Decorating Your Front Porch for the Holidays

Create a warm welcome

Our favorite way to light up the season is with a brilliant array of paper luminaries. Line them along front walks, driveways, and porches for a fiery Christmas display that’s so simple (and affordable) to pull off.

To create your own gleaming arrangement, generously cover the bottom of white paper bags with sand, which will keep them sturdy and stationary when exposed to the elements. Arrange bags in desired positions (the luminaries lining the walk all 2 feet apart), and then insert tea lights or battery-operated LEDs.

Top off a square mailbox with an abundant bouquet of winter plants. Fill a wide, shallow planter with a mix of pansies, flowering cabbage, cedar, fir, lavender, and rosemary trimmed to resemble a Christmas tree. Tuck in ornaments and oversize pinecones to add color and fill in gaps.

Cheer Up Your Entry Way

Pressed for time but want a big show? Fit a 7-gallon magnolia into a decorative planter, and fill in around the edges with spray-painted magnolia branches and sprigs of seeded eucalyptus. After the holidays, plant the magnolia in the garden. Designed to come together quickly, the look is easy to tailor. Change the plants or colors to suit your taste.

Theme Your Entryway

Stage a royal welcome by hanging lanterns from shepherd hooks anchored in galvanized washtubs planted with ivy. Topped with a faux cardinal, this seasonal lighting solution helps introduce your Christmas decorating theme right at the front door. For a red-carpet look, create a clever runner with tartan fabric and green burlap that spans from the door to the steps. Hold the runner in place with heavy-duty double-sided tape from the hardware store.

No matter how you decide to decorate for the soon to come holidays, be sure to remember to just have fun with it! It doesn’t have to be perfect by any means – be festive in your own way! Either way, as long as you love it, you’re guests are sure to as well!