How to Flock a Christmas Tree

Flocking a Christmas tree, whether it’s real or fake, is an awesome way to add lots of texture and whimsy to your farmhouse Christmas decor.

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We cut down our Christmas tree every year. I flock our tree every year.  I curse the spray bottle, the 10,000 refills, hand cramping, hours flocking, every year. Wondering how to make misting the tree go a little quicker, we thought about using my HomeRight Super Finish Max sprayer to mist the tree with water while shaking the flock as usual, and then touching up a few areas to add heavier snow with a squirt bottle. I love our results, and it was much quicker.  Let’s talk details, shall we?

3 Lessons in Flocking a Christmas Tree

1. Do not spray your tree with that snow in a can you use on a window to make it look snowy. That stuff could start a fire, never dries, and is an all-around mess. Hypothetically speaking, if you needed to flock in a pinch and chose to go this route, be advised this is the most awful idea you have ever had, no matter how great it sounds at the time. If you don’t burn your tree down, the ornaments will need to be washed because you’d need to spray it on after you decorated the tree.  If you were to spray it then decorate, it will just come off and look like a hot mess. Ask me how I know these things. Do yourself a favor… skip the can.
2. Flocking powder is not typically available at your run of the mill stores during Christmastime.  Save yourself the aggravation, and just get it on Amazon. It’s not usually available with Prime either, so if you’re flocking… the time is now.  The brand we used comes in a few different size bags/boxes, and prices vary. When we purchased our initial supply of SnoFlock flocking powder 3 years ago, we got a 5lb box and have been using it since.
3. Flocking powder works by misting water at the tree while sifting flocking powder into a mist of water. When they mix, there is a magical elixir made in the air! The glue in the flock is activated, and the flock sticks the tree. Once it’s dry, it’s ready to decorate.
4. It’s always a mess, no matter what you do. Tarp, mask, cover, mop, sweep, vacuum, exhaust fan – no matter what. If possible, do it outside. Our trees won’t fit through the doors, I’m always worried about knocking flock off, and it’s always miserable weather when we try, so we just tarp off the entire space, and pray.

So, How On Earth Do You Flock A Christmas Tree With A Paint Sprayer?

You can flock a fake tree, real tree, greenery, anything that needs some snow. We set up our fresh-cut Christmas tree in the living room and tarped off the entire area, and under the tree. You’ll need a HomeRight Super Finish Max sprayer (check out specific details about this sprayer at Home Right! We’ve used it on so many projects, and it’s always a tried and true favorite), water, flocking powder, and a mesh strainer.

I like to start at the top and work my way down. Grab a stool, fill your strainer with some flocking powder, fill our sprayer with water. Typically with flocking, you spray into the tree as the powder falls onto the branches, but using a sprayer, you’ll need to modify your approach a bit. I tested a few methods, and the one that worked best was to mist – shake – mist.

Mist the tree in a downward motion (just to avoid water overspray), in a small area you’re flocking.

With the strainer filled with flocking powder, gently shake the powder onto the branches.  Do as little or as much as you want, where you want. Andrew and the kids like 0% flock, I like 100% flocked, so we compromise with a moderate flock. I do feel as though I should get a 100% flocked tree because the kids have their tree in the playroom with colored lights and no flock. I’m just saying.

To mist the flock again and set the powder, spray from an arms-length-or-farther distance away, aiming downward. The downward angle at a distance will prevent the flock from blowing off, while the added water will help set the powder.

Using a sprayer was so much faster. The whole tree took me about 45 minutes! If you want some heavier areas, you can do a heavier flocking there, or use a squirt bottle to fine-tune your flocking powder on certain branches.

Each year we do this, I love the result.  This tree is my first year with a Balsam Fir, and the branches don’t stick straight out like other trees, so the flock stays on top and leaves the underside visible green.  Last year, we had a Frasier Fir, and the branches held onto the flocking beautifully, because they’re so willy-nilly. I think next year, maybe we’ll go back to a Concolor Fir because those fluffy branches are one of my favorites for flocking!

Maybe next year can be my 100% flocked tree year!