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All-Natural Outdoor Christmas Decor

December 5th, 2009

I spent the day yesterday putting Christmas up out front. When it comes to outside Christmas decor I’m a big fan of the natural look so I stick to all-natural ingredients. No big blow-up things, colored/flashing lights, santas or plastic things decorate our home. We stick to an all-natural Christmas.
grapevine_star_with_fresh_pine_garland
It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright. It wasn’t very warm, so I started around 11 am after it had warmed up, frosty fingers don’t do well wiring lights. I unrolled the garland and stretched it out on the front lawn to dry. Then I carried containers of lights, pine cones and grapevine stars down from the attic.
Christmas_lights_and_pinecones
Of course all of the strands of lights have to be checked to make sure they work and any burnt out bulbs get replaced. I find that buying an extra strand or two of lights is a cheaper source of replacement bulbs than buying those little replacement packs.
white_christmas_lights
Then came the wrapping of the lights around the garland (we get a lot of wind here so this is a necessity). Out came the ladder and up went the garland, I find that I like turning the lights on while I’m putting them up. The lights go on a timer when I’m finished so they come on after it gets dark and they go off around 11 pm.
ladder_and_Christmas_garland
It’s always tricky getting each swag to be the same, or at least close enough. I’d put up one and climb down the ladder head out to the front of the lawn and see what I thought. It sure is a good amount of exercise putting up this garland!
fresh_Pine_garland_with_white_lights
After getting the garland up, I realized it was two o’clock and I hadn’t eaten lunch yet. My stomach was grumbling, so I headed inside and warmed myself with a steaming bowl of chili. I ate in the living room so I could enjoy what I had accomplished with all my hard work.
bowl_sihlouette
After lunch it was time to wire the pine cones into the garland and put the grapevine stars up.
pine_cones
The pine cones and stars were laid out so I knew where they were to be placed along the garland. Adding the pine cones adds more work, but I really like the end result!
pinecone_and_christmas_lights
Fresh_pine_garland_on_porch
Along with the pine cones I use grapevine stars everywhere. I made star topiaries to flank the front door. These were put in big terracotta pots (out came the tomatoes out and in went the stars).
Front_porch_Christmas_decorations
Some greenery was added to finish them off and a few smaller terracotta pots were filled with pine cones. I left the watering can up there as well because I thought it looked nice, although I may replace it with my old zinc one. I may add a few more pots filled with other natural things as well.
Terracotta_Christmas_decor
Not too long after I was finished with the front porch the sun started to set. I could hardly wait for it to go down, I was so excited to see what the lights were going to look like in the dark!
sunset_on_pine_garland
The lights came on at 5:30 and it finally feels like the holiday season at Chiot’s Run. I hope that people driving by smile and get that feeling of Christmas. I always do when I pass houses all dressed up for the holidays!
Christmas_lights_at_night
This is the view from the inside of the house. I love sitting on the couch in the evenings with a cup of tea, listening to my favorite Christmas music and watching the lights outside.
Shining_Christmas_lights
This doesn’t conclude my decorating efforts. I still have to add garland, lights and stars around the garage door. The front fence will get some garland and stars as well and I may put up some more lights in our little pine trees on the back hill. I also have to decorate the inside of the house, but this gets to be less and less with each passing year. I appreciate the outside decor much more than I do the inside decorations.

What’s your favorite outdoor or indoor Christmas decor?

21 Comments to “All-Natural Outdoor Christmas Decor”
  1. LisaAlso on December 5, 2009 at 8:12 am

    Love, love, love your natural Christmas decorating!! A rela thing of beauty, if you ask me!
    .-= LisaAlso´s last blog ..Dear Blogosphere, =-.

    Reply to LisaAlso's comment

  2. miss m on December 5, 2009 at 9:13 am

    You mean you’re not the blow-up colored flashing plastic thingy type ??! Who would’ve thought ! ;) (har-har!)

    Perfectly georgeous! Love the grapevine stars. That is one beautiful watering can, btw. Great work ! Lovely shots and vignettes.

    Reply to miss m's comment

  3. kristin @ going country on December 5, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Wow. Nice job. I do all the decorating by myself, too, and it’s a lot of work. Worth it, though.

