How to add picks to a flocked tree without snow all over the floor
To add picks to a flocked tree, lay a sheet down and wear gloves, pick flocked or frosted picks that match your tree's flock color, and push each stem in close to the pole instead of resting it on the tips. Wrap the pick's wire stem once or twice around a sturdy inner branch to anchor it, and bend the pick to fit the space, never the flocked branch. On a 7 ft tree, start with 12 to 20 picks and add from there.
Do you have a flocked tree with a few gaps you want to fill? Picks are the perfect fix, but a flocked tree sheds a little every time you touch it, so you have to go about it a little differently than you would on a green tree. Today I’m sharing exactly how I add picks to a flocked tree so you get a full, snowy tree without a carpet full of white fluff!
The short version: put a sheet down, wear gloves, use picks that match your flock color, and push each stem in at the pole so you can wrap it around a sturdy inner branch. Then bend the pick to fit the gap. Don’t bend the flocked branch to fit the pick!
I’ve done this on green trees for years (I even used flocked picks to fake the whole look on a tree I didn’t want to spray). A tree that’s already flocked is a different job, though. The whole goal is to touch each branch once, from the inside, and then leave it alone.
What You’ll Need:
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Flocked or frosted picks that match your tree. I love these frosted pine picks for filler, and this 18 inch flocked pick with pinecones for really big gaps.
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An old flat sheet or a plastic drop cloth
Step 1. Set up for the mess first
Before you even open the bag of picks, lay an old flat sheet or a plastic drop cloth all the way around the tree. Go at least two feet past the tips. Flock is basically a fine, sticky powder, and it gets everywhere! If you skip the sheet, you’ll be finding it on the rug for weeks.
A few other things that help:
- Turn off the ceiling fan and close the vent nearest the tree for the hour you’re working. Moving air carries the loose flock across the room.
- Wear old clothes, and skip fleece. Flock sticks to fleece like nothing else.
- Wear gloves. I use the same rubber coated garden gloves I fluff with. The coated palm grips the pick stem, and it keeps the cut wire ends inside the branches from poking you.
When you’re done, gather the sheet in toward the middle and carry it outside to shake it out. Then vacuum the floor around the base. If you vacuum the tree itself, use the lowest suction and keep the nozzle about a foot away.
Step 2. Match the finish, not just the color
This is the step most people skip, and it’s why some picks look like they were stuck on. Flock comes in more than one white! Some trees are bright snow white, some are a softer cream, and some have glitter mixed in. If you put a cream pick on a bright white tree, the pick looks dirty. If you put a bright white pick on a cream tree, the tree looks dirty.
Before you buy a bunch, take one pick to the tree in daylight and hold it up to a branch. Here’s what I look for:
| Your tree | Picks that blend | Picks that stand out (use sparingly) |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy snow white flock | Heavily flocked pine or fir picks | Iced or glitter berry stems |
| Light “dusted” flock | Frosted picks with flock on the tips only | Plain green picks look like holes |
| Cream or ivory flock | Picks with a warm, cream flock | Bright white picks look gray next to it |
| Flock with glitter | Sparkle flocked picks | Matte flocked picks look flat |
The frosted pine picks are the ones I keep coming back to for filler on a white tree. The 18 inch pinecone pick fills a big hole all on its own, so you don’t need to double up.
Step 3. Go in at the pole, not on the tips
Find your gap, then slide the pick in underneath the branches around it, stem first, toward the center pole. You want the base of the pick down in the dark area near the pole and the top of the pick ending about where the tips around it end.
Picks that sit on top of the tips look like they were added (because they were!). Picks that come out from the inside look like they grew there.
Going in at the pole also means your hand slides past the flocked tips once instead of pushing and pulling them around to make a hole. Less touching means less shedding.
Step 4. Anchor every pick to a sturdy branch
Most picks have a wire stem. Once the stem is in near the pole, wrap it once or twice around a thick inner branch. Go for the part close to the hinge, which doesn’t have much flock on it anyway. That’s it! That pick isn’t going anywhere.
