This is not only the first Christmas in our house, but my first Christmas with a real tree (our family switched to faux trees after a big tree collapsing incident before I was born).  I have visions of a great smelling tree, that looks awesome, but have a feeling it’s going to be more work than I imagine.. however, I’m excited for my first, real Christmas tree!

Sunday night we got all the essentials in preparation for our tree: the tree stand and a bunch of lights.  Instead of getting a traditional tree skirt, I opted to do something like Crate and Barrel’s “tree collar.”  There was no way I was going to pay $68 + shipping for it, so what do ya know — I made my own.

Christmas Tree Stand Cover (or Tree Collar)

What you’ll need:

• 15 gallon galvanized steel tub
• Jig saw w/ metal cutting blade

Once you have the right tools (the jig saw) this doesn’t take a long time or a lot of effort to finish.  The Crate and Barrel tree collar looks like it’s just the outside part of the tub, so you just needed to cut the bottom out to get the look, and make it easy to access the tree stand for watering.

If you don’t have a jig saw, like us until recently, they’re only $30 at Lowe’s and a kit of multi-purpose blades is $10.  Hunter was pretty pumped to have a reason to buy another tool for his collection..

Anyways, put a metal cutting blade into the jig saw and then cut around the perimeter of the bottom of the tub.  I’d recommend wearing headphones for this part, because it’s quite loud..

The safety on the jig saw left about an inch around the base of the tub which works for us.  The edges can still be pretty sharp, so we sanded them down a little to prevent cutting ourselves on them (you could also add tape on the edges).  Then just put your new tree stand cover over the tree stand, and you’re ready for the tree!

Once you have your tree secured in the tree stand, cut a few of the lower branches off, so they clear the tree stand cover.

Then all that’s left is to decorate the tree and enjoy the holiday season!

Not a bad way to get a designer look for 1/4 the cost!  Plus I love the look of the tree with the metal and then burlap around it.  Another perk: the tree stand cover makes it more difficult for my cat Cleo to get into the tree and climb it.