    My favorite is all the candles we have around Christmas. Inside, obviously. It just looks so soft and pretty when all the candles are lit.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

    • Susy on December 5, 2009 at 10:30 am

      I like candles as well. I need to order some more though, I’m all out. I have these lovely glass stars in my windows that have candles in them. Here’s a photo on Flickr (not lit with a candle, I’ll have to take a photo of them soon). http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiotsrun/3941710213/

      It is a lot of work doing it all by yourself. I found myself almost being pulled off the ladder once or twice, that garland can get heavy, perhaps I need some leaded shoes, or maybe I could eat a few more doughnuts in the weeks coming up to decorating:)

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Nickie on December 5, 2009 at 11:02 am

    Very nice! I don’t like the blow up thingies either, they look ridiculous!
    .-= Nickie´s last blog ..First Snow =-.

    Reply to Nickie's comment

  5. Judy on December 5, 2009 at 11:44 am

    That is beautiful! I love all the pine cones.
    My favorite thing is a pine cone wreath that I made years ago. It needs some repairs since it lost a few cones during our move this summer. My mother had one that she had made and filled out with fresh greenery, it is lovely!
    .-= Judy´s last blog ..Free seeds??? =-.

    Reply to Judy's comment

  6. Allie on December 5, 2009 at 11:54 am

    Oh, Susy! It’s beautiful! You are so talented!

    Reply to Allie's comment

  7. melissa on December 5, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    do you buy your garland already all attached together or do you connect the branches yourself? (if the latter I’d love to how how you do it)
    .-= melissa´s last blog ..Best of 2009 Day 4: Best Book =-.

    Reply to melissa's comment

  8. Maureen on December 5, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    Beautiful porch Suzy…..love the natural played up with the lights.

    We are decorating our son’s room (it’s a former detached garage) this year rather than the main house. However, ours will one of those ‘can be seen from space’ guady overdone light extraganszas. Our Army son is coming home for Christmas and since that is where he will stay, and since he LOVED putting up as many lights as possible every December (and we haven’t done that in awhile) we are going all out.

    No giant plastic snow globes tho :)
    .-= Maureen´s last blog ..For Kim =-.

    Reply to Maureen's comment

    • Susy on December 5, 2009 at 5:28 pm

      Hey if you like all the lights – live it up. I used to love to put out tons of lights when I was little.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  9. Maureen on December 5, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    …and that would be extravaganzas….duh.
    .-= Maureen´s last blog ..For Kim =-.

    Reply to Maureen's comment

  10. tj on December 5, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    …That is beautiful! I love the pine roping that you get too – very pretty!

    …Great job & Merry Christmas!

    …Blessings too… :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  11. Dan on December 5, 2009 at 6:37 pm

    Nice work, the garland looks great. We’re not really Christmas people but I do usually fill the urns out front with greens and sticks. I have not done anything this year though, maybe I will have a greenless winter this year…
    .-= Dan´s last blog ..The seasons are a’changin =-.

    Reply to Dan's comment

  12. Tree on December 6, 2009 at 9:33 am

    Simply Holiday! This is what I love. One question did you make the grapvine stars and if so can you do a tutorial? I get plenty of grapevine growing in these parts, but all I can make with it is wreaths or head peices. Would love to know how you get the star shape (what you use to make the form?
    .-= Tree´s last blog ..Bye Bye Baby – Hello Lady! =-.

    Reply to Tree's comment

    • Susy on December 6, 2009 at 9:50 am

      I didn’t make the grapevine stars. I can tell you how they’re made though, you might be able to make them. They have a thick wire star shape as a base (although one uses sticks for the star shape). Then the grapevines are simply wrapped around the shape. The smaller stars use small thin vine, the bigger stars use some bigger grapevines. I can post a close-up image on my Flickr account so you can see the detail in them. I’ll try to do that today or tomorrow for you. I love that you want to make them yourself. I was able to find these for a great price at an after Christmas sale years ago, so I bought them. We have lots of grapevines around here, but not much time.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  13. Dave on December 6, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Your porch is grand and we love your porch decorating ideas. Would really like to post a picture of your porch on our website as our site visitors would enjoy them also. We are in the process of collecting wonderful Christmas and holiday porch pictures. http://www.front-porch-ideas-and-more.com/holiday-decorators.html
    .-= Dave´s last blog ..Simple Christmas Decorating – Makes a Big Statement =-.

    Reply to Dave's comment

  14. Linda on December 7, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    Where did you get the grapevine stars? I have looked everywhere and can find the twig stars, but not the fat ones like you display. Don’t tell me to make them . . . I am not crafty at all no matter how simple!!! Thanks! PS – your decor is beautiful.

    Reply to Linda's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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