Beach Umbrella Topiary

The beach is one of my happy places–whether on the east coast, the west coast, or Hawaii (which truthfully might be my favorite beach of all), I love sitting in the sand and listening to the sounds of the ocean brushing against the shore.  And this DIY umbrella topiary helps me bring that beach feeling back to my house. I thought it would be so cute as a decoration for an ice cream party because who doesn’t love ice-cold ice cream on a beach day?

Supplies needed to make this project:

• FloraCraft® Make It: Fun® Foam: Disc – 10″ diameter
• FloraCraft® StyroCutter® Plus
• Acrylic Paint
• Foam Brush
• Wooden Dowel
• Container
• Vase Filler

Instructions:

First, use a marker to draw the scallop of the underside of the umbrella before cutting it. Then, following the packaging instructions, cut along the scalloped line.  Let the tool do the work for you, if the wand is bending, you’re pressing too hard.  (This picture is of half of the disc after it was cut, but I ended up using the other half for my umbrella shape.)

Once the umbrella shape is cut, you can start to paint. I chose three bright colors, but you could use any colors you want. You could even cut more scallops on the umbrella if you wanted to use more colors. It’s up to you!

I chose to leave a little space between the colors to give it a color break and to define the different “panels” of the umbrella.

When the paint was completely dry, I pushed a wooden dowel rod into the umbrella. I chose to leave the dowel a natural wood color, but you could paint it if you wanted to do that. Then I placed it into a foam scrap inside my container, filled it with some sprinkles and placed it on the counter with ice cream dishes.

The only thing left to do is scoop the ice cream and we are summer party ready! Doesn’t the umbrella just make the space summery and fun?