Easy Christmas Decor: DIY Burlap Tree Skirt

I've got another Christmas decor project for you: a burlap tree skirt. Like my wreath, this project was also a product of cheapness and laziness. And resourcefulness :)

We've got a big, red, satin tree skirt that I bought the first Christmas we got married. It's beautiful, but too big for our living room... and red just isn't me. I try to infuse red into my house around Christmas, but it just doesn't take. As Ziggy Marley so poignantly (hah) stated, "I've got to be true to myself."

So I made one out of things I already had on hand (read: this project didn't cost a penny!)

Yes, even though I like a coordinated house, I do love an eclectic Christmas tree. All of the random ornaments are like little memories hanging in the branches. We just hang the weirder memories in the back :) You know you do it too.

Here's what you need to create a super simple burlap tree skirt:

• 2 1/2 yards (approximately) of burlap. It completely depends on the size you want your skirt.
• 1 old curtain
• Needle and thread
• Decorative buttons
• 1 yard of ribbon

Iron the burlap and lay it out flat. Draw two half circles, and cut them out. (My burlap wasn't wide enough to have one continuous piece- I sewed to halves together.)

Cut a small hole (for the tree trunk) in the center of your fabric. I forgot to photograph this. Sew the two pieces of fabric together on only ONE side of the tree trunk hole. Pin, iron, and hem the other side, the circumference of the skirt, and the inner cut out for the trunk. See the above picture.

You should now have a very basic burlap tree skirt. I didn't want mine to be so plain, so I added a ruffle. I had some old curtain panels laying around, so I cut off a four inch strip off both sides (the long, vertical sides). Since each of these sides was hemmed, I ran a thread through the hem and pulled it taught, creating a ruffle. The pictures help to explain this:

(***It is also imperative that after laying out your curtain panel, you should have your most hairy friend come and lay on top of it. Just for good luck. And because he likes to be included in these sort of things.)

I then sewed my ruffle the the underside of the tree skirt.

I sat there forever sewing. My mom has a sewing machine (I don't), but I was too lazy to get in the car and drive over. So I sewed the entire thing by hand.

You can stop at this point, or add buttons and ribbon for a decorative closure.

That's it! Then photograph your tree, of course.

I'm posting this project on CentsationalGirl's Holiday Crafty Link Party- go check it out! There are currently 705 entries. Yikes!