Day #9: Ruffled Tree Skirt

Welcome to day #9 of "It's a DIY Christmas" series and link party! Thank you for joining the series! 

If you are just now joining the series, feel free to look around at some of the earlier posts! 

Click HERE for the introduction to the series!

Click HERE for Day #1: Faux Mercury Glass Ball Ornaments

Click HERE for Day #2: Advent Calendar Click HERE for Day #3: Chalkboard Art Click HERE for Day #4: Pom Pom Garland {Tutorial} Click HERE for Day #5: Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments Click HERE for Day #6: Making An Evergreen Wreath Click HERE for Day #7: Glittery Pine Cones Click HERE for day #8: "JOY" Wood Sign
The Christmas tree skirt making people haven't really caught onto the whole "shabby chic" trend. So, what to do? Make one, of course! 
Side note: It's inevitable that something {many things} will go wrong during a 12-day series. Considering I have a full-time job where I leave my house at sunrise and come home nearly at sunset, taking nice, bright pictures is very difficult {especially with a point and shoot camera} to do during the week. Like, if I don't take all my pictures on Saturday or Sunday, I'm screwed. I say all that to prepare you for the dark, grainy pictures ahead that weren't taken on a Saturday or Sunday ;). I'm just rolling with the punches, friends.

I found this no-sew ruffled Christmas tree skirt tutorial by Miss Mustard Seed. And here is a picture of her's to show you how great it can look ;)

I wrote about my tree skirt {below} in THIS post back in November. I didn't completely follow Miss Mustard Seed's tutorial for mine because I already had those lovely ruffles from another project.

  I made another tree skirt for a friend by following the tutorial, and I decided to take a few more pictures to show you how I did it. 
Here's what you'll need:

• 4 1/2 feet by 4 1/2 feet piece of canvas {I used a leftover piece of drop cloth}. If you have a really big tree, then you can make it 5 feet by 5 feet.
• 4 yards of muslin {I love muslin because it looks like linen but it's w.a.y. cheaper}
• 3 yards of white grosgrain ribbon
• measuring tape
• hot glue gun
• material scissors

One of the nice things about working with drop cloth is that it will tear in a straight line. So, I just snip where I want my cut to be, and tear. Easy. The muslin that I used does the same thing and that saved me a ton of time.

The first step is to fold your square piece of drop cloth into quarters and then fold one more time to make a triangle {see picture}. Then, you will cut out a quarter circle at the point {this is for the tree trunk}.

Up close:

Then, you will also cut the base in a quarter circle. It does not have to be perfect, and you can trim it up later. I used a piece of chalk to draw a line to follow. That's not necessary, but it might help my fellow "can't-cut-a-straight-line-to-save-your-life" people.

This is where the sharp, material scissors are helpful.

After you make those 2 cuts, you will open the fabric up {like I have shown below} and cut a slit. This is so you can put it around your tree :). As you can see, my "circle" is quite non-circular. No biggie. I just trimmed it up.

Now, you can set the base of the tree skirt aside and start working on the ruffles. {Is your glue gun heating up? Have extra glue sticks handy!} Get your muslin and cut it into 3-inch strips. I snipped the fabric with my scissors about a 1/2 inch and then tore it the rest of the way. 

Starting at the outside edge of the base of the skirt, apply a straight line of glue about 2 1/2 inches from the edge {that way your ruffle will hang off about a 1/2 inch}. I only applied about 3 inches of glue at a time because it dries so quickly. Then you will lay the strip of muslin on the glue and pinch with your fingers to create a ruffle. And repeat all the way around the skirt. When you get to the next row, move up another 2 1/2 inches.

  The last step is to attach the ribbon ties. Cut 10, 12-inch pieces of your grosgrain ribbon and glue 5 to each side of the opening 

{Source}
And, that is how you make a ruffled Christmas tree skirt!
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It's time to link up! Remember: Any Christmas related blog post is game {recipes, crafts, Christmas family photos, family traditions, etc}. Be descriptive in your titles!   The rules:
1.) You may link up a different blog post once every day for a total of 12 entries.
2.) You must submit a direct link to your post...not just to your blog's homepage.
3.) Your entry/entries may be submitted anytime between now and midnight on December 12th.   Tweeting, pinning, "liking" & sharing on Facebook, instagraming, etc are not required for you to enter, but it would be awesome if you would do what you can to spread the word....whether you are entering a link or not.  Spread the love! :)


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