A Festive Entryway

Like many enthusiastic holiday celebrators, you’re probably starting to decorate your home in reds and greens, hanging stockings, and plastering pictures of jolly red med all over your walls.  Outdoors, you may have even broken out the tallest ladders and adorned your roof and bushes with festive lights.

Whether you have a full front porch, or just a basic door, with these easy techniques you can add some holiday cheer to encourage your guests to get in the holiday spirit too.

Use Greens

You already know the tradition of hanging a wreath on your front door, but you don’t have to stop there. Include a large red bow on the wreath to add color.  For a subtle emphasis, wrap Christmas lights around the foliage so your wreaths really pop.  The lights that twinkle will really make your door turn some heads, even from the street as cars drive by.

For something different, hang a basket filled with white, purple, and soft red flowers.  Adding some moss to the base will give it a splash of green and complete the look.

Use Lights

Decorative Christmas lights are very fun, but you don’t really want to put them right at the entryway.  If you do, people will be distracted by the blinding brightness.  Instead, consider an elegantly simple solution – candles.  If you have a patio, place a candelabrum as a centerpiece on a table.  For smaller areas, put a thick white candle on either side of the door, with or without a candle holder.  When the sun sets, light the candles for a stunning holiday feel.

Use Garden Tools

By incorporating a rustic feel into your holiday decorations, you can highlight the tradition of the season.  Consider adorning your front stoop with old-fashioned rakes and watering cans.  Then hang a few bold colored Christmas bulbs from the gardening equipment and place pine cones around the base.  To combine the rustic feel with illumination, use iron lanterns with lit candles inside.

Use planters

Many people already decorate their front stoop with potted plants, and a few minor changes can turn those planters into sources of holiday joy.  Replace summer flowers with evergreen branches by burying the ends of each branch in the center of the planter and allowing the green branches to form a base. 

Try using a variety of different evergreens so you get different shades of complimentary colors.  Branches with red berries are a definite plus.  To add depth, incorporate ivy and boxwood.  These holiday plants tend to be thicker, so the plants get a rounder, full feel.  Finally, adorn the decoration with a floppy red bow or sparkly orbs to really catch the eye.

All relatively easy ways to add heaps of holiday cheer!