How to Decorate Vintage Umbrella on Door?

I used a heavy duty hook for the door, thinking that the wind may move the parasol around a little and wanted to be sure it hung on well. (that’s actually the same hook I used this Christmas for the deer antlers I hung in the living room)
They’re super easy to install, the sticky strip is marked which side goes to the back of the hook and which goes to the wall or door. It recommends you put it on and let it set for a while before you put weight on the hook.

Once the back was placed on the door, I just slid the hook part over it, it gently snaps into place over the back.

Ta-da it’s done. When it’s time to remove the hook, slide the hook part back up, and pull the tab of the sticky strip straight down and it just stretches and like magic completely comes off, not a spot of sticky residue! I love them and how great they’ve worked for me inside and out. (I used them at our former house on the pair of french doors too)
Ok, now back to the actual decoration…
Here’s the vintage parasol, it really is cute with the wooden handle. then I grabbed a bunch of faux flowers from the dollar tree… which again, may be part of the issue with this too… I think just white flowers of a little better quality would have worked better…

I wanted the parasol to look kind of full in it’s half-closed state of hanging on the door, so I stuffed some plastic grocery bags inside it.

Then I grabbed my collection of new and vintage ribbons, most of which I bought on Ebay a few years ago… what a great resource for fun vintage ribbons!

To keep the bouquet together and not wind up having a stem or two slip down into the parasol, I bundled them together, (I couldn’t find my florist wire, so I just tied them with jute twine)
That was it… I then stuffed the flowers in the top of the parasol, tied the teal ribbon around the middle of it and…

hung it on the door.
But
I gotta say, I don’t ‘love’ it…
I think it’s a combination of the bright colors and cheap flowers… it’s just not my favorite.
I do love the wooden handle of the parasol though, if that’s worth anything.

It’s still hanging on the door, I’m going to go look for some white, better quality flowers and see if I can make it work. Otherwise, consider it for sale! (you like it? it’s your… if I can get my $25 back out of it, I’d be thrilled, ha ha)

That’s just how it goes sometimes, even for designers… some things are a miss. And I’m not too proud to say that it happens to me too. But I’m also not afraid to keep trying new stuff in design and decorating. To me that what it’s all about, trying new things and see what one likes and how to achieve it.
Maybe a vintage umbrella on door look at our 100 year old house, just isn’t going to be pleasing to my eye, or maybe it’s the colors that need to be changed, or maybe it’s the flowers… One thing for sure though, I’ll keep trying, and figure out just what will please my eye.
Click here to read more about the front door and porches at our 100 year old house.

Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post! GO