Outdoor Decor for the Holidays

I love to decorate the outdoors for the holidays, especially now that I have a porch! Love my porch. :)  Here are a few ideas I used this year that might inspire some of you who are trying to think of fun new ways to spiff up the outside of your houses this holiday season!

This is a horse trough - yes you read that right - turned over.  I got the idea years ago in some random magazine.  And I love it.  It's very Texas but also very funky.  Anywho, I used some free discarded tree boughs from my local grocer's Christmas tree section, added some large twine balls and a rustic looking bell (found at most craft stores) to the mix, and voila!  Christmas on a trough.

Here's another tree bough combined with a wire star I got from WalMart, perched in one of my chairs... originally the star was black, so I spray painted it silver.  And I hung a bell on the edge of one of the points of the star for a touch of whimsy.  

Here's the whole vignette put together.  I love these red chairs.  They are usually kept on my back porch, but I swung them around to the front this year because I love the red for the holidays.

Since I was tired of flowers and enjoy a few months off from watering, I repurposed this planter for the holidays to include (more) tree boughs, twine balls, and a red tin star I got from Target's Smith and Hawken line (love Smith and Hawken!!!).

On the other side of my porch I've got a lonely bench.  I kept with the same theme by adding tree boughs, twine balls and bells.  In addition is the cute sign I made from a scrap of wood (routed around the edges, painted, sanded and stained, and stencilled with the words "'Tis the Season").  I also got a fun gnome-like Santa Claus last year that looks super cute there.  And a galvanized pail with a bell tied to one of the handles and stuffed with (yet more) tree boughs and a Christmas tree shaped garden stake.  You can't see it as well in this top pic, but you can in the pic below.

Another view.  To include another big tin star I spray painted silver!!!  {As you all can see,  I love stars!}

We've got lights up, too... I always hang a fake evergreen swag along the edge of my roof wrapped in big white globe lights.  WalMart sells the swags for super cheap, and although I hate fake and always use real (silk ivy plants make my skin crawl), from that far away you cannot even tell it's fake.  

This year I also put out some big silver ball ornaments on our tree and looped a couple more strands of globe lights along the bottom branches.  You can't see it as well during the day so one of these nights I am going to have to go out and snap a picture for you all!

Happy porch decorating to all of you!

PS - I am redrawing a name for the Embellish Kids capelet tomorrow... I haven't heard from our original winner and it has been a week!  So, stay tuned. :)