DIY cocktail umbrellas

Cute mini umbrellas for bright and cheerful summer drinks

Our love of tiny cocktail umbrellas goes right back to our childhood when they were used as decoration in our ice cream desserts. Sometimes, we even took them home and stored them carefully as keepsakes. These bright little paper parasols are a touch of fun and perfect for livening up summery cocktails and lemonade drinks. Handmade in delicate pastel shades, they look rather effective and create a light and summery feel. We used the edding 1340 brush pens to decorate our umbrellas with quirky quotes and amusing sentiments. These brush pens are available in 20 vibrant colours, either individually or in the Colour Happy Box. And thanks to their flexible brush tip, you can vary the pressure and create fine or broad strokes to instantly give your writing a beautifully expressive calligraphic style.

Category: Summer
Products: Fibre and felt pens
Materials: Paper, carton and cardboard
Difficulty: Easy peasy
Downloads: Images (ZIP)

Step-by-step

Step 1

To make the umbrellas, you’ll need paper circles in different colours measuring 8 cm across. The simplest way to make these is with a compass or by drawing round a cup or other round object as a template.

Think of a quote or suitable statement. In our example, we’ve written “You are the Gin to my Tonic”. Using the edding 1340 brush pen, write the words on the paper in a circular shape. Vary the pressure as you draw to create both fine and broad strokes. By doing so, you’ll make your writing really expressive.

Step 2

Make a cut in the paper as far as the centre, bring the edges together to make a cone shape, glue the edges together – and there you have it! Your first umbrella! Leave to dry for a short while.

Step 3

Turn the umbrella over, put a drop of glue in the centre and glue the wooden skewer in position. Leave to dry thoroughly before putting them to use in your summer drinks.