How to Flock a Christmas Tree...

How to Flock a Christmas Tree...

It's Christmas time and that means it's time to flock our tree! I get so many questions every year about how I flocked our tree once they find out it's real. I love real trees! But I also love the flocked look, so a few years ago, I decided to try to flock our tree myself. You can hire out to get a flocked tree and I believe some tree farms do sell them flocked already...but you are going to pay a premium price! Also, flocking the tree yourself is pretty easy...it's just time consuming and a bit messy. But so worth it! Here's everything you need, need to know and tips to making it less messy!

Flock:
You can shop the flock I used here. I picked this one because I need it delivered fast and I've used this one every year and love it. They are sold out of their 5 pound bag which is usually a lot cheap than buying 3 - 2 pound bags, so I had to buy the 3 bags. There are other snow flocks on amazon but shipping will take longer and I can't vouch for how well they work. You can shop cheaper flocks here and here.

Supplies:

Flock

Strainer/sifter

Sifter

Step Ladder

Paper for the floor

Snow in a can

  • Do not use the spray snow cans flock an entire tree. I just use this to supplement the flock. It's great for hard to reach places like the top of a tall tree or the inside branches.

*How much flock you will need. This will vary on the size of your tree and the look you want. If you want it to look like a blizzard fell on your tree, than you will need more if you just want a light dusting, you will need less. I used 6 pounds on my 8 foot tree. I would have liked probably 2 more pounds for my tree....but 6 was okay. I don't flock the back of the tree as heavy since it sits against a window on the side of our home. Hence, it's probably not worth flocking it as much. The smaller the tree you have, the less flock you will need.

How to flock your tree:

  1. Buy your tree, put it in the stand with water, and it's optional to let it sit over night. I like the branches to drop before flocking, as it makes it much easier. But if you need to do it right away, that's okay too. Remember, that you need it to dry before you can decorate the tree.

  2. Cover the floor with painting paper, kraft paper or paper bags. I would cover a pretty good area around the tree. This is messy! It's extremely dusty and once the water hits the floor with the flock, it will stick like glue. I don't like using plastic bags on the floor because they get so sticky and stick to your feet as you walk around the tree. Trust me...I've learned the hard way!

  3. Turn off your heat if you live in a cold climate!! Trust me....this will make the clean up process so much easier! I had it on the first year I flocked and let me tell you, both the living room and dining room was covered in white dust!

  4. Fill a spray bottle with water and spray the entire tree. This will help the flock to adhere to the branches.

  5. Fill strainer/sifter with flock. At the tree, start to sift the flock and spray the falling flock with water so that it sprays onto to the tree. (Aim the spray bottle at the tree and spray the flock as it falls). If you want a light dusting, just continue to do this throughout the tree. If you want a heavy flocked look, you can continue to do layers and layers. I start at the top of the tree and work my way down.

  6. Once you have flocked the entire tree, go through and spray the tree with the spray bottle to seal the flock.

That's really it! It's pretty simple, but time consuming.

TIPS!

  • If you buy full fat trees like I do, it's hard to get the flock in towards the middle of the tree. I do buy the snow in a can to get a bit more white in the inside of the tree. You are not suppose to flock an entire tree with these but using them for a light coating is no big deal.

  • You can flock outside. Make sure it's not windy or too cold. Also, I would only do this if it's a small or skinny tree and it's easy to get into the house and into the stand. Or you have large double doors. I did a small fake tree outside and brought it in. I would say, it was quite messy bringing that inside. So I do really like just doing it inside.

*You will need a ladder if you have a taller tree. Cover that in a large plastic bag. I did that this year and clean up was sooo much easier!

Video:

Tanya R Ng

Tanya R Ng


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