Taming the umbrellas

Boys can be very hard on things! Our last umbrella holder was pottery and purchased at a very nice price at the local thrift store. Unfortunately, slamming umbrellas into pottery soon makes for a broken bottom - discovered when I was vacuuming one day. Of course, no one would "fess" up, and it didn't really matter anyway. I looked online for a metal holder, but they are quite pricy, and checked every thrift and antique store I went into. I the meantime, I used my tallest basket, which was ok, but the contents had to lean on the wall to stay in the basket.

After dropping my oldest boy at college orientation in June, I found this at a country antique store. Not sure what it is - someone thought it could be a military shell casing? This metal tube has a lip on the top and the inside bottom is rounded. It was painted dull black with decals of eagles, very much late 1970 decorating style. My hubbie used his grinder to get the paint and decals off. We found a patented mark from 1928 on the side and some other words.

 

Some black spray paint - Krylon hammered style

The finished product - with umbrellas and lacrosse sticks - unbreakable!