Tree Collar or Tree Skirt? What I Switched To and Why

The first Christmas my daughter could walk, I put a tree skirt down on a Saturday morning and by Sunday it was in the hallway. Not rumpled. In the hallway. She had figured out that the fabric was the one part of the tree that moved when she pulled it, and honestly? She was right! And then my two cats decided that a soft circle of fabric under a warm string of lights was the best napping spot in the house, so between the three of them I was re-arranging that skirt about six times a day!

So I switched to a tree collar, and I am not going back! But I want to be honest with you about the trade, because it took me a couple of seasons to figure out which one I actually wanted, and a whole lot of measuring tape to figure out what would even fit.

What a tree skirt is genuinely better at

I’m not going to pretend the collar wins everything! A skirt is better in three real ways.

It’s cheaper. You can find a nice one for under $25, and you can make one for almost nothing (my faux fur skirt DIY is two things and two steps).

It looks better under a pile of presents. This is the big one. A skirt lays flat and the gifts sit on it, so everything reads as one soft, layered scene. A collar is a hard edge, and gifts stack up around it instead of on it. On Christmas morning, a skirt photographs better. That’s just true!

And it packs down to nothing. A collar takes up real space in the attic. (Mine lives on its side behind the bikes.)

What a collar is better at (and why I switched anyway)

A collar is a rigid ring that drops over your stand. There is no loose fabric anywhere. My daughter can hang on it and it doesn’t go anywhere, the cats can’t bunch it up, and if you have a dog who likes to flop down under the tree, the collar just becomes a little wall he leans on instead of a blanket he drags.

The other thing nobody mentions: it lifts the bottom branches slightly and puts a physical barrier between a small person and the tree stand bolts. If you’ve ever watched a two-year-old find the pointy metal wing nuts on a tree stand, you know exactly why that matters to me!

Measure your stand first. Seriously, first.

This is the step I skipped, of course, and I ordered a beautiful 22in collar that would not go over my stand. Not even close!

Measure the widest point of your stand, feet included, not the base of the tree. Then buy a collar whose inside diameter is bigger than that number. Most collars run 22 to 27 inches on the outside, which usually means 20 to 24 inside, and a wide-legged stand for a 9ft tree can easily be 26 or 28 inches across.

Two other things to check:

• Cords. Your light cord has to come out somewhere. Some collars have a cut-out for it. If yours doesn’t, you’re lifting one edge and running the cord under it, which works fine but looks a little less tidy.
• Watering, if your tree is real. The collar has to be shorter than the stand’s fill opening, or you need a hinged one you can open. Otherwise you’re watering blind through a gap every three days and I promise you will spill!

1. Natural woven basket collar

The 27in farmhouse woven tree collar is the shape I ended up loving most. It’s basically a big shallow basket with the bottom open, and the woven texture does something a metal one can’t — it looks warm instead of industrial, and it goes with almost every decor style I’ve ever put on a tree! 27 inches on the outside covers most standard artificial stands.

2. Hyacinth woven collar

Same idea, softer color. This hand-woven hyacinth collar has a paler, more golden weave than the darker wicker ones, which is what you want if your tree is flocked or your palette is all cream and white. Woven collars are also the most forgiving with kids, because a scuff just looks like more texture!

3. Rattan collar basket

The Rocinha rattan tree collar is a little more open in the weave, so you get some shadow and depth in it. I love this style, but a heads up: an open weave means you can see the stand through it if your stand is bright green plastic. Mine is, y’all, and I could see it straight through the weave! A folded towel or a piece of dark felt tucked inside fixes it in about ten seconds.

4. If your stand is wide, go extra large

If you measured and got a scary number, this 36in extra large woven collar is the one. It’s sized for 7.5ft, 9ft, and 12ft trees, and — this is the part I care about — it has a cord cut-out built in, so you’re not lifting the whole thing to get your lights plugged in!

5. Wood slat collars

If woven feels too rustic for you, wood slats are the cleaner-lined option. The Glitzhome 22in natural wood collar is a warm walnut-ish stain, and the same collar in washed white is gorgeous with a flocked tree. These are 22 inches, so they are the ones you have to measure for — they will not clear a wide stand. They come apart into flat panels for storage, which I appreciate every single January!

6. Galvanized metal

I don’t have a link I can stand behind on this one yet, so I’ll just tell you what I know: galvanized metal collars (usually a distressed white or grey finish, often adjustable so the panels overlap) are the most durable of the bunch and the easiest to wipe down, which matters if you have a real tree dripping sap. They’re also the loudest option in the house if a kid kicks one! If you’re going metal, look for an adjustable one, because the overlap lets you size it to your stand instead of gambling on a fixed diameter.

7. And if the real problem is the stand itself

Sometimes the honest answer isn’t a collar at all — it’s that your stand is unstable and you’ve been using a skirt to hide it. If you do a real tree and you have a toddler or a big dog, a wide, heavy stand like the Krinner Tree Genie XXL is worth more to you than any amount of decor, because it’s a much bigger footprint with a foot-pedal clamp and a real water reservoir. Then put the collar over it.

What I actually do now

Collar on the main tree in the living room. Faux fur skirt on the little tree in my daughter’s room, where nobody is dragging it anywhere. And the bitter no-chew spray on the low branches, because the collar solved the fabric problem but it did not solve my cats (more on that in how to keep pets away from your tree).

If you’re on the fence, here’s my actual rule: if your tree lives somewhere a small person or an animal passes by all day, get the collar. If your tree is in a formal room and Christmas morning photos are the whole point, keep the skirt. And measure your stand either way!

If you switch to a collar this year, post it on instagram and tag me @sugardesignco — I want to see what you picked!

-Ciera

Made something with this? Tag me @sugardesignco — I love seeing them.