Behold ba beautiful biodegradable brelli. I spotted this over on Inhabitat, fell in love, and had to share. It looks amazing and isn’t that expensive, considering how beautifully crafted it is. It was raining and windy a few nights ago in NY, and the street was littered with broken umbrellas that had blown inside-out or were cheap and poorly made. And now they’re going to sit in a landfill for 20 years or something. Get a brelli.
While we’re on the topic of new developments in the world of umbrellas, check out this video. It’s the nubrella.
Ok, one more thing. I spray painted and stenciled some umbrellas for a craft swap I hosted for Valentine’s Day on the Free People blog. I hope my swap partners liked them. I think they came out pretty cool. The pictures kinda stink, but I was late for work and shot them on my fire escape.
If you’re curious about the process, I bought the umbrellas at Uniqlo on Broadway. I found these amazing plastic lace place mats at Pearl River and used them as a stencil. And then I cut some hearts out of acetate with an exacto and used that for another stencil. I had some scraps of ribbon that I sewed on the strap, and added some satin ribbon with a few beads to dangle above the handle. What do you think? Cute?
9 responses so far ↓
elaine // March 17, 2008 at 2:58 am
Wow–I want a Brelli now!
And I like your stenciled umbrella too….very original.
laurenlaroooo // March 17, 2008 at 4:24 am
i heart your breller idea…i’m sure your swap buddies loved what they got despite their lateness!
Eddie // March 18, 2008 at 4:48 am
My girlfriend is absolutely the best girl on the planet! She is puts the “oo” in cool, and she makes absolutely stellarly fantabulous, saturday morning potatoes!! They are so good that my first word on saturdays is quite often this: “po…(more sleep as 5 seconds go by) potatoes.” And then she gets up and makes me potatoes like an Idaho champion! It’s pretty rad. And we also have the best snack times. So, in short, she’s a constant constellation, and I love looking up at the sky. hehe :O)
Fav. Cancelled TV Show: King of Queens!
Fav. Current Show: Lost!
Least Fav. Commercial: The IO Digital Cable Commercial With the Pirates….we really hate that one…well…I freakin hate it with a passion, and it never goes away!! It’s on every channel!
Anyway…Katie rocks, and so you should probably read about what she thinks is cool more often :O)
+++eddie
Laura // March 20, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Oh my gosh. i wanna be your swap partner. those umbrellas are wicked cool.
Laura // March 27, 2008 at 1:16 am
ok i’m still thinking about these umbrellas of yours. why are you not selling them on etsy??
mermaidhair // March 27, 2008 at 11:47 am
Well, I really was quite inspired by these umbrellas Free People did. And I bought the original umbrella from Uniqlo, so I’d have to source them. I do have this idea for more beachy, parasol type umbrellas that would fit into the mermaidhair theme. I don’t know. I guess if I really wanted to sell them, I’d have to put a little more work into them. I’m so glad everyone likes them though!!!
Laura // April 7, 2008 at 2:15 pm
another Q; what did you use for stencils and where did you buy? unless of course this is a trade secret…
mermaidhair // April 7, 2008 at 9:27 pm
hey! no I wrote it in the post. The lace was a plastic lace place mat I bought at Pearl River. And for the hearts, I used some clear acetate sheets and cut the hearts out with an exacto knife. What are you making??
Laura // April 8, 2008 at 2:58 pm
oh duh. not making anything at the moment, just wanted to know…