DIY Christmas tree skirt...from a table runner |Keeping it Real

I've been meaning to sew a tree skirt ever since we got our current Christmas tree. When my husband and I got married we always spent Christmas either with my mother or with my in-laws and so we kept our Christmas decor to a minimum - we had a small Nativity and a tabletop Christmas tree and that was it. After the kids were born we slowly started to expand our Christmas decor and finally when my daughter grew out of toddler-hood we got ourselves a large artificial tree from Ikea.

Well, after several long years, we've now also got a tree skirt.

DIY Christmas tree skirt...from a table runner

Initially had planned to sew it out of red and white felt, but while I was going through my stash I found this roll of start-dotted burlap. I remember I bought it a coupe of years ago to use as a table runner but then I found out that the stars were covered in glitter and when I tried to use it on the table there were speckles of glitter all over. Now I do love glitter - but not all over my food, so the burlap table runner was banished to the back of the closet and stayed there.

This year, when we assembled and decorated the tree I suddenly realized it was the perfect fabric for the tree skirt. It was a very long strip of burlap (because our dinning room table seats twelve at its full capacity) but it wasn't very wide, so I needed to sew two pieces together to form a square.

I basically created two squares (with an opening in the middle for the tree trunk to pass through) and joined them together - so the tree skirt top and lining are exactly the same:

(I placed both squares right sides together and sewed all around, leaving a small opening to turn inside out)

Before sewing the top and the lining together I inserted a few pieces of red cord, which are used to tie the opening of the tree skirt and keep it in place.