Sew Merry: Trimming The Tree

When I was a kid I loved to decorate the tree. My Mom would get out all of the ornaments and we would play Christmas music while decorating. She always put the lights on and then we would jump in and help with the rest. As we grew older, my brothers helped less and less and it became mostly my Mom and me who would decorate it. My first Christmas married I remember calling her asking for help. Since she had always put the lights on, when I tried to do it, they looked funny. She came over and showed me how to put the lights on just right. And yes, there is a right way :)

Growing up, we always had a real tree and that smells brings back great memories. For the first few years we were married we had a real tree too. I love real trees… mostly. But, I don’t like the mess, I got tired of paying for them every year, and, I found out, I don’t like putting the lights on or taking them off afterward. So, we finally caved and bought a fake tree. The ease of it is wonderful but I will admit to missing the smell of the real trees. And the quirkiness of them. I always loved to buy Nobles because they were just a bit quirky. Wouldn’t it be nice if they would create fake trees that were just a bit off. That would make them look even more real! But I digress… The point of this post is to show you my tree this year!

A couple of years ago I took our large fake tree to church and we use it there now. I ended up with just a little 4 foot white tree here at home that I completely adore. It’s perfect for me and, since it sits on a table, our cat causes less problems because she can’t get to it. We actually keep the table lined with gifts so she can’t jump up there :) So here is our tree:

Haha, now looking at this photo I think I need something on top :) Since I change out the decor every year, I don’t have something designated for it. I just might have to add something though! This is also the second time I have decorated it this year. Before I had the gifts wrapped the cat jumped up there and knocked most of the ornaments off and some of the garland. She really loves Christmas! But then I wrapped the gifts and lined the table with them so she can’t get up there. Hey, whatever works!

I usually like to keep the tree pretty sparse as far a decor goes. This year was no exception. In the next couple of days I will show you how I made what is on the tree but for today I’m going to show you how I made the paper skirt.

First, I cut 2 large squares of kraft wrapping paper. I just used the width of the paper squared. Then I folded it accordion style. Once folded, I folded the paper in half (like the photo) and then cut it on the fold.

Next, I cut a curve on one end through all of the layers.

On the other end, I punched a hole through all of the layers.

Then I strung yarn through the holes and cinched it.

Where the long edges come together, I stapled them so it would stay connected to fan out. You can kind of see the staples in this above photo.

Then I simply slipped it over the stand and it covers it up nicely.

Just like yesterday’s project, you really could use any type of thick wrapping paper. You also could draw on it if you want. Adding some cute little doodles would be fun!

And that’s it for today! Tomorrow I will show you some of the ornaments up close and how to make them… stay tuned!

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