One of our favourite parts of the holiday season is decorating with winter greens and creating cozy, welcoming designs for the exterior of your home. Fresh cedar, pine and fir are the perfect thing to spruce up the home for the Christmas season with garlands, wreaths and other accents! We think it's just as important as stringing the lights around the windows and doors. 

This year we got the chance to collaborate with Monika Hibbs once again, our favourite local inspirational blogger. We brought out all of our favourite ideas to create a Christmas mood for the cozy bungalow she's staying in (while she's in the process of building her own home) as we hung the garland, fashioned a wreath and added all those special touches needed for an enchanted winter look. (If you missed last year's Monika Hibbs collaboration, take a look here.)

Hanging Garland

Lush green garland makes an incredible statement around windows and doors, immediately bringing to mind winter forests and chilly snow days! We used a garland of cedar with lengths attached together with wire. Each length was doubled up and lightly braided together to ensure a full and bushy look. The cedar is lovely because it drapes beautifully and has that unique forest scent!

To add interest and texture we wired silver fir into the branches as well as seeded eucalyptus and sugar cones. To hang the garland we hammered small nails into the door and window frame at intervals, to secure the garland and also allow it to drape nicely. The garland can then be wired or zap-strapped to the nails so that it won't blow off in the wind or storm.

See all the details of how to hang your garland in our DIY video.

 

Winter Welcome Wreath

Nothing says 'welcome' like a festive wreath on the door! We mixed pine, fir and silver pine for the base of the wreath, then added embellishments to the bottom third of the design. This allows the winter greens to really shine while also creating a feature accent area using seeded eucalyptus, curly willow, sugar cones and eucalyptus pods.

Looking for some great ideas to accent your next wreath? We cover a lot of greenery and natural accents in our blog post on creating epic Christmas wreaths here or watch our Eucalyptus + Evergreen Wreath video below!   

Mixed Greenery Basket

A basket makes the perfect home for this design of mixed greens, highlighted by three birch poles of different height, all cut at an angle to add interest. (Three accents in a design is always better than two, much more pleasing to the eye.) The white wash of the basket matches the birch poles, and also works to contrast with the dark greens.

For this design we used cedar, oregonia, silver fir, seeded eucalyptus and white pine. We filled the basket with soil, then inserted the ends of the boughs directly into the soil until they are solidly grounded. By keeping the soil watered during the winter, we help to keep the cut greens fresh all season. These planters can be used around the doorway or on the patio for a splash of fresh winter greenery.   

White, Silver & Green

The white flower boxes held rosemary that was growing beautifully and could be left in the new winter designs! We added white cyclamen and calocephalus to the boxes to keep the white colouring, which looks wintery next to the cedar garland hanging below. The blooms of the cyclamen look like a dusting of snow on each planter.

This design was echoed in other baskets, along with the addition of another favourite, dusty miller and a flourish of silver fir for the season. The subtle white tones of these greenery choices all tie in with the cyclamen blooms and pale basket.
 

Of course we couldn’t resist a few more wintery touches such as accenting an outdoor lamp with candles and greens, or potting up Norway spruce trees in galvanized tin pots for a simple addition to the entranceway. Finding fun add-ons for your outdoor decor is the perfect way to create your own unique style and mood.

Planters and containers that give you the look you’re going for, such as a rustic farmhouse style, will add charm to your home for the season. Enjoy getting out in the chilly weather to create a Christmas look for the exterior of your home that expresses the warm seasonal spirit we all love so much!