Hello dear friends! It’s day two of an exciting week on the blog with Christmas home tours, blog hops and fun holiday link parties! Today I am joining Kendra of Joy In Our Home and twenty-three other bloggers for the Christmas Festival Blog Hop which lasts all week long. Each day has a different theme, and today’s theme is porches. If you are coming over from Little Brags or if you just happened to stop by today, welcome! Let’s get this porch party started!

 

Yesterday I shared my fresh holly and ivy Christmas swag which was inspired by an old Christmas carol, The Holly and The Ivy. I also shared a little bit of our porch decorated for the season.

 

Time just seems to fly by during the holidays! I don’t want to “miss” Christmas this year, so I have been trying come up with quick and easy ways to add festive holiday touches inside and out without spending weeks (or lots of money) doing it. Due to some health issues and really bad weather, I was super late in getting the porch ready for the porch blog hops yesterday and today, so I had to throw things together fast. In the end it really didn’t take much to spruce up the porch, so I decided to share some of my easy ideas for Christmas porch decor with you.

 

Use Vintage Furniture and Rustic Vintage Decor

The vintage white chair, vintage Singer sewing machine and treble clef on the door (I am a music teacher) are on display year round. If you have a covered porch, having a small vintage piece of furniture or two on the porch instantly adds character and charm, and they are so fun to decorate for the holidays.

 

via Country Living

 

 

It is easy to style a small table on the porch seasonally. A basket, barrel or crate on top of a table or shelf can be  easily switched up with seasonal florals, greenery, and a bow. This pretty basket is just the right size for my sewing machine table. I have filled it with a mix of whatever extra Christmas greenery I had in my Christmas decorating and craft stash. A tartan plaid bow adds a quintessential Christmas finishing touch to the basket.  A little tartan and plaid is always a good idea on any Christmas porch!

 

We live straight across the street from a forest, so I like to use some rustic and natural looking holiday decor on our porch which seems fitting for the surroundings. If you prefer bright and blingy Christmas decor, you could fill a large basket full of big,colorful bulbs. Dollar Tree usually has some that look great when mixed in with some greenery.

 

 

Old sleds or skis make perfect Christmas porch props! These are relatively easy to find throughout the year at flea markets, yard sales, thrift shops or even Craigslist.

 

 

If you can’t find a sled in time for Christmas, there are plenty of DIY’s for sleds on Pinterest.

via Fynes Designs

 

 

Vintage ice skates are also a fun touch! You can hang them on a sled or even use them on a wreath.

 

 

via Worthing Court

 

 

via The Crowned Goat

 

Use Fresh (and Free) Evergreens

For The Holly and The Ivy Christmas Swag I used a faux Fraser Fir garland, grapevine and boxwood picks as the base, then I added some fresh holly and ivy that I clipped from the landscaping in front of our porch. I love the traditional Christmas look of adding the fresh evergreens! Next year I will probably get some free pine clippings from the hardware store to add to my swag or the basket by the door.

 

via Beauty For Ashes

Fresh cedar garland is relatively inexpensive at hardware stores and it looks beautiful draped around a door. You can also add small evergreen trees to baskets, buckets and urns.

 

Use An Inexpensive Christmas Tree As Porch Decor 

This little tree in the corner by the front was a $10 Black Friday bargain from the Dollar store. Well, at first I was not sure how much of a “bargain” it was, since it was quite pitiful and scraggly! Since it was going to  be outside on the porch, I wasn’t too concerned with the look or quality.  If you pick up a cheap tree like this one, the key is to fill in the gaps with large ribbon, burlap or some kind of material. I used a thick roll of burlap to cover metal parts of the branches that were still showing even after the tree was fluffed.

 

 

After adding a couple of strands of lights, some old wooden bead garland, thrifted red bulbs, tartan plaid ribbon, it was looking much better. Then I got the idea to hang a couple of black lanterns on the tree since I was using lanterns in other spots on the porch, and now the tree looks just too cute!

 

 

 

via She Holds Dearly

Even an undecorated tree an be beautiful! You could always use a real tree too. I would love to use one on the porch, but it would be a battle with the birds daily!

 

Add Festive Pillows And Throws To Chairs and Benches

 

 

 

A pretty pillow or two can do so much for pulling a space together! I have a few Christmas pillows on the porch and they were the “icing on the Christmas cake” when it came to finishing up the porch. I actually was struggling a bit to get things to look right until I added this DIY French stripe pillow to the old chair by the door. I decorate with a lot of French and farmhouse style decor, so this pillow ties in perfectly with the Christmas decor that family and guests will find when they step through the front door.  Decorating with rain boots repurposed as “planters” is also an easy and on trend idea.

 

 

via Home Stories A to Z

 

via Elizabeth Joan Designs

And now, back to the pillows!

Source

As mentioned above, plaid is always a good idea!

 

via Our Southern Home

 

Buffalo plaid is still all the rage and I love it! This cute pillow is one of my favorites.

 

I also used some inexpensive red and buffalo check outdoor pillows on my vintage porch furniture. I actually spent all of October trying to find new neutral chair pads because I thought the bright green wouldn’t work for Christmas, but I couldn’t really find any colors I liked. I have no idea why I didn’t think the green would work!  Now I am loving this color combo which turned out to look rather Christmasy after all!

 

With all the comfy pillows the porch is the perfect place to sit and enjoy some hot tea, cocoa, coffee and Christmas snacks on a mild winter day or night. By the way, today I am also sharing a recipe for some Gluten Free, Vegan and refined sugar free gingerbread cookies for the “Eight Cookies To Jingle Your Bells” Blog Hop. It has been years since I have made cookies that I could eat since I have so many food allergies and try to avoid sugar. I was shocked out how delicious these cookies turned out!

 

 

Trust me… these cookies are are amazing (just ask Mr. Snowman!)  You can find the recipe here.

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing our Christmas porch today and the easy Christmas porch decor ideas I shared. Now it’s time to visit Michelle’s porch at The Painted Hinge. She has the most awesome farmhouse style! Don’t forget to check out all the inspiring posts on the hop all week long featuring other Christmas themes.  Oh, and do plan to come back over “for Cookies” today too! I would love to hear your thoughts the recipe!

 

Christmas DIYs on Monday

Joy In Our Home | 2 Bees In A Pod | My Creative Days

County Road 407 | Chatfield Court

 

Christmas Front Porches on Tuesday

The Tattered Pew | The Crowned Goat | Little Brags

Follow The Yellow Brick Home | The Painted Hinge

 

Christmas Recipes on Wednesday

Crisp Collective | Love In My Oven | Countryside Cravings

Walking On Sunshine Recipes | Beyond The Butter

 

Christmas Mantles on Thursday 

anderson + grant | White Arrows Home | Elizabeth Joan Designs

  City Girl Meets Country Boy | Red Brick On The Lake

 

Christmas Tablescapes on Friday

The Inspired Hive | Curly Crafty Mom | Making It In The Mountains

Rain and Pine | Timeless Creations

 

Thank you so much for visiting today! If you have time, be sure to take a look at my cookies post too! I would love to hear your thoughts the recipe! I will also be sharing my Christmas home tours on Wednesday, Friday, and Monday if you are looking for interior Christmas decorating ideas. I can’t wait to show you this year’s decor!

Merry Christmas dear readers!

Amber