If you do that, you can't water the tree and all the needles will dry up, fall off, and the tree become a FIRE HAZARD!
Yes, Michael's has felt and tree skirts too. :-)
What about decorations? Did you get any, or do the people have them already ?
Last year I bought a commercial funnel attached to a 3 foot piece of stiff plastic tubing. You thread it down through the branches into the water reservoir. Now I can water the tree standing up, not crawling under it. It includes a dipstick so you can measure your water level, too. Handiest gadget I ever bought!
All you need to do is peel back the sheet, pour the water in a VOILA!, put the sheet back in place. Oy Vey!