Repurposing a Tablecloth for a Christmas Tree Skirt
Our tree is up! Is yours? I love hearing everyone’s traditions on how/when/where they get their Christmas trees.
I recently read in Sunset Magazine how the West is changing the way we make our decisions about trees (piney-sweet smells or perfect branches). The dilemma of real vs. fake. They say more than 50% of people in the West display artificial trees, while 26% buy a live one.
“The choice of a tree is an emotional decision.” – Sunset Magazine
Here’s my Instagram picture of the beautiful trees on our way home from Bend, Oregon, a week ago (up by Diamond Lake).
New Costco tree
It’s a new season for us in our home for the holidays. Not only are we enjoying our new carpet, but we broke down and bought a *fake* tree (I hate using that word). Maybe *artificial* works better. :) Costco it was, after I shopped around for the best deal.
Our old artificial tree had bit the dust–gone to tree heaven, we all said our goodbyes–as we cleaned out our attic this past summer. It served us well for 8 years.
Having tall ceilings, I wanted a tall tree, too. Pre-lit (a big deciding factor). So, with money put into our new 9 foot tree, which we’ll use for many years to come, there wasn’t a budget to buy new ornaments, bulbs, etc. this year.
In the past we’ve purchased live trees, heading up to the mountains to cut one down. I couldn’t agree more with Sunset Mag … the “tree decision” is an emotional choice. It’s about priorities–which are different for everyone–for us, it’s how we want to spend our time. For our family, the boys are away at college, and we really don’t have 1/2 of a day to head up to the mountains. Everyone is okay with the simple decor in our home with the pretty fake tree. It’s true, the “scent” is not there, but the ambience is.
We always have Christmas music playing, the house is lit up with beautiful little lights, there’s a Christmas spirit in the air. It’s a lovely time.
I think we’ll be completely redoing the “look” of the tree in a few years when each child takes their own ornaments … (that will be a sad day).
Tablecloth tree skirt
So how about freshening up the colors around the base of your tree this year? This Christmas season I was happy to find this gold tablecloth at Good Will for $9.99, which works perfectly for a tree skirt (and probably a dinner party or two). Yay! I love a bargain and repurposing something I already have!
We wrapped it around the base of the tree. Wah-Lah. It saved me the money of buying a new one, plus I love the gold accent it added.
Now I need a new “something” for the tree top. Any ideas?
If you’re thinking of changing up your tree skirt, have you thought about reusing a tablecloth?
Here’s more repurposing tree skirt ideas:
Burlap coffee sacks
Beautiful basket in place of a tree skirt
Metal tree skirt
Tree skirt from a wedding dress
My favorite? A fur throw tree skirt.
And here’s a whole Pinterest page full of homemade tree skirts. Fun!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Didn’t read all the comments, so don’t know if someone suggested doing a cardboard 3D star and painting it gold to match the tree skirt. You could have decorative cutouts, and put two or three lights from the tree inside, so the light shines through the cutouts. I suggest this as it would seem the least expensive option, and it still stays true to the Christmas story of the wisemen following the star of Bethlehem, and it would be on top of the evergreen that represents everlasting life. I’m sure someone has a video online on how to make a 3D star.
That tablecloth makes a gorgeous tree skirt. Wish I had thought of that before I bought mine. Very clever!
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If you miss the scent of live/real trees, try getting a scented candle.
Brilliant idea !
Merry Christmas
Hi Sandy, I love your blog and it’s the first one I look at in the morning when I arrive at the office! We always put an angel at the top of our tree! It’s what my mother did when we were growing up so it’s a tradition that I’ve carried on :) Love, Sue
Love the repurposing of a table cloth. I saw a crown or tiarra as a tree-topper somewhere and I thought it was adorable.
Do you remember the “broomstick” skirts from the 80s? I made one with scraps from my SIL’s drapery story– all with gold in the print– then when it had lived its life as a fashionable skirt I split it and it’s been our tree skirt ever since!
That’s a great idea. A few yrs ago I chg’d up my ‘fake’ tree. (My fake tree is over 10 yrs old now! Still looks fabulous). I packed away the kids ornaments, bought all new, but had trouble finding a tree skirt in the bronze copper color. Then I found a remnent at the fabric store for $2! Now that we moved, I want to chg things up again to an outdoorsy theme. Any great ideas from your readers other than pinecones? I want rustic w/o antlers and fish. :) BTW, a friend recently brought me a table cloth from goodwill and asked me to turn it into an apron.
