5 Minute DIY Snow Flocking: Best Easy $1 Recipe
Best $1 DIY snow flocking to make beautiful flocked Christmas trees, branches, & farmhouse decorations. Easy winter crafts for kids & family!
Do you love snowy Christmas trees and decorations? I am beyond excited to share with you my new favorite DIY! No need to buy snow flocking spray or powder, this super easy homemade fake snow flocking is non toxic, low cost, durable, and gorgeous!
You can use it to create snow flocked Christmas trees, branches, garlands, wreaths, etc. In fact, it is so much fun you will want to flock everything in your home! 🙂
This is such a great winter craft for kids and family, and a beautiful way to create a beautiful snowy winter wonderland and snow flocked Christmas decorations.
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This method is MUCH easier and faster than the common ivory soap snow flocking recipes. You don’t need liquid starch, or shaving cream, or electric mixer. Just one ingredient and some water is all you need!
Make it portable
Materials to make DIY snow flocking for Christmas trees & decorations
- Here’s our magical ingredient: white soap bars! You can get 3 oz or 4 oz white soap bars for less than $1 a piece.
- You will also need a box grater or a cheese grater, a whisk or a fork, and a bowl to mix the fake snow.
- NOTE: this recipe works best on real trees and branches. To flock artificial Christmas trees and fake branches, this SnoFlock mix is a better option because of the stronger adhesives.
How much flocking do you need? You will need 5 to 10 soap bars to flock a Christmas tree around 5 feet tall, depending on how dense the tree is and how snowy you want the tree to look.
Choose soap bars with very little fragrance. You can also add a few drops of pine or fir essential oil , or winter fragrance oils to the mixture for an extra Christmas smell!
Step 1: grate the white soap bars
We will be using the small prickly side of the grater to make some snow-like soap powder from our white soap bars.
Just rub the soap bar against the spikes on the box grater or cheese grater, the soap powder will fall right off, into a tray below.
A 3 oz or 4 oz soap bar will yield over a cup of grated soap powder that resemble finely grated parmigiana cheese.
You may also love: easy DIY snowy mason jar Christmas decorations.
Step 2: mix the homemade snow flocking
It’s a good idea to mix the fake snow in small 1/2 to 1 cup batches right before you are ready to flock your Christmas tree or other decorations.
A little bit goes a long way and it only takes a couple of minutes to mix a batch of snow flocking.
Mix 1 cup of soap powder with about 1 cup of water in a bowl. You don’t need to use hot water, room temperature water works great. You can also add a few drops of pine or fir essential oil , or winter fragrance oils to the mixture to make it smell like Christmas!
Whisk the mixture for a minute until it looks and feels like thick whipped cream. If the mixture feels too dense like butter, add a little more water.
If it’s too watery like batter, add a little more grated soap powder. You would rather have the mixture on the thicker side, because the “snow” will dry in a brighter shade of white.
How to use DIY snow flocking.
Take a handful of the “whipped cream ” snow flocking mixture, and rub it onto your Christmas tree, etc. It works great on fake or real Christmas trees and branches.
The snow flocking will take a few hours to dry, so be patient and wait to decorate your snow flocked Christmas tree! You can also sprinkle some glitter before the faux snow dries to give it some extra sparkle.
This was so easy and fun that I ended up flocking some branches, a tabletop Christmas tree I made with real branches (tutorial coming soon), and some real red berries!
All these ( branches, Christmas tree and berries ) took less than 1/4 of a 3 oz soap bar.
Best ways to make snowy pine cones.
Some types of pine cones have more porous surface than others. I find that it is much better to use methods in this tutorial when you are using more absorbent pine cones – 3 best ways to make snow covered pine cones.
How long can you store homemade fake snow mixture.
If you have extra snow flock mixture left over, you can keep it in a covered container for a few days.
The mixture will harden slightly, just add a tiny bit of water and whisk thoroughly before each use if that happens.
Would it work on a sweater or sweatshirt (I’m thinking ugly sweater) or would it crack and fall off?
hi Ann, yes it will work on sweaters! 🙂 but it will dissolve in water when washing.
Could this be used on a window?
yes! 🙂
Would this work to cover ornaments?
hi Trin, yes it works 🙂
Lovely idea. Much better for the environment than bought spray snow. Looks fantastic and very snowy.
Thank you for the tutorial.
Deirdre.
thank you Deirdre! happy holiday season! 🙂
Do you think it would be possible to do this using powder laundry detergent?
hi pam, i think it’s worth a little test! 🙂 if you do, let me know, and i will do the same! 🙂
My mother used to use ivory snow powdered baby soap years ago mixed with water.
hi Jo-Anne! that is the authentic tradition! 🙂 i have never seen ivory snow powdered soap in stores, but grating a bar is very easy!
An this be used outside? Or does it get washed away if it rains? Thanks in advance!
hi Chris, it would not be durable in the rain, but can be outside in a covered area. 🙂
Perfect DIY for the white Christmas… LOVE this idea to create snow using soap bars, thank you.
This is such a cool idea! And it saves so much money, too. I’ll be trying this soon!