umbrella christmas tree

Umbrellas are an untapped craft supply (and one we need to visit soon – Umbrella Craft Week, anyone?). Over at Casa Montada, a Brazilian DIY blog, I spied this super cute umbrella Christmas tree. While you probably won’t find an umbrella this cute at the dollar store, I bet you can find a way to make a dollar store umbrella cute! (Spray paint & stencils? Stickers and pom-poms?). Combine your umbrella with a cheerful trash can and some simple bows. Note: you will have to translate the page, as it is written in Portuguese.  [check out the inspiration umbrella tree]

You can find similar trash cans at the dollar store, or use a colorful storage bin. To mount the umbrella in the trash can, I would fill the trash can with something heavy and stable like dry rice, beans, or rocks (or something else because I didn’t want to spend $5 on filler — trial and error would be the order of the day.). When you’re done, you can reuse the filler for another project. If I were making this project, I would spray-paint a dollar store umbrella green and then have fun decorating it with various embellishments. This could be a fun project for kids! What if they each had their own little umbrella tree? (Hmm, maybe I’m on to something here… I could try it with my own three little guinea pigs!)

Project Estimate:

  • Umbrella, $1
  • Trash can or colorful storage bin, $1
  • Ribbon, $1
  • Filler for bucket, on hand or $5-ish
  • (Optional) Spray paint, $3

Total: $3 and up

p.s. If you make this, please share photos and tell us how you mounted your umbrella!