Affordable Outdoor Christmas Decorating Tips - By: Rachael Stone

Christmas is one season that is so much fun for people who love to decorate their home. The inside of many homes are festively arrayed with colorful ribbons, garlands of fresh evergreen, sprigs of holly and candles. Home exteriors and yards are also treated to some decorating magic. If you are on a budget this year this article has some helpful suggestions that can show you how to decorate with some easy outdoor Christmas decorations without going broke.

Many people have more stress during the holiday season.. Preparing for the arrival of family and other out of town guests can take a toll on you. With so much to worry about, your Christmas decorations shouldn't be one of them. There are several cost efficient ways to decorate the exterior of your home without spending a bundle.

Ask yourself this question. What will be my theme? Often you will already own items that can be used for a traditional theme. Items such as ribbon, scissors, tape, garland, and other materials are usually scattered about in drawers, closets and cabinets.

Try to use nature to help you decorate whenever possible. You can find holly berries, pine cones, branches and mistletoe almost everywhere. These items are free, earth friendly and they are so much fun to work with.

* Make your own evergreen trim; this requires a little bit of patience and practice. It will still beat paying $20 or more to purchase a living garland from the store. Just consider yourself to be the "Martha Stewart of the Forest".

Other items that you may need for your Christmas decorating projects can be found at your local dollar store. You can also check out discounters and garage sales for necessities such as construction paper, artificial flowers, glue, lights, wreaths, bows, markers, colored pencils, paint, paper plates, glue sticks, Christmas bulbs, glitter, and all sizes of Styrofoam balls.

Make decorating fun. Make kid friendly decorations that are both eye- catching and cost efficient. Invite all your family members to participate in this kid-friendly project. Here are some easy to make crafts the whole family can enjoy doing.

* Make some life size ornament cutouts from posterboard and use them to decorate your door or porch. You can trim these cutouts with material from the craft store.

* Decorating shrubs and trees with bows is also fun and inexpensive. Having all bows be the same color is recommended. It gives the yard a more "pulled together" appearance.

* Make some ornaments from pine cones and ribbon to hang on the trees. If you add peanut butter and bird seed to the pine cones the birds will appreciate it.

* You can make your own luminaries at home. All you need for ice luminaries are some empty quart size milk containers or some large buckets. You can even make Christmas luminaries from some plain tin cans.

Tin Can Luminaries

1. Use clean tin cans of different sizes for this project. Make sure the cut top is smooth and safe. Remove the labels from the cans and fill them with water.

2. Place them in the freezer. The frozen water in the cans will prevent them from denting or collapsing as you create Christmas designs on their surfaces.

3. When the water is frozen you can make designs on the tin cans with a hole punch, or use a hammer and nails.

4. Be creative with your design and make sure the light will be able to shine through.

5. Remove the ice, place votive candles inside the cans and decorate your front walk, yard or porch.

Here is another idea that can be used to decorate the exterior of your home for Christmas.

Decorative Door Greeting

Items needed:

Garland in the following colors: green, silver, gold, red

Ribbon (red, green, silver, gold)

Tape (or thumb tacks)

Scissors

Fun and festive wrapping paper (Christmas themed)

Construction paper

Color pencils (or markers)

Glitter

Trim a piece of colorful wrapping paper so that it will fit the length of your front door.

Attach the wrapping paper to your door with either invisible tape (so there won't be glue marks when you remove it) or thumb tacks.

Next you will need to cut two pieces of red and silver garland the width of the door.

Twist the garland together.

Cut ¾ inch green ribbon and tie the ends of the garland.

Cut two pieces of green and gold garland together. Cut ¾ inch silver ribbon and tie both ends of the garland.

Use a hook, thumb tacks or a small nail to mount the garland on your door.

Cut four pieces of garland, (your choice of colors) the height of the door.

Twist the first two pieces of the garland together.

Now you can twist the next two pieces of garland together.

Use thumb tacks to secure the garland in place on the door.

Making a Greeting Card for the Door

Fold the construction paper in half.

* Write a holiday greeting to people coming to your door on this card. Brightly colored markers or pencils work well for this.

* Using a brightly colored pen or a glitter pen to trace your greeting adds nice touch.

* Once you have finished the card, place it at the center of the door.

* You may also create several cards to cover the whole door.

Learning how to decorate the exterior of your home for Christmas does not mean that you have to spend a lot of money. This should be a fun project that lets you add your personal style statement to the season's festivities.

About the Author

Add to the celebrations with Christmas jewelry that you can wear all season long.

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