5 Outdoor Christmas Decoration Ideas

With Christmas only around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about decorations. For many families and homeowners, dusting off last year’s Christmas tree and purchasing some new lights is the best way to get into the spirit.

But why not take it a step further this year and complete the Christmas look in your yard too! If you love driving around to view the Christmas lights on other houses in your area, why not make yours the talk of the street this year.

1. Create a Walkway with Christmas Lights in Trees

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the renowned tree and sparkling lights. Many homeowners love setting their inside tree up by the main window so cars driving by can see the lights, but what about replicating this outside too?

Starting from your driveway gates up to your front door, line the walkway with miniature Christmas trees. You can have a mix of small green trees, white ‘snow covered’ trees or spiral trees that are made up of Christmas lights. Walkway trees range in sizes with animated LED lights to complete the look and come in a good selection of colours so you can theme the lights with the rest of your display. Choosing solar powered lights, especially here in Perth where we have enough solar power to charge them for the whole night, means you won’t have a big power bill to contend with at the end of the season!

2. Welcoming Wreath

For homes with a gate and fence, you have an ideal opportunity to decorate with a traditional wreath. Mostly, you’ll find these on the door so hanging one to the entry can be a great way to set the scene. Traditionally, wreaths are used to welcome guests to the home throughout the festive season, so putting one at the first point of entry will encourage this. To promote a cosy country look, you can line the fence with a variety of wreaths secured by wiring them onto the fence.

In addition to wreaths, you can add almost any Christmas decoration to your fence and gates. Garlands can create a classic look to your homes’ exterior whilst still encouraging the Christmas spirit. Choose either fresh or artificial greenery to drape along the fence line, weaving in and out of the posts. To add some colour, you can tie large red bows along points of the fence too, or dangle some colourful Christmas tree balls.

3. Bring Your Home to Life with Lights

Coloured lights are notorious to the festive season so be sure to include some in your outdoor decorating design. Fence lines are the perfect place to drape them over or you can weave them in and out of the garlands to make the greenery sparkle. String decorative light strings along the fence or create that icy Christmas look with icicle lights – this will help to create a white Christmas look with falling snow, especially great if you can’t experience it firsthand in the heat of the WA sun!

If your home has a lots of trees or existing plants out the front, use these as ‘outdoor Christmas trees’ and add lights and various decorations to them too. If you want your home to look a little different this year, a Christmas light planter can be a fun idea to try too. Collect a few dead branches from your garden and put in a large pot – you can hold the branches together with wire. Next, tie a large shimmery ribbon around the base of the branches and jumble a whole heap of Christmas lights around them too. The ribbon will reflect the glow of the lights and it will make for a unique outdoor decorating idea.

4. Snowy Sled and Silly Santa

Outdoor decorations cannot be complete without Santa and his snowy sled or reindeers. You can purchase a light up Santa or reindeer and sleigh decorations from places like Bunnings or Kmart. Be creative with this one, as there’s absolutely no limit to your imagination!

If your home is two-storey you can have Santa positioned to make it look like he’s climbing up on his way to the chimney. If you have a handyman at your home that can safely get up onto the roof, you can sit Santa up there (viewable from the street of course) with his sleigh and reindeers. Alternatively, sit Santa with his reindeers by the door or behind your fence in the garden.

5. Dress Your Door Up

The same way you can dress your gate and fence up, continue the festive theme to your front door too. For a cheap alterative, you can use garden-inspired Christmas decorations for your door by creating a leafy garland with pinecones, berries, branches, brightly coloured ribbons and leaves. At night time, you can illuminate the decorations by entwining flashing Christmas lights through the garland. To secure the flourishes, use pins from your local florist or hot glue.

As with the gate, you can add a welcoming wreath to the front door too. Next to it, fill a large plant pot with giant candy canes or create a potted berry and branch arrangement to draw attention to the area. Don’t forget too, when you’re decorating make use of the garage and shed door too if they are visible from the road.

With these fun Christmas decorating tips, your house just may make the newspaper for the best Christmas light and decoration displays! Either way, you and your family will have hours of endless fun getting into the festive spirit this year.

Photo Credits:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/151785449914692419/