We placed the tree in the stand outside and then lifted it up and placed it in the basket before bringing it in. I also trimmed a bunch of lower limbs. We then tilted the tree and basket to bring it indoors. After straightening everything up it fell down once, then twice and then a third time. Boo. The basket was just too snug! Sooooo, off to Homegoods I went in search of a larger basket. The diameter of our tree stand in about 14 inches and I choose a basket that iss about 16-17inches in diameter. The second time was a charm.
{oops, never quite got around to hunting down an extension cord for the lights.}
I got a little carried away stringing the lights. Forgetting that our old house outlets can only stand so much - four strands burned out this year. After the ornaments went up, of course.
The next obstacle came a few days later. I started to notice water spilling out of the basket. It was soaking through the little mat I have underneath and going right through to the wood floor. A few people had suggested I line the bottom of the basket with a plastic liner, but in my haste I skipped that step. Next year I will find a liner or large tub to fit inside the basket because angling the water can perfectly to get it only in the tree stand was a little harder than I expected. At least in the beginning, it seems we now have the hang of it. What we did was move the basket off of the mat, then place a double thickness sheet of plastic {cut shower curtain} underneath the mat so the water wouldn't reach the floor. This seemed to do the trick. {And I made that sound a whole lot easier than it was, trees are heavy!}
We also didn't keep many gifts out just in case of leaks. Which worked just fine, because Charlie was far too curious about the presents this year. They likely would not have remained wrapped till Christmas. Santa made sure there were no spills on Christmas Eve!
We will definitely do this again. I loved the way it looked and now that we have a little know how under our belt, next year should go much more smoothly! I do think a flat bottomed tree stand is a must though if you are going to attempt this with a live tree!
LOVE it! Thanks so much for sharing. I saw your pics on instagram and couldn't wait to hear about it. Love love love!
ReplyDeleteTessa that looks awesome we may have to try it next year !!!!
ReplyDeletelove this look! we did this with our artificial tree for about a day until I bought a new tree and unfortunately it's stand did not fit into the basket I had already and I never got around to finding a larger one. Next year though I hope to do this with the new tree we bought, it will make it look even more perfect! Love how your tree looks. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteMeg
Tessa, thanks for the tips. Your tree is gorgeous and I love the basket look. I had seen directions for it in a magazine and they said to cut out the bottom of the basket. That way the tree stand would sit directly on the floor. My husband is very skeptical of the whole basket idea though, so I doubt we'll be trying it in the future.
ReplyDeleteClaudia
oh, that is a such a smart idea too! not sure if I would be able to cut the basket very neatly but I do love the idea. ours felt very stable once we had the right basket, i think finding the right basket is the key!
DeleteWe did this with an artificial tree and the tree stand did not fit at all! So we put the bottom of the tree in the basket and fit bricks and pieces of wood (slated for use in the fireplace) around the tree. It worked like a charm and helped to keep the basket nice and sturdy (a plus since my 15 month old son tried to climb the tree on multiple occasions!) Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI love the look of the tree in a basket. I thought about doing it this year but that was one of the many things I never got around to! Maybe I should start planning for next year now! Happy New Year to you!
ReplyDelete-Shelley
Love it! Definetly going to try the basket next year because I love the look! You tree is gorgeous!! Next year try a Christmas Tree Watering Funnel (available lots of places like Home Depot) to keep the water in the stand! They are awesome!! -Sarah
ReplyDeleteI love this look as well, Tessa!
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome Tessa! I think I'm going to go for it next year. I'm wondering if it will work with an artificial tree since I can't really trim the bottom branches. I'll keep my fingers crossed ;) Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteRachel
xoxo
I purchased a basket ring for our tree this year from Splendid Willow, It works great, The bottom and top are open so it just sits on the floor and the tree stand sits evenly on the floor. Love the look, especially when there are no presents under the tree.
ReplyDeleteI really want to try this next year. Great idea. Thx for the details. :)
ReplyDeleteSo happy I stumbled upon your blog and this post in particular. We were going to use a basket this year and never quite got around to it. Happily, I will remember your tips for next year. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love this tree! what kind is it?
ReplyDeleteI have yet to find a basket that the tree stand fits in. And I can't find a smaller stand (real tree)
ReplyDeleteIt was a few years back, but I found ours a Home Goods. Good luck!
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