Tips for Flocking or Frosting Your Real Christmas Tree

Flocking a live tree can be very simple, but the hard parts about flocking or frosting a live Christmas tree isn't spraying the tree with faux snow, it's everything else you have to do to prepare the tree.

The first thing you'll want to remember is that all live Christmas tree's shed the entire time it is in your house, and anything that is on the shedding pine, will shed with it. Therefore, your first step before setting up your Christmas tree is to put a round blanket or carpet cover around the tree. You'll want to make sure it's covering the area from the base of the tree all the way out to the furthest branch. This way, you won't have any flock on your carpets or floors.

The second tip you'll want to keep in mind is that when you use a can of flock or faux frost, is that it's very flammable. You should make sure there is nothing that can cause a flame anywhere near your tree anyway, but it's best to take extra precaution when adding flock.

Once you start to flock, you'll want to start at the top and work your way downwards. The flock that you start with at the top will flake down and cover parts of the lower portion of the tree. Starting up top will also save you from having too much gathered fake snow at the bottom. As well as starting from the top, you should start inward towards the trunk of the tree and move your way to the ends. This just prevents you from getting covered in fake snow, or from turning into a snowman.

Placing the flock on the tree before any other ornaments is especially important, flock generally will not stick to plastic ornaments and you really don't want it covering any garland with light bulbs in it. It will also cover up the beautiful colors your tree should have.

When Christmas is over and you are contemplating removing your Christmas tree from your house, it could get tricky to avoid having the path from where the tree was placed to the front door not covered in flock. Therefore, the best method is to cover the path with something that is disposable or cleanable. Using contractor size trash bags can be an easy way to do this, and they can be brushed off outside and reused.

Faux snow or flock can be a hard item to find in store sometimes. Around the holidays, you should be able to locate a can of flock which is called "Snow Flock Machine." It's 16 ounces and can be found at Target, Walmart, or Home Depot. If you aren't near any of these stores, you can purchase flock online at any of these stores as well (Target, Walmart, Home Depot). A can of flock runs for about $10.50, but one can will cover your entire tree.

Happy flocking!