Hi, friends, I’m partnering again this year with Tree Classics and a few of my blogger friends for a blog hop this week. I’ll be sharing today and you can see my other friends from yesterday and again tomorrow for more Christmas inspiration with wreaths and garlands.
It’s been so fun to decorate our new house for the Christmas season and I have a cozy front porch to decorate now which is a little different than my old one, so that’s been fun to come up with ideas on making that porch very welcoming and festive.
Be sure and stop by and visit Kelly and Traci from their wreaths and garlands sharing yesterday and then tomorrow Kim and Vanessa will be sharing theirs. Â I can’t wait to see what they do with their wreaths and garlands. Wreaths and garlands go together like peanut butter and jelly this time of year, don’t they?
Welcome to our new Home for the Holidays!
Growing up, I can still remember how excited I was when we begged my mom to pull out the Christmas decorations from the closet and out they came for my sister and I to help decorate the tree. Â We had a simple Christmas with a real tree and nothing at all fancy in our decorations for the season. But, I still remember the feeling I had as a child as the tree was adorned with all those pretty ornaments, the lights came on and there was a feeling of Christmas in the house. That’s the way I want my own house to feel as we enter into this season of Christmas with all the blessings that have come our way. I decorate way more than my mama ever did, but she definitely captured the specialness of Christmas and added that layer of love into our Holiday decorating every single year growing up.
And that’s priceless!
So, with that being said, welcome!
Our new front porch is really fun to decorate and I’m just thankful that we have an actual porch with a ceiling to keep people dry if it’s raining. That’s always one of my pet peeves about a house, if it doesn’t have a porch for keeping things and people dry. Â It’s a small porch, but it’s a porch! Â So welcome to you all!
I kept it simple by adding Tree Classics Classic Frasier Fir wreath and garlands to the front porch. This one is really my fave from them, with its realistic mix of greenery and pinecones and sprays of gold berries. These garlands and wreaths are so easy to use. Â Just take them out of the box, fluff and decorate. Â With all the pretty foliage, they didn’t need anything but a bow!
Just because I know someone will ask, our new front door mat is from Frontgate. They have lots of oversized front door mats.
With battery powered lights I can put them out and then light them when needed with the push of a button. Â I added simple cranberry and gold ribbon bows to the ends of the stair railing for a fun and festive touch.
Both sides got the same garland and I simply anchored it to our black iron railing and added bows. Â Simple and easy! Â You can see the mix of pretty greenery in this pic.
On the front porch, I’ve added another fun touch. This one is almost an antique. Â I told you that Mark is a huge sentimental dearheart and Christmas is no exception. Â In fact, he’s all out gushy over Christmas and loves this Holiday like no other. Â I’ll have to tell you a cute and funny story about Christmas, but I’ll wait until I get to another part of our Christmas decor for that.
Back to this sled. Â He’s had this cute thing since he was about 9 years old, he said. Â I spotted it and said I wanted to use it in our Christmas decorating, so he said yes, as long as we keep a good eye on it and don’t let it disappear. Â We hope that wouldn’t happen, but you never know. Â I added a pretty red bow and a sprig of faux berries to it an it’s such a cute adornment on the front porch.
Not wanting to leave out these black urns, I dressed them for Christmas too. Â I added lime green cypress trees from my local nursery to each urn, added a deep burgandy pansy and set in some pretty deep red glass balls to really give them a Holiday look.
These should grow in well during the Winter months and survive into Spring.
Merry Christmas blocks that I’ve had for a long time were placed above the front door to greet our guests as they come in the door. Â I loved that little touch too!
The Classic Frasier Fir wreath that’s prelit adds a really nice touch to our glass front door. All I did was add a pretty green ribbon for texture and color and that’s it. It’s already adorned with all those pretties so doens’t need a lot more. I used suction cup holders to hang my wreaths on glass.
I also added some oversized plastic ornaments from some hooks on the ceiling for a little extra bling.
They add just a little sparkle at night and with the lights on and lights inside welcoming people in, our house is feeling mighty festive right now.
I can’t wait to have some people over this year and celebrate this wonderful time of the year. Â Between family and friends, we hope they all feel welcome as we extend our home for the holidays this year. It’s so exciting for us to celebrate our first Christmas in our new house. Â The first of many! Â It’s been fun to get things all spruced up and festive for this year’s festivities! Â I’ll have lots more to share in the coming weeks, thanks as always for stopping by!
Note: This post is sponsored by Tree Classics. Â
Rhoda, your porch is dressed beautifully with the garland, bows, and wreath! The sled is perfect, love it and the blocks above the door are just the right touch! I know you are enjoying your new home…it isbeautiful!
