A Christmas tree float is a great way to bring a classic touch to a holiday parade. There are tons of ways for you to create this float, but here are some of our ideas.

The float is built on an 8′ x 16′ farm wagon with the back removed. A similar size trailer, used to move small construction equipment, might be borrowed from a local construction company. The float also might be built on the back of a flat bed truck.

A light wooden frame, made of #2 1 x 3 pine surrounds the wagon. The frame extends from the top of the wagon bed to 15″ from the ground. You can find wood for the frame at your local lumberyard. A basic frame this size requires approximately 140′ of lumber.

Waterproof, flameproof Floral Sheeting is stapled to the frame. This size float requires 16 yards of green or white Vinyl floral sheeting for the sides. There’s even snowflake floral sheeting with a perfect iridescent shimmer! The floor requires another 15 yards of floral sheeting. To calculate how much floral sheeting you need for your float, measure the distance around in feet and divide by three to get the yardage. Floral sheeting is sold in square yards. Floral sheeting is made of a heavy plastic backing sheet with rows of sewn-on scalloped plastic flower petal shapes.

14″ high metallic green or white fringe is stapled to the bottom of the frame where the Floral Sheeting stops. Fringe is available in 10′ length packages. This size float requires five, 10′ packages of metallic fringe.

Metallic green or white festooning outlines the sides of the float. Festooning is available in 48′ long rolls. This size float requires three, 48′ rolls of festooning. The floral sheeting, festooning and fringe are all made of the same plastic material (waterproof, fade-proof and flameproof) and reusable for another float at another time.

The Styrofoam letters or numbers are 8″ high, and can be used to add your slogan to the side of the float. You can paint them with inexpensive interior latex paint or leave them white. Be sure to add another board, such as plywood, to your frame under the Floral Sheeting. Just use small nails to fasten the letters to the board. As an alternative, hot glue the letters to the floral sheeting.
Add the tree to your float using an artificial tree or create your own tree using chicken wire and 1 x 3 boards. To make your tree, build a basic support for it including a base and both vertical and horizontal beams. Shape the chicken wire in the outline of your Christmas tree, either in a cone shape or with branches jutting out. Stuff every other opening in the chicken wire with green tissue squares, holding them in place with pomps paste. You can add decorations with tissue squares in other colors or make them out of other materials and attach them with glue or staples.

Create packages beneath the tree by covering big boxes out of flat paper, or build the boxes out of bright colored corrugated paper. Use festooning for ribbons on the packages.

Show us pictures of your holiday floats and check out our tips for a snowman or a Santa Claus float.

A snowman float is a great addition to any holiday parade! Your organization or team can have a blast building a snowman float that will be the hit of the parade. Here’s our tips on how to do just that!

The float is built on an 8′ x 16′ farm wagon with the back removed. A similar size trailer, used to move small construction equipment, might be borrowed from a local construction company. The float also might be built on the back of a flat bed truck.

A light wooden frame, made of #2 1 x 3 pine surrounds the wagon. The frame extends from the top of the wagon bed to 15″ from the ground. You can find wood for the frame at your local lumberyard. A basic frame this size requires approximately 140′ of lumber.

Waterproof, flameproof Floral Sheeting is stapled to the frame. This size float requires 16 yards of blue or white Vinyl floral sheeting for the sides. There’s even snowflake floral sheeting with a perfect iridescent shimmer! The floor requires another 15 yards of floral sheeting. To calculate how much floral sheeting you need for your float, measure the distance around in feet and divide by three to get the yardage. Floral sheeting is sold in square yards. Floral sheeting is made of a heavy plastic backing sheet with rows of sewn-on scalloped plastic flower petal shapes.

14″ high metallic blue or white fringe is stapled to the bottom of the frame where the Floral Sheeting stops. Fringe is available in 10′ length packages. This size float requires five, 10′ packages of metallic fringe.

Metallic blue or white festooning outlines the sides of the float. Festooning is available in 48′ long rolls. This size float requires three, 48′ rolls of festooning. The floral sheeting, festooning and fringe are all made of the same plastic material (waterproof, fade-proof and flameproof) and reusable for another float at another time.

The Styrofoam letters or numbers are 8″ high, and can be used to add your slogan to the side of the float. You can paint them with inexpensive interior latex paint or leave them white. Be sure to add another board, such as plywood, to your frame under the Floral Sheeting. Just use small nails to fasten the letters to the board. As an alternative, hot glue the letters to the floral sheeting.

The snowman is formed from two 5′ plywood circles (top and bottom) connected by 2 x 4’s for the bottom snowball. Make the middle snowball out of two 3’ circles and the top out of two 1’ circles. Make the plywood circles by cutting two 2 1/2′ half-circles and fastening them together with nailed-on boards. Stapled to the circular wood frame is chicken wire, which has 1″ openings. Stuff white tissue squares in every other opening.

