Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

I like to think I’m a crafty gal. I see all the cute things on Pinterest and in my head, I convince myself that I can replicate them exactly. Well, let’s be honest, there has been more than one instance where my final product didn’t turn out even close to the example online. Whether it be a recipe or a DIY project, I’m lucky if end up with something that my husband doesn’t laugh at. But Saturday was the exception to that rule x 2! 

Friday night, Brian and I went to Hobby Lobby to find a tree skirt and a tree topper for our Christmas tree. None of the tree skirts really matched our style and even at 50%, they were still a little pricey. (I’m cheap, what can I say?) We did find a cute red, glittery star for the topper, but I was disappointed that we were leaving without a skirt because our Christmas tree didn’t look complete. Then it hit me. I remembered seeing a no-sew tree skirt on Pinterest. So as soon we got home, I turned on the computer and got to searchin'. I found a few different sites with varying instructions, but they all said at least 4 yards of fabric were necessary. 

Luckily Brian was in a good mood and headed back to the HobLob with me without a complaint. I wanted to include him in the decision making, so I let him pick out the fabric. We both agreed on red and black (those are the colors of our apartment, so we were naturally drawn to those) and Brian decided we needed a pattern to break things up. I offered a few damask prints that he wanted nothing to do with. Then we found the holiday patterns and I reluctantly agreed on a green fabric with holly berries. I was afraid it might cheese the whole thing up, but since it was going to be for ‘our’ tree, I thought it best to let Brian have what he wanted too. I mean, it’s 'our' tree skirt, so thats only fair. 

After using HobLob’s 40% off coupon every way we found possible, the cost of the materials still ended up costing almost as much as a full price tree skirt….Oops. Brian, of course just shook his head. I tried convincing him that even though it was more expensive, it will be so much more special because it was handmade and we’ll have it for years to come. Again, just a head shake. 

Oh well! I was on a mission and to be honest, I was super excited to have a project. Since the wedding, I’ve felt a little out of sorts because I haven’t had a project to focus on. 

After cutting out a big round circle from the red fabric, I cut 2 ½ inch wide strips from each color. So I had a million strips of 4 yard long fabric all over the place and in the meantime, my dooger decided to participate in the festivities and took a whiz right on the holly berry fabric. Oh the joys of being a dooger mommy. After I threw her in the garbage (jk, I would never do that..), I got back to work. :) 

About 5 minutes into actually constructing the skirt, I realized the project was going to be a major undertaking. This thing was going to take freaking HOURS. Ugh. But I wasn’t about to give up. I had just spent $58.00 on fabric and we needed a gosh darn tree skirt. So I sat there for 3+ hours on a Friday night diligently working. Of course I had the soothing background noise of my husband’s ‘shoot em up’ video game, but I also had my best friend, Woodchuck to get me through the night. 

I got a little bit over half way finished by midnight, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Must.get.sleep.

The next morning I was pleasantly awoken to my dooger barking up a storm, so I thought I’d get right back to my project and finish the dang thing. I was only at it for about an hour and a half when my husband woke up and I was almost finished. He, of course being the sweet loving man that he is, told me how incredible it looked and how happy he was that we didn’t settle with some store bought one. And really, that’s all it took. After cursing the project all night and morning, my outlook had changed just by hearing those encouraging words from my hubby. This will be the tree skirt that our future kids will know and expect to see under the tree each year. Our handmade tree skirt is just the beginning of the new Crosby holiday traditions. Oh how I love my husband for helping me see that! And as it turns out, the green holly berry fabric really added some pizazz! I should take the mister's advice more often. ;)

Here is the finished product. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! It’s not perfect, but it was made with love for my family. 

Now our tree is complete. Oh and there is our dooger’s butt. What a nice addition to the picture. :)

So I guess this was one of those rare exceptions where my project actually turned out to be comparable to the DIY on Pinterest. Oh and speaking of DIY projects, I attempted to make eggnog from scratch for the first time on Sunday and although it smells like breakfast sausage, it actually tastes pretty good. So that’s two successful projects in 1 weekend. Maybe I’m doing better than I thought. :)

Here’s to the crazy, messy projects that sometimes turn out surprisingly well! Cheers!