homemade Christmas: tree skirt

So I was finally able to cross some things off of my to-do list! We had put up our little Christmas tree over the weekend, but it was lacking a tree skirt and the top was bare. So when flipping through the latest issue of MS Living, what do I find? Instructions on how to make a cute little tree skirt.


Immediately I think, "Hey! I'll make one for our tree!" And so I did.

It was fairly easy to make; no sewing involved. All you really do is glue fabric and ribbon together, and it turns out pretty cute! Since our tree is decorated in pinks, purples, blues, and greens, I didn't want to go the traditional green and red route as it would clash. So I picked out a cute pink/cranberry polka dot fabric, and went to work!

Pretty much the only supplies you need for this project. Fabric, ribbon, some fabric glue and fabric stiffener:


Following the instructions, I cut the fabric to size so that I had one long skinny piece measuring 13" x 118" (I had to glue two pieces of fabric together to get the finished single piece).

Then I "painted" the fabric in fabric stiffener. This part is what took the longest, as it takes a little while to cover all the fabric and it has to dry for a good while. But when it's done, you have a big piece of "stiff" fabric that's almost like paper.


After it dried and I had a stiff piece of fabric, I ironed it flat. Then I measured three lengths of grosgrain ribbon 11.5' long to trim the skirt.


Then I just glued on the ribbon along both top and bottom edges of the fabric, using fabric glue.


I used bright green and cranberry ribbon as a twist on the traditional red and green. I left about 10" of ribbon hanging loose from the ends to tie the skirt together.


Then I started making 2.5" folds like an accordion (this is why you want the fabric to be stiff like paper)...



...until the whole thing was folded. I then ironed it to make the creases sharper.


In the instructions, you're supposed to punch holes along the top edge and cinch it together by stringing cord through the holes. Well, my old hole punch wasn't cutting through both the ribbon and fabric, so I just skipped that part for now. When I can get a decent hole punch, I'll go back and do that step, so it stays together nicely.

I just laid it around the bottom of the tree, and tied the end ribbons together, and voila! A cute, personalized, and relatively inexpensive tree skirt!



Then, because we didn't have a good tree-topper, I fashioned a big bow out of sparkly ribbon!


The finished result. It looks much better in person when the colorful ornaments sparkle off the lights. (sorry for the bad quality photos)