Snow Crystals, Nature’s Bling
When I heard about the Bling on the Holidays blog hop, I jumped at the opportunity to join in. Don’t you just love anything that sparkles and glitters and Christmas is the time you can really bring go over the top adding bling and sparkle. This is my contribution please remember to check out all the other great Bling on the Holiday posts links at the bottom of my post.
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I live in Northern Canada and the snow and extreme cold are not only the harshest parts of a Canadian winter, they are the stunningly most beautiful. Extreme cold dries snow out and makes it very fluffy and light. When the sun or moonlight catches the snow it flashes with a million little diamond crystals, absolutely magnificent. This type of sparkling snow was my inspiration for my Christmas tree update.
If your interested this is the link to the article about different types of snow. CBC article on Edmonton snow. They named the sparkly snow types Hollywood snow and Sparkly snow, I certainly agree.
Bling your Tree with DIY Flocked Picks
Our downstairs tree is a prelit artificial green tree and only three years old. It’s not ready to be replaced with a very expensive flocked tree, not this year anyways. There were several articles on flocking a tree but I chose to not to risk it. Adding flocking to a tree pick and then piling on blingy sparkle to place inside the tree boughs. The tree picks are much easier to store and the “snow” won’t all come off during storage.
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I am very glad I didn’t try and flock my whole tree, as I had a couple of failures to start with. For the first one I purchased and grated Ivory soap. The grated ivory method was pretty easy to do actually, but I could not get rid of the overpowering soap smell. Even Hubs was asking me to please toss it. Ivory is a decent hand soap, but I don’t recommend it on a tree. After two other disasters including one that suggested painting glue on your tree, I finally came up with my own method.
Add Bling to Picks Tutorial
To do this you will need:
At least 15 artificial green tree picks, leftovers from previous years work just fine.
Something to cover your counter with, parchment, tin foil or wax paper.
Two cans of spray on snow.
Three small bags of powdered artificial snow.
Large jar of iridescent white glitter. (white will work, but certainly not silver)
Method:
Cover your counter with parchment paper, tin foil, or wax paper.
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Spray each pick liberally with the spray can snow. Let dry an hour or so. The picture above illustrates the before and after of the first spraying.
Once dry, respray with more spray-on snow. Totally cover the tree pick with lots of snow, bury it in the snow, just like my driveway in a month or so.
Pat the snow down and let dry for a couple hours.
Lift the pick out of the snow and let the excess drop off. (Use the left over snow on the next pick.)
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Place your pick on a new sheet of parchment paper and spray it with a little spray on adhesive, sprinkle it with lots of white sparkles and let dry.
(Once dry reuse the leftover sparkles on the next pick.)
I set aside one kitchen counter and did these four at a time each evening.
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I staggered the picks throughout my tree and then decorated as usual. I think they blend into the tree really nicely, I will add more next year. I am going to store these ones between bits of waxed paper in a dress box.
Add Bling throughout the House
I have bling scattered throughout the rest of my home, in beaded cushions, an iridescent nativity scene, jeweled candlesticks. My tree skirt is glass beaded, as is the glass table runner. I place the vignettes near a mirror, it instantly gives your vignettes twice the sparkle. Reflecting light sparkles and brightens a room. It is my long term favorite.
The winter days are already very short here, it has been dull and grey for more than a week. The bright joyous sparkles brighten up our mood and the atmosphere of our home. White and sparkly is a very joyous combination.
Blessings, thank you for stopping by and stop by the other posts. What a terrific way to spend a morning.
Blog Hop List
P.S. I Love You Crafts – Our First Christmas Together Ornament
Anika’s DIY Life – LED Christmas Tree Wall Decor
My Pinterventures – Baking Soda Gingerbread Ornaments
Intelligent Domestications – Poinsettia Christmas Wreath
365 Days of Crafts – Handmade Christmas Cards
Love My Simple Home – Chicken Wire Christmas Tree
Day to Day Adventures – Glitter Letters for Christmas Decorations
Faeries and Fauna – Christmas Cushion and White Glitter Christmas Tree
Our Crafty Mom – Glittered Mason Jar Light
Knock It Off Kim – Holiday Napkin Rings
The Latina Next Door – DIY Christmas Ornament
Finding Your Joy in the Journey – Christmas Letters with a Little Bling
Craft Create Calm – Gingerbread House
DIY 180 Site – Vintage Christmas Bulb Wreath
The Inspiration Vault – Sparkly Snowflake Decor
What a great way to add bling and sparkle to the tree without having to have the mess of the entire tree being flocked. Brilliant actually! I love the sparkle on the snow, especially at night or in the early morning, so pretty.
