TRAY 6 Umbrellas and More

Pantone has once again released their fashion color trend report by announcing the 2013 Pantone Spring Colors. Pantone also announced the office color of the 2013 year is Emerald. We have to admit, each of these color choices are swoon worthy and we’re totally inspired. Yellows, greens, reds & blues, oh my!

We’re ready to pair up our favorite colorful TRAY6 umbrellas with our top choices from the spring color report!

Poppy Red and our Fullsize Red Perch Stick Umbrella:
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Lemon Zest and our Yellow Tulip T6 Travel Umbrella:

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Nectarine and our Orange Blur Compact Umbrella: 

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Monaco Blue and our Rich Blue Bloom Compact Umbrella:

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Which Pantone color is your favorite? How are you pairing it with your spring fashion trends? Are you ready to take on spring rain showers in style?

Are you planning a baby shower and looking for a unique theme to delight the mom-t0-be? Why not throw an umbrella themed baby shower! We’ll share some cute baby shower ideas all centered around the umbrella below!

Baby Shower Umbrella Invitations.

Etsy is a great place to find unique baby shower invitations for your upcoming shower. Designers like moonscapehandmade sell adorable baby shower invites featuring this cute white umbrella & hearts raining down!

Sweet Umbrella Cookie Treats.

Sweet treats are a huge part of a baby shower. Contact your local bakery to help design adorable cookies to match the theme of your umbrella baby shower. Pink umbrellas for a baby girl and blue umbrellas for a little boy. These adorable green umbrella cookies were whipped up by Baking For Good. They’re almost too cute to eat!

Umbrella Favors.

Don’t forget favors for all your baby shower guests! Order up some blue umbrellas or pink umbrellas (depending on the baby’s gender) to keep your guests dry during the next rain shower they face! Perfect for a spring time shower!

At TRAY6 we believe in high fashion & high function when it comes to umbrella design. However, we’ve come across some interesting umbrella designs out there in the world. Some are quite funny. Some leave us scratching our heads. See for yourself.

Tandem Umbrella

Do you have a significant other that you find yourself the need to share your umbrella with? Why not take a note from designer Jasmine Rasnahan and enjoy this tandem black umbrella! Perfect for a romantic stroll in the rain.

White Cloud Umbrella

Want to blend in with the rainy day around you? Why not have this inflatable white cloud umbrella designed by Joonsoo Kim. While a cute rain umbrella – better hope for no sudden rain storms because this unique umbrella requires inflation for each use.

Black Golf Club Umbrella

Do you find yourself in the mood to hit golf balls of the tee every time it rains? Well this interesting umbrella has two features. When not in use as a basic black umbrella, you can whip it around and whack a few balls. Perfect for all your country club pals.

Samurai Sword Umbrella

Find yourself in the need to dual during a downpour? Well this umbrella tends to fool passerby’s into thinking you’re toting a samurai sword based on its sword like handle. Probably not the umbrella to tote through security at the airport!

At TRAY6 we deal with umbrellas on a daily basis. You probably encounter umbrellas on a daily basis as well – even if they are just stored away for a rainy day. So we thought we’d release some fun little facts about the good ole umbrella that you may not have known before! Here’s a little history on how the umbrella got its name!

An umbrella or parasol is a canopy designed to protect against rain or sunlight. The term parasol usually refers to an item designed to protect from the sun; umbrella refers to a device more suited to protect from rain. Often the difference is the material; as some parasols are not waterproof. Parasols are often meant to be fixed to one point and often used with patio tables or other outdoor furniture. Umbrellas are almost exclusively hand-held portable devices; however, parasols can also be hand-held.

The word umbrella comes from the Latin word umbra, meaning shade or shadow (the Latin word, in turn, derives from the Ancient Greek ómbros [όμβρος].) The word “umbrella” evolved from the Latin “umbella” (an “umbel” is a flat-topped rounded flower) or “umbra,” meaning “shaded.”

Now you can impress your friends with some fun new trivia!

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When you work with accessories that follow closely to fashion trends, we often look ahead at what might become the latest style & trend to hit the streets. This dictates future inspiration and designs that make their way into the TRAY6 design lab. Since fashion & accessories are often changing, we thought we’d make some fun predictions towards what 2012 will bring our way!

1. Purples are on their way out. Nipping at their heels are oranges. We think orange will play a big role in 2012 – in fashion and accessories. Prepare to see oranges, tangerines, & sunset making their debut everywhere.

2. Big bags are making a come back. While we’ve seen adorable clutches taking over the last year or so – the big bag will continue to reign king. A woman needs a place to store all  her goodies, as well as making a fashion statement wherever she goes.

3. Business casual is going to find itself far from the office. We’re predicting blazers continue to make their re-entrance to both the office & fashion world. Paired over a cute dress or even jeans and cute tee – your outfit is automatically taken to the next level. Add some bright red lipstick and you’re ready for a night on the town, or an all-nighter in the office.

