“Can we make it like the Home Alone house?” Clara asked when we started planning outdoor Christmas decorations. She adores “Kevin and Bros” (yes, Buzz = Bros to her) and noticed their house resembles ours—only much bigger and fancier. After a family brainstorming session (mostly listening to Clara’s ideas), we settled on a plan:
- Wreaths in every window, hung with gold ribbon (Clara insisted no other color would do)
- Lighted garland around the front portico
- Plug-in candles in every windowsill like we had at our last house (Clara has always loved those, and we had the perfect number to reuse)
- Three little red lanterns filled with twinkle lights from Ikea
Real seals wearing Santa hats on the roof(Clara’s most imaginative suggestion—sadly vetoed for obvious reasons)
Here’s how it all turned out.
My favorite details are the wreaths in every window; they’re just as charming from inside looking out. I also love the lighted garland draped along the portico railing.
The red lanterns filled with lights look great next to our blue door and add a cozy pop of color.
I also love catching a glimpse of our not-yet-decorated Christmas tree through the bay window on the side. (Side note: I’ve been meaning to repaint those white trim pieces that hang down—making them the same color as the siding while keeping the trim around the window white should look much cleaner.)
We got lucky on the wreaths thanks to stacking sales. Eleven 24″ outdoor wreaths that would have cost $88 ended up costing $53. They were marked down at Michael’s, and I used a competitor’s coupon on my phone for an extra discount—so we paid about $4.81 per wreath.
Knowing the coupon could be used for ribbon, I picked up three spools of gold ribbon for about $12 total. With ribbon in hand, we were ready to hang wreaths in every window—at least in theory.
Hanging the upstairs wreaths was straightforward. We finagled the storm window and screen to open the top portion enough to slide the wreath out and let the ribbon hang. Tip: hold that ribbon like it’s priceless—you don’t want to drop wreaths and run downstairs to retrieve them.
Once the ribbon was through the window, John closed the window on it. Locking the window secured the ribbon, and for extra security we used a thumbtack through the ribbon into the top of the wooden windowsill. It only left a tiny pinhole covered by our blinds.
The downstairs windows were trickier. Their taller storm window panes didn’t let us push the wreaths out the top without removing the storm windows entirely, which was impractical in cold weather. So we hung those wreaths from the outside using a ladder.
We wanted the ribbon to lie flat like the upstairs wreaths rather than bunching around a plant hook, so we made small “trapeze” hangers. They’re basically wooden dowels with tiny holes and wire threaded through so the ribbon wraps flat across them.
John hooked the trapeze over plant hooks screwed into the window exterior and stapled the ribbon to form a secure loop while on the ladder. I stood back to make sure they were even before he stapled. The subtle staples hold the ribbon in place, and after several days they’re still secure—fingers crossed they last the season so we can reuse them.
For the portico garland we tried a few arrangements and finally secured our favorite with cable ties. We experimented with draping the garland up to the peak and around pillars, but the look we liked best was keeping the garland lower so it balanced with the porch light and draped down the steps.
I bought three strands of lighted garland that plug together so they form one continuous strand—handy for spacing and power. They were a decent price and worked perfectly for the porch.
We also brought out the plug-in candle lights from our old house and placed them in nine windows inside. We didn’t add any for the garage since switching them on and off each night would be a hassle. The three red Ikea lanterns were filled with a strand of lights each and linked together; placing them on every other step was our favorite arrangement and an outlet on the porch conveniently powered both the garland and the lanterns.
There are certainly more elaborate displays in our neighborhood, and we have plans to add more—like lighting the holly-shaped tree on the corner and getting a large lit wreath for the front door. For now, we’re proud of our first holiday display at this house. A neighbor even stopped by to ask about the garland and the lanterns, which felt nice. I may have been a little too eager to chat—what can I say, I love holiday lights.
I was worried the decorations might look lackluster by day, but they actually look good without the glow too. (Another side note: I should really move that odd doormat at the bottom of the stairs into the garage—I’ve been meaning to replace it with a wider one at the front door.)
Are you decorating the outside of your house this year? Do you go all out with roof-line lights or wrap trees until they look like cascades of light? We love seeing all the creative ways neighbors dress up their homes for the season.