The porch is gorgeous! I also decorate with a sled and have a pair of white ice skates along with a bow on mine. I really like how you decorated your urns. Everything about your porch says welcome!
It looks beautiful Rhoda…Merry Christmas to you and Mark.
Lovely and welcoming. By suction cups do you mean Command Strips or just a regular old suction cup hanger? Just wondering since I have an oval glass panel in my front door and never considered how to hang something on it. Does the weight of the wreath pull off the suction cup?
Hi, Jan, it’s a clear suction cup hanger with a large hook. I’ve found them at my local hardware store, so I’m sure you can find something similar. They work great and most of the time stay up just fine. Make sure the glass is clean and it should stick really well.
The porch is beautifully decorated for Christmas!! And, Mark’s sled? That’s just priceless! Family, friends, and all your Southern Hospitality “visitors” will enjoy feeling so welcomed in this space!
Your front porch is perfect. The garland wrapped stair railing welcomes the eye to travel up the staircase. I like how you added some ornaments to the urns and the pansies- great idea! The sled is a fabulous accent and so is the wreath and the Merry Christmas blocks. All very welcoming!
You have done a beautiful job with your porch decorations. Love all of the festive touches!
Very festive & beautiful! You are blessed to have such a great new home to decorate. I know you are having a blast with the Christmas decorating! 🙂
How wonderful it must be to decorate your porch of your new home with such beautiful garlands and wreath from Tree Classics….A most beautiful and festive way to welcome your family and friends for the Holidays! Have a great week Rhoda!
THank you, Shirley, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, my friend!
I smiled at your telling of your childhood Christmases – as I also grew up in the era where the Christmas tree and maybe a wreath on the front door was all the ‘decorating’ necessary. As a child – I remember that my grandmother would stop her car on the side of the road and find her ‘tree’ in the woods close to her house – usually a small lob-lolly pine with maybe a dozen branches. Talk about a Charlie Brown Christmas tree! But we kids loved that it smelled so good – and we would help her put on the dozen or so Shiny Brite ornaments and a string of lights – the GIANT ones – such that the tree usually had to have a yard stick tied to the trunk to keep it upright. (I was stunned to learn that people spent good money – and lots of it – to buy a tree.) LOL! 🙂
Hey, Becky, I know we sure grew up in simpler times, didn’t we? I can still smell that real tree and feel the excitement of the season through a child’s eyes.
Rhoda,
So pretty and welcoming. I am so happy for you and Mark, may God’s blessings rain down on you both in 2018.
Thank you so much, Mary! We both appreciate all the well wishes.
Beautiful, Rhoda!
Your decor is stunning.
Where can i find the black urns
Hi, Gladys, thank you, those urns are from Home Depot a few years ago.
Rhoda, I love the door and am looking for one just like that to replace our current door…the decorations look so welcoming. It’s all beautiful. Enjoy this first Christmas with your new husband.
It looks beautiful. Porchs are a great thing, aren’t they? I could use some more overhang. I love what you did with the porch, but also its construction. The sled is adorable. My good friend resorted to a tiny wire metal lock to deter theft. She just wired it through a few things and it was barely noticeable, but gave her peace of mind.
Rhoda, this is so beautiful. Your home is beginning to really look like yours and your hard work shows. I just want to comment that your front door looks better open now without the white blinds. And the paint on the inside of the door to match your kitchen is fabulous! Very best wishes to you and yours! I’ve followed you from the very beginning…:)
HI, Cathy, thank you so much! Another one who’s been with me for so long, I do appreciate it so much. Mark really hated those white blinds, so they came down and won’t go back up. He’s going to use a film on the front door for privacy and it looks like rain on the windows. I like it too, so hoping it still appears really open. He’s done the sidelights already if you can see those.
Rhoda, Simply elegant! I love that you can just remove the Merry Christmas and leave up the decorations thru the winter. Beautiful!
Pretty, pretty, pretty, Rhoda! Love the way your front porch looks in all its Christmas finery. I put my boys’ old sled out at Christmastime every year, so I’m right on board with Mark! 🙂
Looking forward to seeing everything you’ll do in this new house. What a Christmas you’ll have!
THank you, Richella, for stopping by! So glad Mark had that sled to bring out. Merry Christmas my friend!
Hi Rhonda, you certainly are welcoming and ready for the holidays now. I love this wreath and garland too (you my see it at my house, just sayin) I feel the same way about decorating for Christmas, I loved when it was tome to get the decorations out and still do as an adult! Merry Christmas friend!
It looks lovely! Hope you are feeling better from your shingles. Where did you get the lights? My seems to have a blueish tint
Hi, Molly, thank you still trying to recover, it’s not over yet. The lights are already on the wreath and garlands, prelit!