DIY Gift Bag Tree Skirt (Hide Those Battery Packs!)

The holidays mean pretty trees and pretty garlands which also means… twinkle lights! I’m glad stores have gotten the memo since there are more varieties of twinkle lights than ever before. The one issue with them though is their ginormous battery boxes. Let’s knock out 2 partridges with one pear with a decorative DIY Gift Bag Tree Skirt that you can tuck the battery pack in for a hidden solution.

Admittedly, sewing is not my forte, so this DIY is less instructional and more inspiration. My sister had my sewing machine so I went the fabric glue route. You could go even simpler and find a pre-made fabric gift bag you like and call it a day.

You’ll Need
fabric of your choice
compass or round object that’s slightly larger in diameter than your tree base to trace
fabric chalk
fabric scissors/rotary cutter
sewing supplies or fabric glue
ribbon

1. Cut out a circle that is slightly larger than the base of your tree. Then cut out a rectangle that is slightly longer than the circumference of your base circle and at least 1″ wider than the tree base height (this will help the gift bag gather up and over the base).

2. On the backside of the rectangular piece, sew or glue down a channel for the ribbon. I glued a strip of scrap fabric over a thick straw to keep the channel open then used the straw to help feed the ribbon through. Once the ribbon is in the channel, make a small slit at the halfway point of the rectangle front for the ribbon bow to come through.

3. Now that the ribbon is through, it’s time to put the gift bag together. Pin the good side of the rectangle to the good side circle base at the 4 compass points. Sew or glue together then sew or glue the overlapping edges of the rectangle. Flip inside out.

4. Place your tree and battery pack in the gift bag (make sure you keep the on/off button near the top of the bag). Pull to gather the ribbon, et voila! I love the slouchy bag, absurdly long ribbon look, but you can easily adapt this to whatever style you like!

This project all started from wanting to do a winter version of my no-sew planter wrap. Then I thought these trees deserved a fun planter as well, so here we are! The difference is the added bottom to hide the battery packs. 😉