Is your Christmas tree up yet? Now that Turkey day has come and gone it is officially time to prep for Christmas. Normally, I am more than ready to begin the seasons festivities- including the decorating- but this year I am struggling to find the motivation. Maybe its the sunny weather we are still having here in SoCal, my ever growing to-do list or maybe its just the winter lazies. Whatever the cause, I am happy to report we have made some progress and our tree is UP!
When I am feeling ho-hum about decorating, that is a clear signal its time to change things up a bit. Doesn't something new and fresh give you a bit of excitement, or it that just me??
Our trees of years past have been on the more formal side (reds, golds, silky fabrics), but this year we are going for a more causal and rustic look.
Glancing at the recent Crate and Barell catalog I fell in love with their new Tree Collar. Have you seen it yet? Its a fresh new take on the traditional tree skirt, but the $59 price tag was just a bit more than I wanted to pay. Not to mention they were all sold out the last time I looked. Soooo, in true DIY fashion, the hubby and I figured it out. The whole project took about an hour and we are so pleased with the result.
Here is how it was done:
1st things 1st- you need to find a 14 or 15 gal galvanized tub from your local hardware store. As I discovered these can actually be a challenge to find this time of year. So when you are out shopping and you can't find one and Lowe's, don't panic...and when you cant find one at Home Depot, still don't panic. This one was purchased at Ace Hardware. Third time's a charm, right?
As a last resort, you can also purchase one from Amazon Find Amazons Galvanized 14 Gal Tub HERE.
** Don't forget to to measure your tree stand so you can find a tub that will fit correctly. You want to make sure the tub fits properly under the tree in both Height and Width. This one fit our tree perfectly:
The next step is to flip it over and cut a hole in the bottom of the tub. Lucky me I caught my handy hubby just returning from a run (sorry for the no shirt pic) and made him do this part for me batted my eyes and used feminine charm to get his help with this.
After he shook his head a few times and gave me his 'you want me to do what, now?' and 'why are we doing this again?' he went along with my little project. At this point in our marriage, he just tolerates my crazy ideas. haha!
He used his Dremel Multi-Max Saw to cut a hole big enough for the tree stump to fit through. He then sanded down the rough edges with a course sanding block to smooth out the sharp edge.
When you purchase your galvanized bucket, it will have a slightly shiny finish to it. You can keep it the way it is, or remove some of the shine to give it a more 'aged' look. Since we were going for a slightly rustic look, I went one step further to 'rough it up'.
I filled an empty spray bottle with regular ol' vinegar and sprayed down the tub. Its the acid in the vinegar that does the trick! Now, from my research on this you should let the vinegar sit on the surface of the bucket for several hours- but since patience is not a good quality of mine, I grabbed an SOS pad and gave it a good scrub- spraying more vinegar where needed.
I let it sit for about...oh...10 min (ish) then wiped it down with a wet paper towel. Viola!
The surface was definately less shiny than it was in the beginning, but it didn't look like it had been sitting around for 10 years either. That was basically the desired look here. Having more patience and letting the vinegar sit for a few hours will give it an even more aged look.
Here she is all finished and under the tree:
I'm really lovin' the look! To balance out the rustic look of the collar, the tree was trimmed with some burlap ribbon and red berries from Michaels, some pine-cones, a few mercury glass ornaments from Target and of course, our meaningful family ornaments.
I just love the mix of textures for rustic glam sorta feel.
Check out the difference in price! The C&B version sells for $59 + tax and s/h.
The DIY version only cost me $23.99 (the cost of the tub).
How awesome is THAT!
What do you think? If you love it then run, don't walk to your local hardware store and put this baby around your tree this year!
Don't forget to leave me a comment below! Would love some feed back on this project!
~ Lindsay