4. The return of furs & leathers. Call it a tribute to our viking ancestors if you will, but we’re definitely seeing an increased trend in furs (faux of course!) and leather jackets being paired with sweet baby doll dresses making their way through the fashion magazine. We’re betting we’ll see longer & longer jackets as this trend rises – as well as tassels & fringe on matching bags & accessories.

5. Long is long gone. The era of the floor length maxi dress & gowns are gone. We predict in 2012 the hemline will continue to get higher & higher. Formal or fresh & casual – you’ll see these adorable above the knee dresses making their arrival known. More & more dresses are being made to pair to with shoes that can be shown off, instead of being hidden under a floor gracing gown.

Fashion plays a large part in the inspiration behind the designs in our umbrellas. We often draw from styles we see gracing magazines and runways, as well as every day fashion. We then pull out all the aspects that we love and create some truly unique and exciting patterns that end up on our umbrellas. But occasionally its hard to go in the reverse order – how can you make your TRAY6 umbrella work for your fashion needs? With holiday weathering often leaning towards needing an umbrella to get you from venue to venue, don’t fall back on that bland and boring old umbrella you have laying around. Be fierce with fashion and check out some of our fantastic holiday party looks that work around some of our favorite printed umbrellas. Take a peek!

The Romantic Holiday Party featuring the Love Love Love Stick  Umbrella

The Black Tie Holiday Party with the Black Pinstripe T6 Umbrella

The Unforgettable New Years Eve Holiday Party with the Perch Crimson Stick Umbrella

The Punk Rock Holiday Concert with the Pinwheel Stick Umbrella

Which look will you rock this holiday season?? 

Remember: We are currently offering FREE Shipping on orders over $75 from our site! Order by December 16th for Christmas delivery!

Now that you’ve finished making a list of stocking stuffers for all your favorite holiday helpers – we’re ready to unveil the second part of our gift guide. Check out all the fabulous finds we’ve compiled! We’ve got great gifts for your closest friends, the gadget geeks and even the foodies! Everything from cards to umbrellas to bags. Read on to see our official TRAY6 Gift Guide:

GIFT GUIDE

Personalized Stationery
Who’s It A Good Gift For: The Thoughtful Friend
What Makes It Great: That thoughtful friend is always the one to drop you a quick line when they’re thinking of you, they never miss a birthday and they always know just what to say in a letter to warm you heart. Why not get them something that says you’re thinking of them too? Personalized cards can be found all over the web these days and we fell in love with this print  by Tiny Prints.

A TRAY6 Gift Set
Who’s It A Good Gift For: The Practical Friend
What Makes It Great: Have that friend that seems to have everything? Why not get them a TRAY6 gift set? We take the guess work out of what looks good together and have these sets pre-prepared in all our hottest designs. Gift sets come with either umbrella and bag combinations or bag combinations.  There’s in a print in there for everyone on your list.

Chrome Clocky
Who’s It A Good Gift For: The Gadget Geek
What Makes It Great: This is one gift that’ll have your friends jumping out of bed to get their hands on! The Chrome Clocky is an alarm clock that gets inspired to hide every time you hit snooze. Hit it once and the clock will wheel itself away in search of a hiding place before it sounds off again. Making sure you get  out of bed!

Reclaimed Slate Cheese Board
Who’s It A Good Gift For: The Foodie
What Makes It Great: Have a friend that’s always hosting people over for food related events? Then they’ll love this cheese board that offers the option to write in whatever you’d like. Great for serving cheeses, appetizers or just fun little party  nibbles!

We hope we’ve inspired you to find some great gifts for this holiday season!

Do rainy days get you down? Make you feel like you have cabin fever because the rain is keeping you locked inside? Do your little ones think it’s a free pass to park themselves in front of the TV? Well have no fear, we have the answer to your rainy day blues! Below are some fun activities that actually require a rainy day!

1. Host a splash contest. Now, you’ll need a fairly big rain for this – but grab your raincoats, rain boots and an umbrella and head outdoors. You’ll need to pick some judges for the contest who will judge the splash. Then let each competitor perform their best splash! You can even create categories of splashes; big, dainty, messy, etc. Have some cool prizes picked out for the winners (water guns, pool toys, beach balls, fun umbrellas).

2. Create a Wet N’ Wild obstacle course! Use things you have around the house to create a series of fun activities for team members to challenge themselves with. Examples include; hula hooping 5 times, kicking a beach ball through plastic cones, spinning around with an umbrella, or tossing water balloons back and forth between team members! The wetter the activity the better! The goal is to have your whole team cross the finish line soaking wet! Remember, rain is the theme of the day!

3. Try out some crazy hair colors! Now, you’ll definitely want a rainy day for this, but this one is often fun for the kiddos. Stop by your local Party City or costume store and get some color hair spray (the kind that washes out in 1 wash) in crazy colors like blue, pink or lime green! Then have your own at home beauty salon. Allow the kiddos to pick out some crazy hair colors or mix and match multiple colors and then take some fun crazy photos before running outside into the rain and allowing the rain to start the process of washing out the color!

With all these fun rainy day activities, you’ll be counting down the days until the storm clouds start gathering! Have fun!