Posted on 12/08/2016 8:25:01 PM PST by Yaelle
Ok, we are surprising someone tomorrow with a Christmas tree. We are Jewish so pretty clueless as to how this works. Got a beautiful tree about 6 feet, best watering stand we could find, even got millions of little lights all up around it (thanks, YouTube!). But it needs something around the base. Thought I could just grab a tree skirt, but this tree has an enormous stand, diameter maybe 2.5 feet. The skirts only have a small hole for the trunk.
What can we put under the tree that would fit? So many Christians here who put up trees every year, I know someone will have an idea. Should we get Christmas blankets and bunch them around the base? Or would that look sloppy? Please do not suggest lifting the whole thing up to put a regular skirt under it, because that is not happening before tomorrow. The base is full of water.
Thanks for helping our surprise with this finishing touch!
A white sheet is fine. It will be covered by the presents. It doesn’t even matter if it doesn’t quite fit perfectly and is a little rumpled in places.
We USED to have an entire "village" with lights inside the little houses. Also lovely.
There are lots of ideas for decorating. Magazines are STUFFED with ideas.
Rather than having the skirt under the base, you could cover the base with plastic - like a trash bag - so as to keep the water from touching fabric, and then place it around the trunk covering the base.
Or you could get an inexpensive 90” long rectangular holiday tablecloth at a place like Dollar General and wrap it around the perimeter of the base.
I’m sure whatever you decide upon will be befitting your thoughtful surprise!
Sounds like a very nice gesture.
Some people use blankets, throw blankets, holiday themed things.
Some wrap the bases in colorful Christmas wrapping paper or green or red paper.
Some use garland to wrap around the base.
Some use fluffy white filler or a white cloth of blanket that looks kind of like a layer of snow. Like this: http://cf.ellaclaireinspired.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/DSC_0724.jpg
Yes. Always.
Not sure I fully understand the situation.
I 2nd the point that tree skirts are supposed to be open so one pushes the hole around the trunk.
And I 2nd the person who mentioned not bothering. We hardly ever have, my whole life. Most of the time, the tree boughs are so close to the ground no one can see much under there.
If you’re literally just now getting a tree up, wait for the boughs to sag once they warm up. The tree won’t be quite the shape it was at the sale grounds where it is (presumably?) colder than your house. One has to account for that when buying - the boughs will sag after a few hours.
Train.
isn’t that where the cases of beer go?
Sukkah burning, no!!!! Glad everyone was ok.
We won’t be celebrating Christmas ourselves no matter how much I love the music and lights etc. :)
If they are Christian, just give them the tree and let them sort out the location and skirting.
Seems like you’d done enough just coming up with the tree and stand.
That sounds gorgeous. We don’t have much time so we just wanted it to look nice for the surprise.
Tree skirts are more like a wrap around skirt than a regular skirt;). They go around the tree stand and the edges meet discretely behind the tree.
What a kind thing for you to do. Blessings to you and yours!
Just do a sheet. If you don’t have a spare at home, you can just pick up one in a color that fits your color scheme. Or a large table cloth will work. Just keep it simple. Would stay away from the felt though in case it gets wet. Color might run and then you have a mess!
Enjoy.
And they would like the beer! I know that!
I have one tree that I just use that fake cotton/snow looking stuff. It’s really cheap (Wal-Mart or a Dollar Store)...for a bag of it. It comes in pretty big pieces in the bag. Just pile that stuff up around the tree and...and then set a few decorations or presents on it. You probably don’t have many decorations, but even just pine cones or children’s books will work to camouflage the fakeness (is that a word?). It’s amazing how cute it actually looks. So nice of you to do. Good luck!
Easiest way to fix a tree skirt to fit large tree:
Get a large swuare piece of felt ( say about 6’x6’, cut the corners off so that it becomes an octagon shape, cut a whole in the center, then cut a slit out to one side.
Then wrap the base, overlapping the slit edges.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.
May Adonai bless you and yours.
Fake flowers, red, of course, with greenery, would also be pretty.
Put some poly-fil quilt batting around the base. It will look like snow.
I think you may be able to buy it by the foot at the craft store.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.