Christmas crafting - Tree Skirt

Of all times of the year I seem to have the most energy for crafting around Christmas time. It may be because the weather is often gross and its a good excuse to stay indoors or because I have a good outlet for excess crafts in people I need to get presents for anyway...

But actually it's somthing my family has always done. As far as I can remember my brother and I always bought our parents a present and made them one too. I'm fairly sure that these were pretty dire early on (rocks with a bit of felt glued to the bottom = paperweight, piece of wood with a peg glued to it = 'note holder'?) but one that I remember best was a Christmas tree skirt.

I guess I was about 14 and my brother 11, and somehow we managed to create something useful and attractive. It was also three in one, both sides and reversible and we used it happily every year - I wish I had a picture of it.

This year, in a new flat, we have a larger tree than usual and I decided I would give a tree skirt a go. Embarrassingly, 20 years on, this attempt was much less ambitious. But I am pretty happy with the end result, especially because it only took 2 evenings after work to throw together - pretty speedy turn around for me.

This was pretty intuitive and I basically followed the tutorial over here on Design Sponge. 

I saw the burlap in the haberdashers and immediately had it earmarked for a tree skirt, the candy cane binding was an impulse buy and I only regret not buying the whole roll, I love it. 

I got a bunch of Christmassy fabric on this trip. I really like the how rustic the burlap is. I have plans for it. More soon..