DIY Inexpensive Outdoor Christmas Decor

There are two things that I take with me practically everywhere I go - my digital camera and my garden shears. Last weekend the garden shears saw a lot of action. While visiting at a friend’s home in the country, I harvested a ton of greenery, red dogwood branches and grapevine. My car smelled like Christmas all the way home! The plan - do something with the baskets that have been hanging empty on my front porch for the past year.

I may be slow, but I am most certainly sure. Those hanging baskets are now heaped full with three different types of evergreen branches, highlighted with some lovely red dogwood, and thanks to our weather yesterday, a little dusting of snow.

Here’s a picture of one completed Christmas / winter-themed hanging arrangement (including snow):

This is the how to:

• Line the hanging baskets with burlap.
• Add florist’s foam.
• Layer in the greenery sticking the ends firmly into the florist’s foam - starting with cedar boughs that drape over the sides of the baskets, then filling in with pine and spruce boughs.
• Tuck in bits of red dogwood branches for an extra hit of color.

The same principles can be applied to creating an outdoor arrangement in a garden urn, galvanized bucket, or other type of outdoor planter. Skip the burlap liner, and if it’s a light-weight planter or urn, you’ll want to add some weight to the bottom of it so it doesn’t topple from the weight of the greenery. Turn it up a notch by adding some silver ball ornaments, string in some white LED Christmas lights, or simply add a large bow. I can’t think of a less expensive, easier outdoor Christmas decoration.

Not sure yet if I’ll add anything more or not. I’m totally open to suggestions if anyone wants to offer them.

Oops, almost forgot - if you’re wondering what happened to the grapevine, I fashioned it into a grapevine wreath. I’m giving it to my friend who was kind enough to let me harvest on his property. Here’s a picture of the DIY grapevine wreath.

It’s not perfect, but it works for me. Anyone wanting tips on how to make a grapevine wreath can refer to an earlier post, Make a Decorative Wreath for All Seasons.