I never saw this before, but I am so going to do this. Thank you for sharing.
Robin says
Thanks so much, Ivory! If you do it, send me a pic! I’d love to see what you do! Thanks for stopping by!
Ivory says
I will! Have a nice weekend
Christine says
Now that is how you style up an umbrella…Love it! If you have time, Iβd love it if you could share this with me and my co-hosts over at the Dishing It & Digging It Link Party, I think our followers would love it. It goes live at 4 pm est today. http://www.rustic-refined.com/ Have a great week!
Robin says
Of course, I love sharing and finding new link parties! Thanks so much for your sweet words!
Nikki says
I am so excited, I can hardly WAIT until I get home to look for supplies to do this! I absolutely love it. LOVE! You have made my day.
π gwingal
Robin says
Hi, Nikki! So sorry for just getting back to you, but I just wanted to let you know that when I read your comment it made MY day! Thank you so much!
Beverly says
Your tasseled umbrella looks great! You added lots of style to it. Pinning. Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle Sunday!
Robin says
You are so sweet, Beverly! Thank you!
Mary says
This is such a cute project and makes a big impact. I am pinning this for later!
Robin says
Thanks, Mary! It was great meeting you this weekend!
sherry says
I love this idea! These are the types of projects that I love. You have taken something and made it unique and your own. You need to link this up at mine and Nikki’s link party. It is Totally Terrific Tuesday. It goes live on Monday night around 9 and stays open to Saturday. I am following you on all Social Medias now. I am so glad that we connected this weekend!
Robin says
Hi, Sherry! Thank you so much! I loved meeting you at Haven! I usually do link up to Totally Terrific Tuesday but with all the craziness of last week I must have missed it. I will definitely be back to link up!