We live in Florida, so obviously this tree has been baked in sweltering, humid heat for an entire year now. My only real concern was that my "flocking" might crack or crumble over time.
Well, last week John brought our shrink-wrapped tree inside, plunked it down, cut off the wrap, and...
[drum roll, please]
...it looks perfect!
Now the real test: how did the flocking fare?
Not a single crack or crumble. WOOHOO!!
In fact, I'm pretty sure my fake snow looks way more real and fresh than the tree itself:
So for those of you who were on the fence about my flocking tutorial, I hope this helps assure you that it really does stand the test of heat and time.
Also, I am never NOT shrink wrapping this tree again. Putting the lights on is the most tedious and time-consuming part of the whole process, so it was sheer heaven to have the tree ready for ornaments in under five minutes. We had to assemble our second tree as usual, and boy was THAT a pain after this one! See how quickly I get spoiled? :) (Note: It IS a pre-lit tree, but I add four extra strands of twinkle lights on top of that. I like a LOT of lights.)
Here's one final full shot:
I hope you guys are having a great week!
* See my original tree flocking tutorial here.
How did John shrink wrap it? That sounds like a fabulous idea.
ReplyDelete@ Jamie - he used a...shrink wrap gun?...Not sure what it's called exactly, but it looks like a packing tape dispenser, only for cling wrap. That said, you could just use regular cling wrap - once you get it started at the top, it's pretty easy!
ReplyDeleteWow! Really amazing it stood the heat for a year. When you flock, you FLOCK! lol Now for the fun decorating!
ReplyDeleteYour wonderful tree still looks great!
ReplyDeletebtw, I saw TONS of ribbed plastic Christmas ornaments in boxes on the shelves of my Walmart tonight. They are the perfect kind for hot-air balloons. =)
Never feel bad for adding extra lights! Several years ago, while we were in Germany, I put over 1200 lights on our tree. Yup, 1200. I joked with my hubby (who was deployed that Christmas) that if he saw a huge glow way up north, it was just our tree. :)
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with the tree standing up to the heat and humidity here. We have some tough tough weather. Shrink Wrap! Holy cow never thought of it... you guys are so smart. :) That's definitely a thought, we have the same height tree. Oh and I went back and read about your flocking and steampunky tree last year, very cool stuff, I'm inspired.
ReplyDeleteI really want to see a video of John shrink wrapping the tree for next year.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the shrink-wrap video because it sounds like a fab idea but I have idea how to begin. I live in FL too and am always afraid something will set up housekeeping in the tree while it is in the garage...ew.
ReplyDeleteLooks great! After reading your tutorial last year, I decided to try it on my crappy old tree, and it looked beautiful! I was worried about how it would look this year (my tree was stored in an old, somewhat leaky shed)- but it looks just as beautiful as it did last year! You are a genius!!!! Love, from Canada!
ReplyDeleteYes - we now need a shrink-wrapping tutorial from John, please!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Janice...I'd like to see video of John shrink-wrapping the tree. For that matter, a tutorial would be great...I think I get it, but I would love to see the steps in progress.
ReplyDeleteWrite us a tute, John, please?
Okay, I'm going to be *that person* for a minute... what happens when the lights on the tree die, as christmas lights invariably do? :(
ReplyDeleteOk, now I'm really feeling crappy about my artificial tree. Yours looks almost real--we're going to have to upgrade someday!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that your pre-lit tree still has lights that work. We bought Andrea a pre-lit tree last year, and when we brought it out this year discovered the lights didn't work. We tried finding the bulb that was causing the issue, but it was a lost cause.
ReplyDeleteAnd let me just say how obnoxious it was removing the attached lights so we could replace them with a new strand or two. Zip ties? Really? The clips were bad enough, but did they really need to zip tie them in some spots? After 20 minutes, I made sure it was unplugged and got out the scissors. Oy!
Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWill do, guys - I'll post a shrink-wrap tut after the New Year when we take the tree down!
ReplyDeleteAnd Tori, when the lights go out, we just replace them! It's a pain, sure, but good store-bought lights (as opposed to the cheap ones that come on pre-lit trees) last a loooong time, so wiring them to the tree still saves me a lot of effort over the years.
Re: how long they last - My twinkle lights are at least 5 or 6 years old - probably older - and they're on a minimum of six hours a day from Tday through New Year's. They're still going strong, with just the occasional burnt-out bulb I can replace individually. Here's hoping my amber lights will last at least as long!
My parents have been storing their tree all assembled since I was about 16, and they're still using the same one (over 10 years now). They use a couple of bedsheets and tightly wrap it, then bind it with twine. They've kept theirs in the attic (north Georgia weather), so Dad typically lets it air out a day or so in the yard or garage before setting it up inside the house.
ReplyDeleteYikes! How quickly a year has passed! Glad the tree survived. Looking forward to your photos.
ReplyDeleteMy guys at work were (half) joking about wrapping up our tree and storing it out in our city garage. If they shrink wrap it, they could actually do that. Can't wait for the tute!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, your tree still looks great.
I like to add my lights as I build the tree because I light the branches all the way in to the trunk. Basically I put on a layer of branches, fluff them up, then bring a strand up lights up from the center and spiral it out to the tips as I position the lights up and down through the branches. Takes a metric ton of light strands, but you end up with the most gorgeous twinkly tree and it lets you set ornaments at different 'depths' in the branches because they are still lit by the more interior lights. So, more lights, more ornaments, more sparkle!
ReplyDeleteOkay, two things - A. The tree is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And that's before ornaments. B. How did John shrink-wrap the tree? It looks like he literally just wrapped it in saran-wrap, which seems oh-so-easy-peasy to do!
ReplyDelete