Thank you so much for the tablecloth idea!! I was lamenting not being able to find a tree skirt that I didn’t loathe and wasn’t like $40 to add insult to injury just today to some of my coworkers. I think I can find exactly what I want if I shop the fall holiday tablecloths. You rock!
Nester,
My wife and I have used 2 burgandy red flat sheets for years. they were like $2 each and work great. When we took down the tree(real) we spread the sheets out on the floor and use them to wrap up our needle dropping tree and carry it outside. It helps keep some of the needles out of the carpet.
The past 2 years we have been phasing out the real ones due to my wife’s mold allergies. It is not fair for her to be sick because of real tree. We have 3-4 full size ones and the last one, for the living room, will be artificial this year too. For this one we use an Ecru Quaker Lace tablecloth from my grandma. It is not the right size for the table and looks great with the silver,gold,crystal theme of that tree. We salvaged a discarded chandelier for the crystal prisms we use as isicles. We have picked up ornaments, many vintage, from Craigslist from people just getting rid of them. rick
I’ve done this for years and now feel so much better about it. I found a lovely tablecloth years ago and have been using it since as a tree skirt. I thought I as being cheap – I like ‘repurposed’ so much better. Thanks for making me feel better! :)
Hi Sandy!
So nice to “visit” with you today!
I love your tree – just gorgeous. And the tablecloth/tree skirt is genius. :-)
Our tradition is to avoid all the “black Friday” craziness and instead just pop down the street to the nursery to pick out our tree. We get an 8-9 foot real tree which we put in our main room (living room/family room). We spend the rest of the long weekend decorating the tree and the house.
Oh…And we top the tree with a gold star. I love having a star at the top of the tree to remind us of the Star of Bethlehem. :-)
Love,
Mary
Love the idea of using the table cloth, I can spend the money for something with multiple uses. We have a cheapy skirt now, once the presents are there, you can’t see it, lol. We bought a new artificial tree this year too, I light up a good pine candle for the scent :D
Can we just talk about how I’m so proud of myself because I totally do the tablecoth-tree skirt thing? Every year I look at tree skirts and every year I decide I just can’t justify spending $30+ on it when the tablecoth works just fine!
I like the wrapping job though…I think I’ll make that adjustment to ours today while I watch ELF!
It’s a beautiful tree, Sandy! I’ve seen people using the word “faux” for a fake or artificial tree. Maybe you will like that better. Then you can say “fresh or faux”. We alternate between a fresh and a faux tree. This year the faux tree went up, but we added new lights. I’ve used everything imaginable for a skirt. The tree is 6 feet. We bought it so that we could set it on a 2 foot table, thereby reaching the ceiling and keeping the cat from lounging on and shredding the bows. For the first time ever, it’s on the floor. We try to put the tree up for the first of December. It’s up, but only lighted. The tree trimming party is on Sunday. Though our techlet has her own home now, she still likes to come and decorate the family tree. Love that. I, too, am looking for a new tree topper. We don’t take the tree down until after Epiphany, unless it’s fresh and all the needles are settling on the floor!
Your tree is stunning, Sandy! I love the idea of using a tablecloth as a tree skirt. You are so smart! :-)
Your tree is beautiful, Sandy! I love the idea of using a tablecloth for a tree skirt…you are so smart! :-)
and p.s. I was thinking of you the other day when I bought a bunch of great glasses in the dollar section at Target! And…. my sis bought all new plates/cups for Thanksgiving dinner — at the dollar store! =) We’re rockin’ those dollar bargains in our family! ~Sally
Beautiful tree Sandy! I have used a quilt for a tree-skirt before. It gives it a very homey look. Also, we have a skinny tree to fit our narrow room, and any tree topper that we use seems to overwhelm it, and drag the top down. We finally decided to use a really nice Santa hat that we have. It’s beautiful and colorful, but light-weight, and is easy to pull down over the top branches of the tree. I think a Santa hat would look great on your large tree, too! MERRY CHRISTMAS! ~Sally
Great idea for a tree skirt Sandy. Your new tree looks lovely.. Enjoyed the photo of you trip home from Bend. As a native “Oregonian” I get homesick for the landscape from time to time.
Darla