Outdoor Christmas Decorating Ideas
The holiday season is upon us once again and I want to share with you some outdoor Christmas decorating ideas and inspirations. I headed up north to the San Francisco Bay Area right after Thanksgiving to do a decorating job I’ve done for many years now. Everything used has been collected over the years and is pulled out to turn the front yard into a holiday wonderland. The porch is made festive with penguins, candles, nutcrackers and garlands – it sparkles with lights and more lights. Santa sits merrily in his sleigh surrounded by trees and packages while his reindeer check out the garden. A beautiful manager scene, with custom painted figures, graces the front corner of the yard and gets accented with palm fronds cut from the back yard. As usual, there’s a video waiting for you at the end.
The sleigh, with pumpkins leftover from the Halloween/Fall display, waiting for Santa to jump on in.
Rudolph, adorned with lit bead garland, leads the way.
The festoons are being hung, temporarily attached with wire, & then secured with fishing line.
The festoons are lit & large, shiny red ornaments hanging from the center of each add even more sparkle & shine.
Garland is placed at the base of the front porch displays & is then lit. It brightens the stairs & the way to the front door.
A couple of my favorites – the Christmas penguins. If you look close, you can see everything is secured by fishing line – this valley gets very windy.
The front door display.
These candles, in different sizes & colors, are such a nice touch.
An overview of the front porch.
The nativity scene is dressed with palm fronds collected from the back yard. Hydrangeas, cut from the garden, are used as accents too.
The front gate & arbor, lit on both sides, welcome guests into the yard.
Small trees illuminate the pathways.
LINKS
As many of you already know, I was a professional Christmas decorator for years. I have some tips to share with you to make your decorating endeavors a bit easier and a bit brighter which you can find in the links below.
Ideas For Christmas Decorations
Ideas And Tips To Make Your Christmas Merry And Bright
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
please help me find the festoons
Hi Bobette – I once owned a Christmas decorating business & bought those festoons wholesale from a holiday decorating supplier about 15 years ago. They don’t sell directly to the public. I think amazon sells large ones (9′ or bigger) but I’m not sure if the small ones are made anymore. I’d check ebay or amazon. Hope that helps, Nell