We use the X-Particles branch modifier to, well, branch the frost out, set some parameters and let it grow on its own. Then we render it in Arnold or Standard Renderer, I'll show both.

The beauty of this technique is that it works on pretty much any object. From Bunnies to Buddhas.

I'm using X-Particles 3.0 in this tutorial.

00:00 Yo!

00:38 Emitting X-Particles

01:08 Adding X-Particles Trail

01:20 Using the xpFollowSurface to make particles follow the surface

01:51 The Science of Frost

02:00 Using the xpBranch to branch the frost out

03:00 Adding sub-Branches

07:37 Rendering the frost using X-Particles Trail with Arnold

08:09 Shading the frost

09:04 Rendering the frost with Standard Renderer

09:17 Adding the frost to anything from Bunnies to Buddhas.