I love the look of this tree collar!  The lights were impossible to string up inside it after we put it together around the tree.  I ended up just laying them in a circle around the inside of the collar. That seemed to light it up nicely so it was fine.  I also had a hard time screwing the pieces together.  I ended up slightly bending the pieces the screws go into so they lined up a little better.  After the adjustments, they fit together nicely.