Making Umbrellas our of Fruit!

Making Umbrellas our of Fruit!

Morning!  
Megan Hoeppner here.... When it comes to fruit, I consider myself a fruit loop. I love the stuff, including this sweeter-than-sweet Fruit Basket Specialty Shaker Kit. So I admittedly surprised myself when I used the fruit dies for something other than fruit. I couldn’t resist. As soon as I set eyes on the citrus die, I thought “umbrella.” 
 
 
With beach photos to scrap, I knew this kit was just the ticket. For the larger umbrella, I die cut and positioned three fruit wedge outlines together to form the basic umbrella frame.
 
 
I then adhered the inner part of the wedges using foam adhesive for some added pop. A little pen outlining and distressing done with my fingernail gave the umbrella a bit more character, while a strip of paper and an epoxy dot worked to complete this shady scene. 
 
 
For the smaller umbrella, I adhered one of the foam pieces to the yellow paper in the 6 x 6 pad to create the base layer.
 
 
For the outer frame, I die cut a fruit slice from pink paper and trimmed away the fruit segments. 
 
 
Before adhering the top layer and clear shaker piece, I die cut another fruit slice from orange and used two of the triangles to give my umbrella a bit more character. 
 
 
Time for fruit shaker bits, because… well… because any project is more fun with a little shake, rattle and roll! Especially when the shaker contents are these DANG CUTE fruit pieces! With the pieces all in place, I sealed it all in using a plastic shaker top and my trimmed pink top layer. Oh, and a little lemon added a charming finishing touch to this bitty ‘brella! 
 
 
What beach scene is complete without a little fruit-garnished drink. I doodled the glasses and used watercolor paint to make these refreshers. The bitty fruit in this Queen kit was the perfect finishing touch! 
 
 
For the palm tree, I used the stem and leaf dies in the kit. I cut several leaves from the green paper in the pad and then trimmed fringe to give the leaves more of a palm feel. 
 
 
I added some paint and pen sketching inside the hollow “stems” making up the tree’s trunk. Wanting to give the tree a bit more texture, epoxy dots came to the rescue. We’ll just say these little green goodies are coconuts that have yet to ripen. ;) 
 
 
My final finishing touches include some watercolor streaks across the top for a sky effect and a watercolored title on a shipping tag, along with a few small letter stickers. 
 
 
I don’t know about you, but this page makes me wish we were back at the beach, fruity drink in hand, soaking up what’s left of our summer sun. I hope you final few weeks of summer are happy ones. Speaking of happy, if you’re looking for something happy to do this fall, I’d love for you to join me at Queen for a Day Tulsa. I’m thrilled to be teaching a class and hosting a make-and-take at this fun-filled paper party on Saturday, Sept. 9. Hope to see you there! <3 
 
Cheers!
Megan Hoeppner
 
Supplies Used
All supplies from the Fruit Basket Specialty Shaker Kit except those noted below:
 
Cardstock: American Crafts; Watercolor Paint, Water Brush: Close to My Heart; Letter Stickers; Webster’s Pages; Shipping Tag: Office Max; Sewing Machine: Brother; Pen: Sakura; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L