Tree Skirt

I love to decorate for Christmas.

But I prefer to do it very slowly. 

The halls of most American yuletide-loving homes are fully decked by the close of Thanksgiving weekend, but that's when I'm just beginning my process. Armed with bits of paper, tree branches, fishing line, assorted garlands, and twinkle lights, I expect to spread the job out over the next few weeks.

Here, in day-to-day installments, is the story of how my house is getting ready for Christmas.

* * * * *

So when I woke up this Christmas Eve morning, I realized that I had a problem.

My tree skirt, if you want to call it that, was a large black plastic trash bag. Technically, the bag served as a drop cloth underneath the water-filled tree stand, but I had nothing to cover it up. Oi. 

Now dang it, I'm not one for getting caught up in fussy non-essentials at Christmastime. But a tree skirt has two important purposes:

• hiding the mechanical essentials of the tree stand, and
• serving as a backdrop to the array of gifts that symbolize our love and generosity.

And you know, call me picky, but that Hefty bag was just not getting the job done.

No time for a project.

No money for a satisfactory store-bought solution.

So I shot from the hip.

I ran to the closest fabric store and bought three yards of tree-skirt-worthy fabric.

Then I ran back home, unfolded it, and swooped it into place.

I tried many times, but I could not capture the whole tree in a single frame. 

Ta-daa! Hey, it ain't fancy but the red with white polka dots are a far sight better than the black plastic.

And on Christmas Eve, that is good enough for me.

Also, Hello Kitty approves.