Friday, December 6, 2013

a good ol' bucket

Happy Weekend! I am loving the fact that it is Friday night! It's been a long week and next week is going to be just as long, if not longer, so I am going to soak up this evening and the next few days. There are still to do lists, but hopefully there will be fun and enjoyment too!

Normally I would leave Fridays for my Five Things Fridays, but I wanted to get my quick little DIY project up tonight! 

During my childhood, my family had a tree skirt around the base of our tree. I didn't want any old skirt and that is pretty much all I could find. I did find a fabulous furry and soft winter white one at Home Goods and I actually bought it and brought it home. And with a little thought, returned it. I just knew in a year or two there would be water spills and sap drippings on it and it wouldn't look so glorious any more. I couldn't go another year without something around the base of our tree and it wasn't looking good for the whole skirt hunt, so I had to think of some other option. I had seen people do baskets and even silver buckets, but I didn't want it just like everyone else. I wanted it a little different. I had a few ideas, but it would either take more money or more time, neither of which I was interested in spending. So I grabbed a huge bucket, which can be bought at Home Depot. I am pretty sure you can get a 16-17 gallon for around twenty bucks. I also had some gold metallic spray paint on hand so I just gave the shiny steel bucket a once over with some gold paint and wallah, it was done! 

Supplies: Steel bucket (Home Depot, $20)
Metallic Gold (or color of your choice) spray paint (Hobby store - bring a coupon to get it cheap!)

I'm loving gold this year so I have been trying to add in pops of gold so this was my color of choice for this project. If you'd like you could spray it red for a nice bright pop, or cream/white. Anything that goes with your color theme! And, if you are like me and change your color theme from year to year, you can just spray over it next year! 


Be sure to measure the largest part of the base of your tree stand to make sure it fits. Our tree stand is 19" at the widest point and the bucket is about 20-21" so this was perfect. All you do is paint the bucket, and pick your tree up (two person job!) and plop it place it gently in the bucket! And there you have it! A quick, easy, and pretty reasonably priced DIY project! 

Our before was a tree stand on top of white garbage bags. Totally attractive, huh? And now we have a simple gold bucket to complete our tree! 

I have a few more DIY Christmas projects I'll be posting over the next few days. Do you have any DIYs that you or your family have done for Christmas? I'd love to see and have you share your creativity!

1 comment:

  1. LOVE this idea, especially for a real tree! You're so right - the saps and spills would definitely do a number on a tree skirt. We have an artificial tree this year, but we'll be making it a tradition to get a real tree next year, and I'll definitely consider this project for then!

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