Love those pillows too, so much prettiness in your home for Christmas. And the whole year through!
I love all of the gold and bling. I really would love to change my Christmas decorations this year.
Those would brighten up any room in the house. Thanks.
Such a gorgeous idea!! They look so pretty on your tree!! I will have to give this a try!! Thank you for the inspiration Leanna! 🙂
The tree is impressive! I really like that photo.
This is really cool. Christmas trees looking pretty.
Those beaded pillows really bring the bling to the sofa! I would love to use these to bring some twinkle to the living room over the holidays.
Thank you. This is great.
This is beautiful. Thanks for these tips
Using parchment paper for decorating? I love it!
What a pretty golden tree!
How lovely! I love snow (the rest of my family does not) but Christmas decor just doesnt work for me without beautiful snowy decorations! 🙂
Ok, I can’t wait to give this a try… but more importantly, where did you get that embellished pillow from? I LOVE it!! It’s so gosh darn pretty and sparkly.
These would also look great on my mantle in addition to my Christmas tree!
Thats a lovely ornament. I like how it is personalized. It will be cherished!
I Love DIY projects especially at Christmas time!! and this will be a fun project for the niece and nephew to work on.
We don’t get really snow so I love the idea of adding anything snowy and this looks great!
Everything is so classy looking.
How pretty! These pictures are really setting the mood for Christmas!
This whole look is breathtaking. I love the flocking under the Christmas lights. Those throw pillows are gorgeous!
Love the idea of only doing a few limbs instead of the whole tree! Very pretty! Thank you for the in depth instructions too.
I love the white Christmas tree. It looks so beautiful.
Oh my gosh – the flocking is so awesome! I never thought to try it myself! Thank you!
I agree that the sparkle of Christmas decorations really help to brighten the winter solstice darkness.
Lovely way to bring the best of winter into your decorations! 🙂
Snow on a tree always make it look extra Christmas-y! I love it!
Hi Hailey: Aren’t those commercial flocked tree gorgeous. I adore them. Happy to hear you enjoy my work around. Thank you for letting me know you love them. Very nice to hear. Leanna
Absolutely love this!
Hi Bethany: I am really glad to hear that. Its very nice to hear. Thanks Leanna
These are beautiful! They look like the designer sprigs that you pay big bucks for. Great job!!!
Hi Pam. Some of the picks I saw were $25.00 each. They were pretty enough to make me hopeful to get a few but naye naye lol. Next year I will make a few more now that I have done several.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
I love snow and bling. I live in a place where there is no snow whatsoever in the winter. It’s nice to decorate it on the Christmas tree.
Hi Kente: I envy you the no snow, that means no cold weather. I hope you enjoyed the part of my post that talked about the glitter of the real snow. It really is beyond pretty.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
That’s such a great idea and they look great! I could not imagine putting glue on the actual tree so your way works much better. This would be a great project to do for a wreath as well!
Hi Toni: I bet the glue method looks very close to the commercial flocking but I did not have the time for it, nor was I willing to risk ruining my fairly new tree. These little picks will have to suffice for me. I like them though, maybe not as much as commercial flocking…but I am glad I did this project.
Thank you for reading and commenting. Leanna
It looks so cozy and warm!
Hi Nadya: Glad you like it. I love the bling, it makes me happy, it brightens the room. Bring on the sparkles.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
What a pretty tree! I love the colors.
Hi Heather: Thank you for the compliment. This tree is my favorite, its been my personal tradition for almost 40 years.. Yikes that is a long time lol
Thank you for commenting,. Leanna
These are really pretty. I’d love to add these to a wreath or tree for the holidays!
