The Steen Style

I finally finished my OSU tree skirt! Better late than never, right? It was several hours of folding, gluing and repeating so it took me some time to actually finish my DIY tree skirt. I found inspiration on Pinterest (where else?!) and followed Ashley’s directions to make my own version.

Here’s a little looksy at what I did! I had a serious case of not being able to focus on anything because I have been too busy enjoying just living this month and I have loved every second of it! Sunday night I finally sat down (well, I didn’t have a choice, I injured my ankle and couldn’t walk) and finished the easiest tree skirt, ever.

First, you cut a ton of strips of fabric. I used burlap in orange and black (the Oklahoma State colors). It was only $3.99/yard at Hobby Lobby and I got 2 yards of each. I ended up having too much for the tree skirt I used, so you might be able to use 1-1.5 yards. I don’t like following the rules of most tutorials, the rules this time being cut 2-3″ strips, so I just cut at random. I know, getting crazy over here!

The tree skirt I used as the base is from a local thrift store and was $3 – not too shabby! You use a ton of glue guns (in my case, I had to buy another glue gun because mine died) and just start gluing. I would put a little glue down, fold the fabric and press. You will get some burned fingers but you learn to tough it out – well, I did at least. I didn’t want to bother with pins so I sucked it up and continued on!

Here’s what it looked like for almost 2 weeks. That’s right, I did exactly two folds and called it quits for a while. I told you – serious distractions this month and no desire to sit still! So, we stepped around it until I realized I had the girls from book club coming over so I had to step up my game and get it finished!

Once I got on a roll, it wasn’t that bad. I would glue, fold, press and then repeated this process about a million and twelve times. (Maybe that’s a slight exaggeration…maybe) Not being able to walk around and do anything this weekend was a definite help and reason to sit still for so long! As I got closer to the center, it got easier and faster since there wasn’t as much gluing and folding.

Total, this project probably took about 2.5 hours. It cost $20 but since I didn’t use all of the fabric (kept the leftover strips for other projects!) we’ll call it $12. Not too bad for a new tree skirt that is 100% customized and personal to our second living room! I love the way it turned out – so fun and festive for this area. Next year, I want to wrap up some empty boxes and put them under the tree so you can’t see the stand. In orange and black, of course 🙂

Merry Christmas – Go Pokes!