hey guys it's carrie from lovely etc and today i'm going to show you how to flock
your own christmas tree. i love a beautiful snowy flocked christmas tree and i flocked my first tree
more than six years ago and it's still going strong. i have added a little more flocking a
few times but it still looks beautiful and since then i've flocked wreaths, garlands, branches,
mini trees, big trees, all kinds of trees so i am going to show you today exactly how to do it.
so flocking your own christmas tree is actually super duper easy. anybody can do it. the secret to
getting a really really beautiful christmas tree that looks just like the ones that you can buy
is you have to use real flocking powder. i have been using snow flock which you can buy on amazon.
it is the real deal and it looks beautiful so i'll put a link to that in the video description.
other than that it's really simple. okay so the first thing you're going to need to do
is make sure that you cover the area where you're going to be working -the floor or
the table - with some sort of drop cloth or tarp or something because flocking is
pretty messy and you're gonna be making a big mess as you're flocking. and it's just gonna
be so much easier to clean up if you cover everything. you need a christmas tree. i'm
flocking a mini christmas tree and it has a cute little burlap sack at the bottom and i didn't
really want to get that all flocked so i just covered it up with a plastic bag to protect it.
you need your flocking. like i said you need the real stuff so i'm using snowflock today. this is a
flocking powder and this is kind of what it looks like. it comes in a bag to keep it contained.
i've obviously already used a lot of this particular bag. you need a spray bottle of water
and you need a strainer. and once you have all those things you're ready to start. if you're
flocking an artificial tree make sure you get the branches all fluffed out before you start
and then you're just gonna get your spray bottle spray your tree.
when you're flocking you're gonna work from the top of your tree down
because you're trying to make it look like natural snow on your tree and that's how snow falls.
so i'm spraying from the top down doing one section at a time. get some of your
flock into your sifter and then you're just gonna sift it down onto your christmas tree.
if you're working outside it's best if it's not a windy day. it's a little breezy. i'm on my porch.
this is blowing some of the flock around so make sure to think of that. i'm gonna add more water.
and once you flock a bit, a section, spray it with water again. the water is what activates
the adhesive that is in the flocking powder and makes it really stick to your tree. so
it's important to make sure it gets nice and wet not soaking wet and dripping just nice and damp.
as you're flocking a tree mostly you want to hold the sifter above the tree and let the
snow fall down like real snow. but if you want it to be a little more snowy and the snow is having,
or the flocking is having a really hard time reaching inside. for a little thing like this
you can just kind of tilt it to the side and add some more but for a larger tree obviously you're
not going to want to do that. but you can just move some branches aside and fill in some of those
more interior areas. if it's not snowy enough and you want to add some more just keep adding
and then move on to the next section.
okay and once you're happy with how much flocking
it has just give the whole thing one last good spray.
okay so here is my mini christmas tree flocked with snoflock powder.
and once it's all flocked you need to let it dry for at least
12 hours, 24 is better, until it's fully dry before you try to move it around and decorate it.
alright so let me answer a couple of the questions i've been asked a lot. first of all can you flock
a tree that is pre-lit? you most definitely can, i have flocked pre-lit trees and trees that were
unlit and either way works great. the flocking will get on the lights especially on the cords but
the lights are still just as bright and beautiful as ever. so it really doesn't affect it and it
looks beautiful having your flocked tree all lit up. people want to know can you flock real trees?
can you flock artificial trees? yes you can flock pretty much anything - wreaths, garlands, i have
flocked just branches that i cut off of bushes in my yard and it looked beautiful. pretty much
any kind of evergreen situation can be flocked. the biggest question that has been asked the most
is how messy is it really to have a flocked tree? so if you've ever bought a flocked tree from the
store that was already flocked you'll know that most of them are somewhat messy to begin with.
whether you do it yourself or not some of the flocking is going to come off just because that's
how life works so it's the same with a diy tree. when you're flocking it's a very messy process.
that's why i said you've got to make sure you cover everything. you're gonna get flocking kind
of all over that area. but even afterwards once the whole process is finished and your tree's done
it's still going to be messy somewhat. whenever you are pulling your tree out to put it in place
putting lights on it decorating it moving it around some of the flocking is going to come off
and land in your floor and for some people that's a major deterrent. for others it's no big deal.
it doesn't bother me too much because i love a flocked tree so much i just vacuum it up. once
your tree is all decorated and it's in place if you're not messing with it it's not going to fall
off anymore it's going to be fine. so primarily it's gonna be a mess when you're setting it up
and when you're taking it down and it can get pretty messy but the rest of the time it's fine.
another question that i get asked a lot is how much flocking do you need to buy. usually it comes
in two pound boxes or five pound boxes i have seen even 25 pound boxes which is a lot of flocking.
but in general a five pound box is going to be plenty to do a full size seven and a half, eight
foot tree. if you are flocking it really really heavily like almost all white not a lot of green
showing, you may use the whole box but most likely you're going to have a little bit left over.
you could use a two pound box if you're flocking a full sized tree pretty lightly or a two pound
box is really great for doing several wreaths, garlands and mini trees. as far as where to get
flocking you pretty much need to order it online. amazon has it and there are also some individual
websites that sell it. but i've never - so far this could change - but so far i haven't been
able to find real flocking powder anywhere in stores only the spray snow which is not what you
want to get for this. it is not the same at all. overall i am super happy with my flocked christmas
tree - both my main seven and a half foot tree that i put up every year and this little guy.
they both just look beautiful so i think it's well worth doing and it's one of my favorite
christmas diys i have ever done. if you haven't yet i'd love for you to subscribe to my channel
lovely etc where i share lots of inexpensive diy projects to create a home that you love.