Christmas Tree Skirt

I always have all these ideas for Christmas-y fun, decor and foods. This year would be the first year in our new home. I knew that I needed to do something special.

I remembered my old tattered, felt tree skirt that I had bought for a few dollars years before in my first apartment after college. It DID have a laser cut edge that was cut to look like poinsettias.

I say did because I don't think it made it through one Christmas before my cat had chewed and clawed the decorative edge to bits.

Rolling my eyes I knew that I should not do anything too fancy, expensive, or intricate because it most likely would not survive the wrath of my beast. So I decided to keep it simple, which was more my style any ways.

I sought out the help of pinterest. I knew that I would be able to find loads of ideas. And boy did I. Too many. I had narrowed it down and finally for final decision I deferred to my husband. I wanted it to be special for him too. He chose this tree skirt.

At first I was not sure how to proceed since it was only a picture with no tutorial. I got some advice from for mentioned patient friend and read other tutorials with similar results.

This project was going to take a lot of felt and a lot of hot glue.

I first cut off the destroyed edge of my old tree skirt. No need for the good part to go to waste.

Then I used half of the top of a Christmas ribbon spool to fashion a scalloped edge template. Clever I know... some of the most clever ideas come from being super thrifty.

Then I cut... a lot. I decided on layering 4 colors to give the skirt some extra width. I got a 1/4 of a yard of red, white, light green and dark green. I actually only used a 1/8 of a yard but I found a good home for the remaining fabric.

Once I got done cutting it was time for all that hot gluing. I did not do a lot of pinning things. I just started gluing and layering the rings. It made it a little uneven at the backside. But you do not normally see that side and it saved me a lot of time and aggravation.

Then POW done.

It was actually a pretty easy project. I was very happy with how it turned out. Festive but not over the top. Definitely gave good dimension to our first Christmas tree in our new house. And it was almost big enough of all of our presents. Almost...

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. I know I did.

Upholstered Trunk

Waaay back in the summer even before we moved into our new house (back when it was still new), my mother in law gifted me a project that she had all but given up on. Sad to see such a project go by the way side I adopted it.

We brought it to our new home and it sat forlornly in my garage for a few more months before I got up the courage to start on the project myself.

I had so many ideas but I was nervous about getting started. Finally I decided one week that it was going to be my mission to get this project completed!

I had already decided where it was going in my house. (It's kind of an unspoken rule in our family that we have to know where something is going before bringing it home.)

I already knew what color I wanted to paint it. I wasn't sure about the fabric for the top. But since it was going in our bedroom I wanted it to at least complement if not match the current linens.

The hardest part was gathering all the materials needed to complete the project. And boy let me tell you these little things really add up. Especially if you don't buy the right yardage of foam and have to go back and get more. (Although I already have another plan for the shorter piece of foam.)

I really need to remember the old saying "Measure twice, cut once."

Materials:

Top:
Upholstery Fabric
1/4" Foam
Fabric tacks
Screws

Base:
Primer
Semi-gloss paint
Brush
Paint Thinner

The top came separately from the base. So the first step was to do a coat of the primer on the base. I decided it would be easier to paint the entire bottom rather then trying to figure out what bits would show and what would not.

 I also used a pinterest idea for the paint can. I used a rubber band around the can to drag the brush across to remove excess paint. It worked well except when you have to take it off. Then it pops and sprays paint everywhere. So either way you are getting paint on yourself. That's just how painting is...

I did one coat of primer on the entire exterior of the trunk. I didn't find it necessary to do the inside. If you were restoring an old trunk then it might be a good idea.

After I was satisfied that it was dry, I moved on to the paint. I got a dark grey semi-gloss paint. It was hard to find a black-black to match my bedroom furniture so I went I little lighter hoping it wouldn't clash too much.

The first coat went on slow but the second was much quicker. I was glad to be done with the painting. That to me was the most stressful part. I hate making such a mess. Actually making the mess isn't the problem it's the cleaning up that I dislike.

On to the top of the trunk. This part was what I was looking forward to. I had never done any upholstering. I read all kinds of blogs with tips, tricks and tutorials. But in the end I decided to do it my way. The kind of lazy, cheap, half-butted way I like to do things.

Choosing the fabric and foam was a long process. I went to two different fabric stores with a very patient friend. I wanted something that would last, not too trendy, something that would go with my linens but not be matchy-matchy. I decided to go with this old postage stamp look. Something about it just called out to me. I kept walking back to it in the store. Looking again and again. I'm sure I was driving my patient friend crazy. But I was happy with my selection once I left.

All I did was cut the foam to line up with the edges of the top. Then I cut the extreme excess off the fabric then draped around the edge of the top. I used fabric tacks to secure each corner. I went on side at a time and clipped off the extra fabric as I made my way around the underside of the top of the trunk.

I added more and more tacks. Till the top was secure and tight. I decided not to get too fancy and roll the edges under. I liked the worn look. And that's a lot more effort. I am lazy after all.

The last thing to do I requested help from my lovely husband. I had to screw on the top to the base.  It came with all the hardware. We just had to carefully line everything up and get the screws in the right place.

He carried it inside for me and sat it in front of my bed where I had imagined that it was going to sit.

I was very pleased with the final result.

So was the cat. He loves to sleep at the end of our bed. I just knew he would love the extra foot of space to stretch out and not be kicked accidentally at night. Because we have such a low set bed he is able to walk back and forth between the two surfaces. It's definitely his favorite project I have ever done. 

Whatever I can do to please the cat, I suppose.

Ha.

I really love my custom trunk. Thanks to those who encouraged and badgered me to get this project complete and to my mother in law to gifting me such a great project that I can be proud of for years to come.

Good luck on your next big project!