Kid Painted Umbrella (Mother's Day Gift Idea)

Lately Chuck and I have been painting... a lot... and I thought I'd take his artwork up a notch.  So I let him paint one of my umbrellas!  What?  What?  Well, it's always fun working on projects involving bigger and different objects.  Plus, Mother's day is coming up, so I thought that this painted umbrella would make a lovely handmade gift. 

Mother's Day Gift Idea- Kid Painted Umbrella

Painting an umbrella is a great way to showcase your child's artwork... plus, it's super fun.  (Chuck also had a blast painting it.)  Rainy days are always kind of a downer, so opening up an umbrella and seeing a beloved child's artwork will surely brighten up someone's day.   Now let's get painting!

Materials Needed to Paint Umbrella 

 

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• Craft Paint
• Fabric Medium
• Umbrella 
• Paint Brushes
• Scrap paper/ plastic (to protect your work space)
• Containers (to hold paint)

How to Paint an Umbrella

1.  Cover your work area.  (We always work in our living room, so this step is really important.  I didn't want a pink couch!)

2.  Mix your craft paint and fabric medium together to make fabric paint. (The ratio is written on the bottle of fabric paint.)

3.  Give your child a paintbrush and let him go for it!

(I let Chuck paint most of it, and then I had to jump in because it looked like fun.  So I added the dots.  He then started copying me and adding dots too.)

4.  Let your umbrella dry open overnight.  Voila!  Painted umbrella!

Hrmm... the design and color pallete remind me of the lovely pink blossoms outside our building.  What do you think?

Now I know what you're asking yourself right now.... Leslie, will the paint stay on the umbrella?  I'm worried that it's going to run off!

Well concerned friend, I'll post updates on this post once we've used the umbrella a couple of times.  But, I did run some preliminary tests in our shower.  Our paint job withstood 5 minutes under super strong water pressure.  Nothing came off.  But, if you're still worried,  you could always paint your design on the inside of the umbrella.  Just be sure to cover the umbrellas ribs with some blue tape to protect them from being painted.

Psst- Interested in other ways to paint umbrellas?

• Rain Rain Go Away Umbrella 
• Paint Your Own Galaxy Umbrella

Happy painting!  (And if you try this out, I'd love to see the designs your kids painted!)