Hi Rebecca: Happy you like them. I like the way they turned out, I think it may have shown more in the pictures if I had more of them. They do bling out our tree quite a bit. I think they were worth the effort.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
So beautiful! We have a white tree so this wouldn’t work well for us, but love the idea of a snow look on the tree. Might have to try this with a wreath.
Hi Jammie: I have never seen a flocked wreath. Have you? They would be really pretty. I will have to remember your idea for next year.
Thanks for the idea. Leanna
This is a great way to update a Christmas tree. I would like to give this a try.
Hi Kelly: I hope you do try it. It like the way it turned out on my tree. Flocked trees are stunning but messy and Pricey.
Thank you for commenting, glad to hear you liked my post. Leanna
I love flocked trees, but find this is a nice DIY solution
Thank you Angela: Once I had the process figured out it was pretty easy to do. I will do some more next year. Thank you for commenting. Leanna
This is such a cute idea. I would rather have the fake stuff then the real snow!
I am with you on that one, snow gets tiring fast. Unfortunately it is a fact of life up here. I do like the sparkly snow though, the natural stuff is stunning.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
Wow, this is awesome!
Thank you. The hop was called Bling on the Holidays so I did my utmost to follow the theme. Glad you enjoyed it. Leanna
Hi Lisa: The last couple of years I chose to embrace winter a little more. I am always so cold, but snow is white and bright and cheerful in its own way. Bringing the white indoors allows me to love it and be warm.
Leanna
Great way to bring the outdoor feeling into you house for Christmas.
This is so great and adds such a lovely sparkle to your decorations. I love that before and after pic, it really shows the difference you can make. I love when the snow falls, although I can imagine it is hard if you have it all winter long. x
Hi Yvonne: Snow itself loses it charm pretty quickly, especially when driving. That sparkly fluffy crystallized snow is awesome all winter. Its so very pretty.
Thank you for commenting
It’s such a genius idea to flock picks instead of the whole tree. The if you decide you don’t want flocking in the future, you’re not stuck. The sparkle is the perfect touch.
Hi Marie: That’s so true, flocked trees are very trendy. I hope they last for a long time, but you never know.
Thank you for the kind comment. Leanna
Love the tree, just entered the giveaway!
Maria
Good Luck Maria: When I was accepted into the blog hop I was really excited, because I knew that bling has been my theme for awhile now.
I love this idea! Your flocked tree is gorgeous!
Hi Nicole: I certainly enjoy the bling of the holidays.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
Such beautiful sparkle! I”m so jealous. My husband insists on a real tree every year so no hope to add a little sparkle each year…I wonder if I held parchment paper under the branch, then spray and add sparkle, I might be able to make it work! This really is a great idea – maybe I could try it on my mantle garland-it already has lights and I bet it would sparkle awesome! There is something about bling that makes the holidays warm and cozy. Great idea!
Hi Leanne: You can flock a natural tree, Martha has a cute video on doing it. How I would love to have minions of helpers though. A tarp might work as well, as long as you are able to scoop up what drops and reuse it.
You can do the picks and add them to the real tree as well. I love the smell of a real tree.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
I like your idea of flocking. But my favorite are the bling pillows. Those are so pretty. All in all very lovely.
Hi Debra: The blinged pillows were all purchased a few years ago. If you find some they wash up well, I just turn them inside out and wash on gentle. Dry flat of course.
The winter days are so short where I live, The more light that reflects the better I like it.
Thank you for the kind comment, appreciated. Leanna
It looks lovely and I honestly had no idea what flocking was. I learned something new today!
Pam
The flocked trees will go so amazingly well with my white ornaments. I have a tiny one for in my bedroom, that I cover with a garbage bag and hide full sized in a closet. To do that for a full sized tree is impossible.
You have seen the trees I am referring to haven’t you”?
Oh…I would love to do that with our tree! I’m with you on one of the above comments…I see some beautiful ones to buy but I’m not getting rid of ours just yet!
P.S. Ivory soap is a great deer repellent if they eat up the trees or bushes in your yard! My Dad totally does that and it works! 😉
Hi Christina: Now that’s a wonderful tip. My best friend lives surrounded by forest right on the ocean. She has deer eating all her plants all the time, little brats. I will let her know your hint.
