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Easy Winter Porch Decorating Tips & Tricks

In: Christmas Decorating Ideas & Projects, DECORATING, Decorating Tips & Tricks

I’m sharing a few of my easy winter porch decorating tips to quickly turn your entranceway into a festive welcome for the entire winter season.

1. Start with an empty slate

The first thing I did was clear off all of my Fall porch stuff…or what was left of it after the squirrel army totaled my pumpkins!! I didn’t have a pumpkin left that they hadn’t attacked…pumpkin guts and seeds everywhere!!

If it’s warm enough where you live I would suggest giving your porch a quick squirt with your hose to get rid of any debris.

gray house with blue door

Best Tip For A Full Garland

I’m going to let you in on my #1 best tip for making your garlands look big and beautiful…and it’s pretty darn easy to do!!

First, grab some real garlands…they don’t have to be the expensive kind just the basic ones.

I grabbed these garlands at Trader Joe’s for around $10 each.

winter garland.

Next, stretch out a real garland and an artificial garland next to each other on the ground.

I’ve had this garland for years. There are pine cones and berries on it but you can always embellish a plain garland with a few pine cones (just twist floral wire around the base of the pine cone and tie the ends to the garland and a few berry picks…only takes a couple of minutes)

winter garlands

And here’s the part that will make your garland look like you spent a fortune…twist the two together! From a distance, you can’t even tell that there’s a fake in there.

a pile of winter garlands

Once the garlands were twisted together I added a long string of warm white Christmas lights. I like to weave them back and forth instead of wrapping them around the garlands.

adding Christmas lights to a garland.

Easy Winter Planter Idea

Here’s the easiest way to make a beautiful winter planter for zero dollars…if it’s free it’s for me!!

First I pulled out the dead geraniums and petunias from my summer planters…I have to say with the warm Fall we had in New England I still had blossoms in November…it was sooo strange!!

empty black porch planter

After I dragged the planters onto my front porch I grabbed my clippers and a basket and took a walk into the woods to cut some fresh greens.

If you don’t have all kinds of evergreens in your backyard you can find bunches of greens or even a swag at your local nursery or market that you can use to make planters.

pine boughs

I make my winter planter using the same design method as my summer planters: thriller, filler, & spiller. Meaning I pick something that will be the star of the planter, something to fill up most of the space, and something to spill over the edges.

Since this pot is already filled with soil it will hold the pine boughs in place…actually it gets so cold here that they freeze in place and stay fresh all winter.

As my spiller, I stuck in the wispy pine branches around the perimeter of the planter.

making a planter with evergreens

Then I added a variety of spruce boughs and juniper branches to fill in the rest of the planter.

planter with pine branches

Now to add the thrillers of this planter. I grabbed a few big pine cones that I had and a few branches from my yard and made my own picks to stick in the planter

All I did was hot glue the pine cone onto the edge of the stick.

big pine cone

After I added the pine cones to the planters I made a super simple bow to add for a bit of holiday color. Super simple…all I did was make 5 loops and twist some floral wire to secure it.

Making bows is definitely not one of my strong suits…I am jealous of my blogging girlfriends that make amazing bows!!

making a winter bow

After the DIY pine cone picks and bow were added to the planter I added a few branches for some visual interest (spray-painted copper) and red winterberries.

Do you have winterberries where you live? We have them all along the roadsides near wet areas…I keep a pair of clippers in the car just for this occasion.

I spotted a bunch of them in a marshy area next to the gas station my husband has stopped at…I did the “I’ll be right back” and took off with my clippers..I may have almost slipped down the muddy hill but darn it…I got my winterberries!!

Oh yeah, and a string of lights that attaches to the ones hanging around the door.

winter planter with pine cones

Putting All My Easy Winter Porch Tips Together

  • Reuse Your Summer Planter Pots
  • Collect Greens To Fill Them
  • Make Your Own Picks With Pinecones & Sticks
  • Add Spray Painted Branches For Visual Interest
  • Red Berries For A Pop Of Color

Here’s one of the finished planters. I think it took about 10 minutes from start to finish to put it together!

winter planter with greens, pine cones , and a bow

I made a matching planter for the other side of my front door. To finish up my super easy winter porch I hung a set of jingle bells with greens on the wall ( I think I got these at least 10 years ago and use them every winter somewhere)

You can see the copper sticks a little better in this planter picture.

front porch decorated for winter

And here’s the porch all lit up at night…side note: when I just went out to snap this picture, I startled a bird and it came flying out of the top of the garland and almost hit me in the head…this is a dangerous job people!!!

  • For A Full Garland Twist One Basic Real Garland With An Artificial Garland
  • Weave Lights Instead Of Wrapping Them Around The Entire Garland (more lights facing front for more glow at night)
porch decorated with garlands and winter greens

I love my simple porch this year…last year I was in the “go big or go home” mood! You can check out my fun front porch from last year using blues and reds.

Want to see what’s on the other side of that door?? Come check how I decorated my living room for Christmas

More Christmas inspiration!

ornament filled with dried baby's breath

DIY Easy and Beautiful Dried Flower Ornaments

Jennifer Howard

Celebrating a White Christmas in New Hampshire

Jennifer Howard

Decorating A Dining Room with Natural Christmas Touches

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Easy to Make Glass Metallic Glitter Ornaments

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Jennifer Howard

cottage on bunker hill

Thanks for stopping by today! Being able to share my projects, DIYs, and decorating ideas with you is amazing. Leave a comment below; I love hearing from you! Feel free to drop me a note here if you have any questions.

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By: Jennifer Howard · In: Christmas Decorating Ideas & Projects, DECORATING, Decorating Tips & Tricks · Tagged: christmas decor, home decor

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Comments

  1. Kathy Munday says

    November 13, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    Your porch looks beautiful Jenn. So warm and welcoming. Great tips. I wish we had more “winter” foliage close to home. I certainly will keep a pair of clippers on my car!!! If the greenery lasts, it will keep the house looking beautiful all winter. Once Christmas decor comes down, everything looks so bare, so these ideas will help to keep things looking great!!! Thanks!!

    Reply
  2. Anne | Simply2Moms says

    November 8, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    I love this idea!! It came out so pretty! Pinned.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      November 9, 2022 at 12:44 pm

      Thanks!!

      Reply
      • Kathy Menold says

        November 10, 2022 at 9:09 am

        Jennifer. Your porch looks great and your idea about twisting a faux and real garland is brilliant. How do you attach your garland . I usually use my planters on either side of the front door and fortunately have alot of greens around our property. I also add a big arrangement on a bench on the porch with lights on a timer. A few lanterns and a Moravian Star add some more illumination.On our door a home made wreath with a big bow.
        Simple but we love it. Thanks for your ideas.

        Reply
        • Jennifer Howard says

          November 10, 2022 at 9:35 am

          Hi Kathy, WHen I hang it around the door I take a couple stems of the fake garland and tuck it behind the vinyl frame around my storm door and it stays in place…even through snowstorms.

          Reply
  3. Kim Waldorf says

    December 17, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Twisting the fake and real garland is a great tip! I’ll have to try it next season…when I have two hands! lol

    Reply
    • Jennifer Howard says

      December 18, 2021 at 8:09 am

      LOL…I almost spit out my coffee!!!

      Reply

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Hey friends, I'm so glad you are here! I'm a life-long New England gal who started Cottage On Bunker Hill as a hub to share all my DIYs, decorating ideas, budget shopping ideas and so much more!!

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