DIY Flocked and Tartan Wreath

Remember on Monday when I said that instead of a wreath I was doing something different this year? That I didn’t want to make a wreath so opted for a bough because of how easy it was. Well, then I changed my mind. So scrap that and welcome to wreath week, friends! I’ve got a wreath for you today and I’ll have another on Friday. Just so you know how much I didn’t stick to my word of skipping the wreaths. Sound like a plan? Heck yes.

Here’s how it all started… I saw this post by Sawdust2Stitches for Remodelaholic and she mentioned using the spray snow from the Dollar Store to give her fake tree some flocking. Whaaaat. Maybe I’m the only person in the world who hadn’t heard of this, but my mind was blown. I love the look of flocked trees but we certainly don’t have room in our budget for a new tree. Plus this year we were gifted an aunt’s old tree and it’s such high quality. Even though Corey said the snow wipes off I couldn’t bring myself to chance it on our new-to-us tree. So I let the idea go. Then we were moving things around our basement to get ready for wiring (fiiinally!!!) and I spotted a stack of fake wreaths. I completely forgot that I’d picked up three wreaths at a garage sale this summer for just a few bucks. Light bulbs went off and I hauled one upstairs.

Here’s how it turned out… and what I think of the process.

I LOVE the way it looks. I only wish that I’d fluffed the wreath a bit better before I started spraying because some spots look a bit smushed. I got too excited and didn’t think it through. So here’s my advice to you… fluff before you spray. And… when you’re spraying. So many light coats letting it dry in between. Do you see how mine kind of crackled? That’s because I sprayed on a nice heavy coat until I liked the way it looked. When it dried it did this. There’s other parts of the wreath I tried the slow and steady method and it worked much better! By allowing it to dry in between you can build up a really nice thick flocked look.

As for the snow wiping off? It does… but it also flakes off. Like big time. It’s a total mess, so make sure you are spraying on a covered surface. And probably not on your kitchen island (like me) where you’ll be bumping into it while it’s drying. I think if I’d been more patient and layered slowly there would have been less flaking. Once it was dry it continued to flake if it was bumped or rubbed. Now that it’s hung on the wall and not getting moved around on my island- it’s not a problem. It doesn’t flake if you don’t touch it.

Okay, so that’s how the spray snow works as flocking on fake trees/wreaths! I topped mine off with a plaid ribbon- it’s from one of my Papa’s old shirts- you can read more about that under my Christmas Traditions post. I used hemming tape to iron the ‘ribbon’ in half so there’s no wrong sides. I love the pop of colour it adds to this frosty wreath!

What do you guys think of flocking? I used to think it was the worst… I’ve changed my mind on that too! I’d also love to hear what my fellow mind-changers out there have publicly proclaimed just to announce that they’ve changed their mind. I have a feeling there’s some good stories! Anyways, have a wonderful Wednesday- I’ll see you back here Friday with another wreath- Shane’s favourite out of the three.