Outside Christmas House Decorating Ideas

Front Entryway

Exterior entryways offer an excellent opportunity to get personal with holiday decor. This entryway, created by Dan Faires, features candelabras made from discarded wine bottles, garland made from nautical rope and lanterns and evergreens placed in galvanized metal buckets.

Front Entryway at Night

Once the sun goes down, the entryway instantly becomes more intimate thanks to the glow created by the candlelit wine bottle candelabras and interior and exterior lights of the house.

Holiday Outdoor Decorations

To create visual interest outside of your home, consider breaking the front yard up into different zones — each with its own holiday-centric feature. Designer Britany Simon and designer Brian Patrick Flynn broke this front yard up into three zones: left, center of yard and entrance. The left side of the house features a 10-foot tall Christmas tree structure made from reclaimed barn siding, the center of the yard is outfitted with an arbor created with vintage ladders and the entrance is decorated with various repurposed items including wine bottle candelabras and rope garland.

Moss Wreaths

Add graphic punch and organic style to your front doors with square moss wreaths. To create these, you'll need square wreath forms, bagged moss, ribbon and approximately three hours of crafting time. In addition to their texture and color, the square shape of the wreaths offers a fresh new take on an old holiday classic.

Lantern Garland

To add a unique, textural touch to the home's front doors, Dan created one-of-a-kind, farmhouse-inspired garland with lanterns attached to nautical rope. In order to attach the garland to the house, Dan screwed C-hooks directly into the exterior trim on which to lay each section of rope.

Chalkboard Buck Head

Create a festive welcome sign for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's with a chalkboard buck-head silhouette. To make this, trace a reindeer shape onto a 24 x 24 piece of plywood, cut it out with a jigsaw and apply two coats of chalkboard paint. Write messages to coordinate with each holiday.

Bucket Planters

Although grass tends to dry up during the winter months, you can still add a pop of green to your holiday curb appeal with potted evergreens — particularly juniper and cypress bushes. Dress them up with organic style by planting them in galvanized metal buckets and decorating them with burlap ribbon.

Snowflake Silhouettes

Add holiday flair to basic galvanized metal buckets with perforated snowflake silhouettes. To create the silhouettes, use a black marker to make an outline directly on the surface of the bucket, then punch holes with a Phillips-head screwdriver tapped with a hammer or rubber mallet. For an extra layer of decoration, add a piece of outdoor fabric in holiday colors behind the punched holes.

Wine Bottle Candelabra

Bring a soft glow to any outdoor area with candelabras made from old wine bottles updated with matte black spray paint. To ensure visibility from the sidewalk or street, choose white pillar candles. The high contrast between the white and the black is classic, graphic and easy to read.

Outdoor Sled Vignette

Sometimes the best holiday decorations weren't necessarily meant as decor. Create a personal vignette near your entrance with a collection of objects with winter flair. Upon arrival to this home, guests are greeted with a weathered sled, a pair of ice skates and a bucket filled with faux snowballs.

Mailbox Decor

To turn this basic mailbox into a showstopping focal point, Dan surrounded it with giant candy canes made from plywood and burlap as well as lollipops made from PVC, small bouncy balls, colored burlap and twine.

Mailbox Garland

Add life to your mailbox with garland. In order to do this without impeding mail carrier pickup and delivery, keep the garland around the back of the mailbox. For graphic punch and a pop of color, intersperse accents, such as faux berries, in with the green garland.

Burlap Detail

To put an updated spin on candy canes, consider wrapping them in natural-toned burlap for a textural touch, then punch the overall look up with colored ribbon.

Red Ribbon Detail

Add candy striped detail to your mailbox base with red ribbon. Not only will the contrast between the ribbon and the post add graphic impact, but choosing ribbon in the same color as your garland's ornamentation will also help in creating a sophisticated, cohesive palette.

Life-Sized Lollipops

Over-sized holiday lollipops are both easy and fun to create. Pick up a small rubber bouncy ball from the toy store, colored burlap, twine and PVC pipe. Attach the rubber bouncy ball to the top of the PVC pipe with duct tape, wrap the ball with colored burlap and tie it tightly around the bottom of the ball with twine. Next, stake the PVC into the ground either free-handed or dig a small hole with a trowel.

Reclaimed Wood Tree

Make a big statement this holiday with a reclaimed wood Christmas tree sculpture. Dan created this from reclaimed barn siding cut in different lengths and attached it to a 10-foot 4 x 4 with wood screws.

Holiday Arbor

Give your guests a grand entrance this holiday season with an entry arbor made from repurposed wooden ladders. Dan created this chic arbor by painting three ladders with matte black paint, wrapping them with industrial globe lights and softening the overall look with garland.

Arbor Pinecones

For an extra layer of visual interest, consider hanging mistletoe or pinecones along the center of the top of the arbor. Dan created this cluster by dipping pinecones into white paint, then bundling them together with twine.

Holiday Window Box

Bring holiday cheer to your window boxes with bright-red botanical accents. Amaranthus is a Christmas classic, which adds great texture and is easy to care for. If amaranthus is not indigenous to your area, it can be ordered online and shipped almost anywhere.