Every year, come Christmas time, my childhood dream of having a white, flocked tree seems to haunt me. My sister and I would beg and beg my mother to bring one home . . . just once.
But, she had her reasons. It was expensive to do. It made a huge mess. She didn’t know who to ask to do it. And though she didn’t say it then, being a mother now, I understand that it was probably just one more thing to worry about on her to-do list for the Holiday season.
So an evergreen tree, it was.
Fast forward to this year, my husband and I were eating at my favorite place ever (Kneaders, mmmmm) and I was admiring their beautifully flocked Christmas tree. Of course, it was fake – and we don’t do fake -but it was beautiful nonetheless.
I spit out the many reasons why we couldn’t do one, (it is expensive, it makes a huge mess, don’t know who does it these days, and quite frankly, my list of to-do’s is big enough). But my good husband, who knows how happy it makes me when he gets in the DIY mood, pulled out his phone and researched how to DIY flock a tree.
The idea we liked the best, was to use LAUNDRY DETERGENT!!
We knew, full well, going into it we were not going to get a completely covered flocked surface. But I loved the idea of a tree looking as though it had been frosted, and lightly snowed on, and frozen in time.
I love that you still get the green, with sort of a shabby look to it. I’ll admit, some of our do-it-yourself attempts don’t always work that great, but we are all in love with how this turned out.
We feel it really ties in well with our “Way Back When” Christmas theme (more info on that, here).
And it really was so simple to do. At first I tossed it aside thinking it would take forever to spread the mixture on every branch. But my husband jumped to it, and while I was getting 4 kids ready for church – he had finished!
We were so excited to get it in the house and start decorating it.
I’ve also found the clippings from the bottom of the tree make a nice touch to sprucing up other spots of the house.
Here I’ve tucked it in with my favorite picture of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child.
I also added some surrounding our Nativity.
And thrown a bit in with our entry table.
Let me show you just how easy it was to get the look!
First, we used one bottle of this snow spray (similar to this one, and bought at Home Depot). This step is really not necessary, but we wanted to give it a try. It doesn’t really make your tree look like it is flocked, but it sort of washes out the dark green, making it look more like sage green. The more you spray on, the whiter it gets. We only used a light spray over the whole tree, and it made the needles look as though they had just been hit with a frost. SOOO pretty!
We bought 2 boxes of this Ivory Snow Laundry Detergent, found at our local grocery store. We used every bit of the 2 boxes. This was the detergent many places online recommended. I plan to use just the detergent we have on hand for a wreath, to see if it works the same.
We used 1 box (24 oz) to 1 1/4 cup of water, and mixed. It needs to be at a sort of runny/goopy stage (easy to pick up with the hand, yet runny enough to spread on).
Then my husband would grab a handful and spread it gently on branches of the tree. Once he got 2 hands going, it really went fairly quick.
I was very happy we did it outside, as it does fall onto the ground and makes quite the mess. It also was completely dry in 1/2 an hour (bit chilly outside).
Only a bit of it fell off, but was easily swept up, as he brought it into the house.
One down side I can see to all of this was that we kind of missed out on the fresh Christmas tree scent that usually fills your house with a fresh tree. It just smelled like detergent for about a week. Could be worse!
I would love to hear if you give it a try, and if you like the results!
We are sold on the idea, and it has satisfied my need for a flocked tree for this year!
It has been fun to try something new!
By the way, tutorial for the skirts – coming very soon!!!
Now if you will indulge me for just a moment, I have a few more Christmas tree pictures I would like to share, and this seemed the post to do it. We had such a wonderful time this year cutting down our tree from the mountains. It is most certainly, one of my favorite traditions.
It was our little boys first time. Come to think of it, it was his first time experiencing bitter cold as well. He really didn’t like it too much.
But the girls didn’t seem to notice the cold at all.
You would have thought they were penguins.
We like to buy a tree from a store (usually Home Depot, best prices) for the one I get to decorate.
Then we go to the mountains and pick out one for the kids to decorate to their hearts content. Best of both worlds!
I really should have thought to get in some of the pictures myself, but I was too busy loving the scene of watching daddy pack everybody around, and snapping away.
It was too much fun! Freezing cold, and all.
It was a good thing I packed plenty of hot cocoa!
Thanks for stopping by!
I've never heard to flock a tree that way but it sounds like a great idea. I loved your pictures of your family cutting down a tree in the mountains. That was always a favorite thing of mine growing up too. I must say that your little boy sure is getting big fast and is super cute too.
Never thought much of flocked trees before (maybe it's because I live in Phoenix, so a "snow-covered" tree just felt fake):) – but yours turned out beautiful!
Such a great idea!! I love it, and am definitely going to suggest we do it one of these years! As always, I'm just in awe of you, such cute ideas!!
Do you know if the tree will last through December and through New Year’s with the detergent on it – in other words, wonder if it cuts down on the “life” of the cut tree? I like to keep my tree up for over a month.
Thanks for the great idea – lovely!!
We usually get our real trees write after Thanksgiving, and almost always take them down the day after Christmas because they start to feel dry. That being said – I didn’t notice a difference last year when we flocked it, compared to when we haven’t. They always seem a bit dry by then. I think if you water it, the soap shouldn’t make a difference. Hope that helps.
Hi Cami, your tree turned out beautiful! Were you able to use any other detergent to get the same results?
Thank you so much for sharing how to do this, I’ve always wanted one so now I’m going to give it a try. Enjoyed all your lovely family photos.
Wonderful! So glad it could be helpful for you! Thanks for your sweet words!
Im going to try it on a wreath first and see how i like it. Thanks for you lovely pics.i enjoyed them.
Most assuredly a lovely idea for a Christmas tree! And the rest of your blog is seriously awesome as well. When I get mine up and running… I would love to link some of your ideas on my page. You’ve made my list and it’s all good.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and your family.
. .. From the mountains
Thank you! I hope you get your site going soon! It is a lot of work, but very enjoyable. I would be honored to be shared, thank you!
They haven’t made Ivory snow for years. Can you use something else ?
How long will the tree last? Did you find another soap that works as well?
Years ago my mom‘s friend flocked her Christmas tree with Ivory Snow. So I googled and your article is the one that came up! I was so excited to see it. The one thing she did differently that I remember was she said she used her vacuum cleaner on reverse so it would blow. I was little when she did it and I remember the tree being caked with snow. I’m wondering if she made bubbles and then blew it with the blower , Unfortunately I have lost contact with her and she is probably deceased by now so I cannot ask her. Just thought I would throw the idea out there and see what you thought since you’ve actually worked with the Ivory Snow ,would love to hear back from you!