Well, it looks like I will do anything to procrastinate doing actual tasks that I actually need to complete: folding laundry, making a meal plan for the week, wrapping presents, cleaning the menorah.

But right now my procrastination is manifesting in an Urgent Need for a tree skirt, so I am dragging you along with me. 

(I can afford to procrastinate a little, I think, because we were very productive this weekend and some of the Christmas panic has been assuaged. ALL gifts have been ordered. My niece’s and sister-in-law’s gifts have been wrapped, boxed, and mailed. The caramels arrived and are ready to be tucked in with other gifts and mailed to family. I procured some wintry stamps for my holiday cards (otters playing in the snow!). My husband inexplicably printed out only one sheet of address labels for our holiday cards [EDITED TO ADD: there was a printer issue! the printer refused to print any more labels after the first sheet] but I have stuffed, stamped, addressed and sealed all the cards going to those addresses. Plus, I made long-overdue hair appointments for myself and Carla, which was another thing to cross off the list.)

(Now that I mentioned the haircuts, I have a question/fret: I will take a card with a cash gift in it to my hairdresser, but what do I do for the person cutting Carla’s hair? I *think* but do not know for sure that it’s a hairdresser I’ve used before, but maybe it is a brand new person? I should just bring a cash gift to her either way, right? This reminds me that I need to make a hair appointment for my husband and remind him to take a gift to his hairdresser as well.) 

Okay, back to the Christmas tree skirting issue. 

One of the things I have loved about living in this house is that we have room for a real live Christmas tree. We always had a live tree when I was growing up, so there’s some nostalgia involved. But I also love the piney smell, and I love walking up and down aisles of trees with my husband and daughter, looking for the exact right tree to welcome into our home. 

Of course, there are disadvantages to a live tree. Pine needles everywhere is the big one. Having to remember to water the thing every day is another. And I am constantly worried about fire; I am guessing that Christmas tree fires occur when a tree is put too close to a heat source, or when it’s underwatered and the lights are left on overnight, or other reasons I am not considering. I assume that they don’t randomly burst into flames. Yet it is one of my big sources of anxiety at Christmastime, and when January arrives I am VERY EAGER to get that bundle of tinder out of my house and onto the curb.

For my husband, live Christmas trees come with two major pain points: 1. Wrestling the tree into the stand, which is primarily his job; I help, but not a lot. 2. Putting on the Christmas lights. For some reason, he hates the adding of the Christmas lights with a fiery passion. I have tried to remove this task from his responsibility, and I am SURE that I have dressed the tree in lights by myself for the past several years. But I do it in a more haphazard way than he does (he is METHODICAL and NEAT) and that makes him grumpy, and it makes me grumpy to try to do something to alleviate pain for someone and to have that someone tell me I’m doing it wrong. 

So for the past few years, we have been strongly considering getting an artificial tree instead. This has been my husband’s thing; despite the shortcomings, I prefer a live tree. And I have been agreeable about getting an artificial tree, but have taken a bystander role in the process. And year after year, the sales bypass us, and we get a live tree instead. 

NOT THIS YEAR.

This year, we bought an artificial tree. It was… very expensive. One of my demands, should we get an artificial tree, was that it look as real as possible. So we got a pricey version that claims to be very realistic. One of my husband’s demands was that it come pre-lit, so we got that feature as well. 

We got it on a good sale, at least compared to its listed “everyday” price, but it was still… much more than I care to spend on anything, especially something I don’t want. But we are also paying for decreased grumpiness. I hope. I can imagine that setting up the thing will come with its own gripes and grumbles. 

My other demand was that we spring for a new Christmas tree skirt. No way are we going to have an unclothed Christmas tree, flaunting its naked stand for all the world to see. The old skirt was a circle of red felt that cost maybe $5 at Target a decade or so ago. Over the years, it had gotten very pilly and the Velcro clasps no longer worked quite as well. It was very good at catching excess pine needles and that’s the most I can say for it. 

So I am on the hunt for a new Christmas tree skirt, and I am humbled by both the multitude of options available to me and by the wide range of pricing options. I want a tree skirt I like, but – let’s be frank – a tree skirt’s duty is to provide a cushy little bed for gifts and to disguise the ugly base of the tree. It doesn’t NEED to be anything special. But it should be more special than circle of felt.(Spending $200+ on a tree skirt, which you absolutely CAN DO, is a Startling Expense ^{TM Swistle} for me.) 

I love this one from Target – I am partial to navy as a color. But… the rest of the Christmas décor is mainly red and white, so it seems a mismatch. And while I am tempted to re-do the entire décor theme to match, I am not so tempted as to actually expend the time/money required to make that a reality. While we are citing this skirt’s negatives, it is $45, which seems quite pricey for something that will be invisible for most of its work life. Also, it is made of linen, which makes me concerned it might require ironing, and I DO NOT IRON.

This burlap skirt with snowflakes seems much better, price-wise ($15.99 as of this writing). It’s simple and unobjectionable. It doesn’t make my heart sing, or anything, but how much work are we expecting a tree skirt to do?

Oh, this one with little reindeer around the perimeter is giving me a little happy jolt. It’s a little bit more — $22.99 as of this writing – but it’s very charming. And I could do the plain burlap or there’s a version with the field in red as well. Both are so cute and I love the little reindeer.

This red one with snowflakes is quite nice. And the description claims that it’s double layered and “durable.” Plus, boasts the description, “Easy to use, no need tedious operation, install in a minute.” Are other tree skirts… difficult to use?

I find this plaid skirt quite appealing. Although the white trim makes me a little nervous. Though… if we no longer have to worry about watering the tree or dealing with pine needle shed, maybe it won’t get as dirty as I’m envisioning? I am also wishing that Target would get on board with photographing the tree skirt in action.

Also pleasing, and also with worrisome white trim, is this version that says Merry Christmas. I like the way  it looks… but I don’t know if I like the words. And some of the close-up photos make it look like it could be too similar to my old red felt. 

I rather like this knitted tree skirt – the material looks a little more elegant than the felt, and I do like the reindeer. But it does say “Christmas” on it; not merry Christmas, just “Christmas,” which is a little joyless. Wait. Am I to read it as “deery Christmas”? I don’t know.

This quilted tree skirt is very simple and very lovely and I like the deep almost burgundy of the red, but oh dear – it looks like the smallest costs $79; that, I think, is above my personal tree-skirt spending limit.

Did you know there was such a thing as a tree collar? I did not, until I began this search. This burlap version is very simple and clean. Do I like the tassels? I don’t know. Why are they yellow? 

Oh! This red-with-reindeer tree collar is very festive! 

I very much like the look of this woven tree collar. But I do not care for the price. 

This wooden tree collar is very charming – I like it the best, I think – but it’s nearly $90 and it’s a lie, so I’m not going to be getting it for my particular tree.

I like this red metal tree collar quite a lot, and it’s currently on sale for an amount I could possibly be persuaded to spend ($51.50 down from $69). Something to think about, perhaps until the sale ends and it falls more firmly into the realm of “too expensive.”

I am also wondering if one needs a tree skirt in addition to a tree collar… in which case, I’ll stick with the tree skirt alone, thank you. 

After adding photos to this post, I went and put the burlap-with-reindeer tree skirt, as well as the same one but in red, in my amazon cart. It just gives me a happy little flutter! I will run it past my husband, make sure he doesn’t hate it, but I think it’s the one!!! All that’s left is to decide between burlap and red.

If you have a Christmas tree, what, if anything, do you do in terms of tree skirting?