Paper maché accessories for the snowman like a hat and a carrot nose. Add a scarf and some branches for arms. Be sure to secure everything tightly to the snowman so it stays in place on parade day.

Once you’ve built your snowman, transform the rest of the float into a winter wonderland with winter themed decorating components like giant corex snowflakes, candy canes, snowflake pillars, or corrugated winter pine trees. Your float will look dazzling and be tons of fun to make!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are big times for parades. Creating a holiday parade float can be a great activity for your family, club, team or other organization. Bring out the cider and hot cocoa, some gingerbread cookies and these float building tips and get the festive float building under way!

Start the float building process by brainstorming for holiday themes, slogans and decorating ideas.

Once you have these ideas, the next thing you will want to do is make a sketch of your float. This will help you when you go to build it! Include the placement of your slogan, colors, and decorations. For instance, if you want the fringe to be brown and the trim to be red, label this on your sketch.

MEASURING MATERIALS FOR THE TRAILER
Before you can build your float, you need to order float materials! Here is an estimate of how much material is required to cover various standard-size floats. The measurements will give you plenty of material to cover the deck and sides of your trailer.

2’ High x 18’ Long x 8′ Wide Trailer
Three 6-yard rolls of Floral Sheeting (for deck)
One 18-yard roll of Floral Sheeting (for sides)
Three 3-pound bags of Scatter Grass (may replace floral sheeting on deck)
Six 10-foot rolls of Fringe (for perimeter)
Two 48-foot rolls of Festooning

2’ High x 24’ Long x 10’ Wide Trailer
Four 8-yard rolls of Floral Sheeting (for deck)
One 23-yard roll of Floral Sheeting (for sides)
Five 3-pound bags of Scatter Grass (may replace floral sheeting on deck)
Seven 10-foot rolls of Fringe (for perimeter)
Two 48-foot rolls of Festooning

2’ High x 32’ Long x 10’ Wide Trailer
Four 11-yard rolls of Floral Sheeting (for deck)
One 28-yard roll of Floral Sheeting (for sides)
Seven 3-pound bags of Scatter Grass (may replace floral sheeting on deck)
Nine 10-foot rolls of Fringe (for perimeter)
Two 48-foot rolls of Festooning

Float Materials Per Square Foot
If your float doesn’t fit the particular dimensions in the examples above, don’t worry! Here is an approximate break-down of the materials you will need for each square foot.

Per Square Foot
.83 feet of Floral Sheeting
.07 lbs. of Scatter Grass (optional)
.46 feet of Fringe
.74 feet of Festooning
Simply take these measurements and multiply them by the square footage of your trailer. (To determine the square footage, simply multiple the length by the width.) The result is how much material you will need. For example, if your trailer is 200 square feet, you will need 92 feet of fringe (.46 x 200 = 92).

COVERING THE TRAILER
Once you have received your float materials, it’s time to get to work! Below are some steps to follow when covering your float trailer.
1. Cover the deck and sides of the float completely with floral sheeting. (Scatter grass or grass mats can be used on the deck instead of floral sheeting.) For your holiday float, we suggest using red or green metallic or vinyl floral sheeting on the deck and sides.
2. Attach fringe to the bottom of each side of the trailer. This will cover the wheels and make the float look like it is truly “floating.” We recommend red or white vinyl fringe for a holiday theme.
3. Edge the sides of your float with festooning. Attach the festooning between the floral sheeting on the deck and the floral sheeting on the sides of the trailer. This accents the float’s straight line while creating an appealing color contrast. You can also use the festooning between the floral sheeting on the sides and the fringe. Silver metallic or white vinyl festooning would look great on a holiday float.
4. Display your slogan or school name with Styrofoam letters. The letters usually look best when attached to the floral sheeting on the sides of the trailer. You can also add them to other areas of your float. Paint the letters green or use your school colors!

Decorating your holiday float can be as much fun as decorating your home for the holidays. Here are our tips for creating a Santa themed parade float.

Build a giant chair or throne for someone in a Santa costume to sit in or build this Santa decoration out of chicken wire and tissue squares:

Using 1 x 3 boards, build a frame shaped like a Santa stick-figure. You may have to create feet for the frame by attaching the boards to the bottom of your float with nails. Once you’ve built the frame, surround it with chicken wire. Shape the chicken wire, which you can find at many hardware or farm supply stores, into the contours of Santa, remember the big belly! Stuff every other opening in the chicken wire with red, white, or black tissue squares. Use pomps paste to hold the squares in place. Making a Santa will be complicated, but the hard work will be well worth it!

Some other options include
• Add a giant fake or real Christmas tree to the float. Have people dressed in holiday or winter apparel ride the float and decorate the tree.
• Use holiday dance decorating kits to create a winter wonderland, candy cane theme, or ski lodge theme float.
• Use giant boxes and wrap them with wrapping paper and big bows, to create a float covered in big gift packages.

Let us know what holiday float decorations you come up with!