If a stem is too long and pokes out the back of the tree, trim it with wire cutters. Don’t use your good scissors on the wire (ask me how I know).
For the big, heavy picks, add a short piece of green floral wire around the stem and the branch. An 18 inch pick with pinecones is pretty heavy, and with just one wrap it will slowly droop forward over the season.
Step 5. Bend the pick, never the flocked branch
If I could only give you one tip, it would be this one. A flocked branch was shaped before the flock went on. When you bend it, the flock on the outside of that bend cracks, and cracked flock is what falls off. Bend it back and you crack it again!
So when a pick doesn’t quite fit the space, fluff and bend the pick instead. Fan its tips out into a V, angle the stem, or curve it to follow the branches around it. Picks are cheap and you can reshape them all you want. The tree is the investment.
If a flocked branch is really in the way, just move the pick to a different spot.
Step 6. Where they go, and how many
Start at the bottom and work your way up, the same way you fluff, so you’re never reaching over sections you’ve already finished.
- Big picks in the bottom third. That’s where the widest gaps are, and big picks look natural down low where the real branches are biggest.
- Where the sections meet. Most trees have a band where two sections come together and you can see the pole. One or two picks fixes it.
- The hollow near the pole. If you can see straight through the tree, a pick angled into the middle blocks the view.
- Smaller picks up top. Go lighter near the top, where the branches are thinner and a big pick looks heavy.
For a 7 ft flocked tree, I’d start with 12 to 20 picks total. Flocked trees already look fuller than bare green ones, so you need fewer than you think. When I did my green tree, I ended up using 21 picks, and that was covering a lot more ground. Put in your first dozen, then walk across the room and look from the doorway before you add more. It’s so much easier to add a pick than to pull one back out of a flocked tree without leaving a snowy trail!
Step 7. Picks after lights, before ornaments
Lights go on first, because you don’t want to weave a strand around pick stems. Then picks. Then ornaments, because the picks change where your gaps are and you’ll hang ornaments differently once they’re in. Doing it in this order also means you’re only going into each branch once or twice instead of four times, which is exactly what you want with flock.
If you still have bare spots once the picks are in, I have a few more fixes in 4 ways to make any tree look full. And if your tree is new this year, fluff it first (gently, since it’s flocked!) before you start filling gaps.
Are you adding picks to your flocked tree this year? I hope this helped you get the full look without the mess! Be sure to post on Instagram and tag me @sugardesignco because I love seeing the beautiful decor y’all create!
-Ciera
Made something with this? Tag me @sugardesignco — I love seeing them.
Questions I get asked
- What kind of picks look best on a flocked tree?
- Flocked or frosted picks in the same white as your tree. Bright white flock next to cream flock looks dingy, so hold the pick up to the tree in daylight before you buy a bunch. Glittered or iced berry picks are cute as accents, but your main filler picks should match the snow.
- How many picks do I need for a 7 ft flocked tree?
- I'd start with 12 to 20. Flocked trees already look full, so you need fewer than you would on a bare green tree. Put the bigger picks in the bottom third and in the gaps where the sections meet, then step back before you add more.
- How do I keep picks from falling out of a flocked tree?
- Push the stem in toward the pole and wrap it once or twice around a thick inner branch. For heavy 18 inch picks, add a short piece of green floral wire too. A pick that's just resting on the tips will slide out the first time someone brushes past it.
- Will adding picks make my flocked tree shed more?
- A little, because any handling knocks some flock loose. You can keep it to a minimum by working from the inside out, bending the pick instead of the tree, and adding picks before ornaments so you only touch each branch once.
- Should picks go on before or after lights?
- After lights, before ornaments. Picks change where your gaps are, so you want them in before you decide where the ornaments go. And you don't want to be wrestling lights around pick stems!