DIY Canvas Tree Skirt

I have to say, this baby is my pride and joy! As I've mentioned before, I've been kind of picky about Christmas decor and what I wanted everything to look like---I mean, this is the stuff that will be a part of our family Christmas for years! And that's a lot of pressure for a perfectionist like me. And yes, I'm aware that I many or may not (but definitely do) create it for myself. But anyways....I was trying to come up with what I wanted our tree skirt to look like. I wanted something clean and neutral, so it would always go with our decor as tastes change. I also didn't want to shell out tons of dough on fabric to make this thing. So two weeks ago, I finally settled on a material and headed to Lowes. Yup, that's right.

I went straight to the painting section and picked up a canvas drop cloth---9x6 feet for only $8 (plus military discount, oh yeah)! I did the math, and to make the tree skirt out of a cute cotton print it would've been almost $20. Even buying canvas at the fabric store would've been about $16. So I'd say that I found a deal. ;) 

So all I did was lay the canvas out on the floor, cut it into a 6ft square, and then trim it into a circle. Then I just used a dinner plate to cut the circle for the tree base, and one cut along the back to place it around the tree.

I knew I wanted some kind of embellishment from the extra canvas but wasn't really loving the ruffle idea. Wanting to keep with clean, crisp lines and a little modernity, I decided on a pleat. Hey, did you know that pleating takes an infinitely longer time to make than a ruffle?

Totally worth it. 

For the pleat, I just cut equal lengths from the leftover canvas, sewed them together, pressed the pleats and pinned them, then tacked them together so they held their shape as I sewed the pleat to the main skirt. Then just finished all the edges and bam! Done.

For a little extra oomph, and to go with our gold tree ornaments, I added a little gold trim that I picked up at Hancock Fabric for 95 cents---bringing my total to less than $10. Now that's my kind of craft project!

Happy Monday!