Christmas Curb Appeal

When it comes to decorating outside for Christmas, I like to keep it classic and simple; pretty white lights, live greenery, and maybe one thing as a statement piece. Since the landscape of winter is blah dead grass, at least the decorations on the house draw your eye instead.

Even as the cold months are upon us, there is always a reminder of the new life of spring. (I know this has nothing to do with Christmas curb appeal, but I just had to show you these pretty buds on my Janpanese Magnolia tree.)

Like last year, I chose to make fresh evergreen swags with cedar. (You can see the how-to here.) To me, they are so timeless. I feel like if I could hop in a time machine and travel back in time that these would adorn the homes of Jo March, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, or maybe even the Dashwood home. 

My window box got a little facelift as well. There are snapdragons planted in it, but while they are green and thriving, they aren't really blooming right now. I left them there, but added in cedar boughs and magnolia. It gives it just the right amount of OOMPH!

I wrapped lights around a metal topiary that I stuck in my pot to give the front a little more sparkle. There isn't a lot of room on my front landing......I don't even think you can technically call it a porch.....so I did my best to make big impact with the least amount of items I could. Simply because there isn't room. 

The snowman wreath was simple to make. I used three different sizes of grapevine wreaths, wrapped with white fabric, and added a scarf. It shows nicely against my blue door. I made these six feet tall wood signs for the front porch, as well. The front door is recessed back a bit, and it takes something really bold to be seen from the street. This definitely catches the eye. 

Street view.

Come back tomorrow for a tutorial on how to make these and a couple other wood Christmas signs. 

These arborvitae plants are definitely my favorite thing in our landscape. They have grown a good bit since we planted them a year and a half ago.  So pretty. 

For our side entry, I made tomato cage trees out of fresh cedar, as well as a fresh cedar garland. It was fairly easy to make, if not a bit time consuming. But I would rather spend a little time making a fresh garland than just slapping up a fake one. I just like the look better. (Not that fake garlands are bad....) On the front porch, I hung a fake wired garland, but added in the real stuff to get the look without it taking me so long. Best of both worlds, I suppose. (If you're wondering how to make a fresh garland, let me tell you. Get lots of fresh greenery and some craft wire. You just wire each piece together to make a garland.)

And here it is all lit up at night.  Simple but pretty. Do you decorate outside for Christmas?  Do you go all out, Griswold style? Or do you keep it simple?