I like Ivory soap, it was just so overpowering when you grate 3 bars of it at once.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
We had a turn in the weather this weekend and a dusting of snow which makes it feel like Christmas! Now, what can I ‘flock’ inside to keep that Christmasy feeling? Thanks for sharing your tips!
It is nice to get a dusting of snow before Christmas. Do you ever get the sparkly snow like I was referring to. So beautiful.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
I love sparkly white snow outside during winter. This would be a nice way to add a few snowy accents to our tree.
Hi Ali: I really love snow for a couple of weeks a year. I get over it fast, but that natural sparkly snow is just so breathtaking.
I love looking at the sparkles etc. especially from indoors. Thank you for commenting.
Artificial snow and glitter/sparkles are not my friends:P
No kidding. I also have a 115 lb Great Pyrenees, so the vacuum is lol.
I Love DIY projects especially at Christmas time
Hi Donna: I love flocked trees, but find this is a nice DIY solution for the interim. Maybe by the time I purchase one, they will be even nicer.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Leanna
Hi Karin: I have never had to take apart a flocked tree, I would be worried about knocking the flocking off and ruining it. They are so gorgeous.
Thanks for commenting, Leanna
Awesome idea! I love the flocked look, but hated the clean-up afterwards! This is perfect!
the white christmas tree is so cute!
Hi Aurie: The snow may turn pink, unless you really put lots on. Write me if you got any questions. Leanna
Thank you Julie: I have had the white tree for eons, some of the crystals are 25 plus years old. I love my all white tree.
Thank you for commenting Leanna
So cool. I need to do this with some red ones. 🙂
Hi Aurie: The snow may turn pink, unless you really put lots on. Write me if you got any questions. Leanna
the crafts look so cute! Commented on all blog posts in the blog hop!
Wonderful Julie: Good luck with the Amazon Gift Certificate.
I love flocking, and now I know what not to do, too. I’ love the way Ivory smells, even if it might be overpowering, but I don’t’ want to freak out everyone. The tree looks so pretty.
Hi Rosie: I really wanted to use the Ivory, maybe if you grated it a couple days in advance and left it to air in the garage or something. Thankfully I did a bunch of vignettes in apothecary jars last Christmas so I have lots of artificial snow in storage.
Thank you for commenting. Leanna
I love this idea! I love all the bling in your home, your flocked tree is gorgeous!
Julie @ Love My Simple Home
Thank you Julie: When I heard a blog hop called Bling in the Holidays, I knew I was meant to be included.
Your chicken wire tree will be a really great idea to make for my grand daughters. Thank you for commenting and hopping the net with me. Leanna
I wish I could see snow, but I love this idea as well. Your Christmas decor is lovely and I am so happy to party with you.
Hi Vanessa: Anytime we can work on something together again contact me. I love the retro bulb wreath you made.
I have been looking for retro outdoor ornaments forever. I absolutely love the look.
Thanks for commenting Leanna
Leanna, you just added something to my To Do List before I put up the tree. I have picks that I paid a fortune for several years ago but they are shiny gold. Last year I simplified our tree and removed a lot of the gold elements and so they remained in a box. I have spray snow, I have white glitter and everything else on your Materials List. I may have to get you to come over and guide me through this because it’s such a great idea to bring those expensive picks back onto the tree!
Hi Marie: Absolutely, I like crafts that puts forgotten items into useful service again.
I am literally a phone call and a pot of coffee away. Leanna
Oh how I wish I could see snow. It’s such a foreign fairytale thing for me, Only ever imagined never ever touched. Maybe I can try flocking something using you method Leanna just get a little closer to the real thing.
Canada is covered in the stuff. As long as I am not having to drive a lot I enjoy snow. Hubs groans every time I exclaim how pretty this snow view or that snowy view is. Then he has to admit it is pretty.
One of these days I have to look up how far apart we live. Cheers Leanna
What a great idea! I so want a flocked tree. I’m in love with the Balsam Hill one, but until then I’m going to try your method!
Hi Michelle. We in the same boat exactly. I want one of those flocked trees as well. I just refuse to purchase one when ours is perfectly good.
I started wit 15 picks I will do more for next year. Thanks for commenting. Leanna