~christmas decorating on the porch 101 - white wednesday~

i love how this urn looks filled with pine clippings

this tree was a great find, almost every branch had bunches of pinecones

so i piled them all in this white urn which lives on my porch

see all the pinecones!

this urn was a garage sale find, is is SO heavy the seller said i could have it for free if i would just take it away

which i gladly did of course!

it sits alongside this white chair, outside the front door

see my previous posts for the full series of ~christmas decorating on the porch 101~

linking up with Kathleen for White Wednesday

Tracey

~christmas decorating on the porch 101 - decorating with greenery~

i have this old mailbox that lives on my porch year round, i simply adore it

you might think i'm strange but we don't have these mailboxes where i live

so this year i opened it up and have greenery and holly spilling out

see the cute red flag

and my vintage tin picnic hamper peeking in the background

it has black numbers on the other side

now this wasn't my own idea, saw it somewhere else (can't remember where...)

anyway, decorating with greenery 101:

~ i always carry garden clippers in my car, i carry them year round, you never know when or where inspiration will strike

~bring garden gloves - for the cold and it can be prickly

~ cut more than you think you will need, i always think i have tons and use it all!

~ ask permisson if you plan to cut from someone else's property - i'm usually too chicken to do this so i just find random trees on open land, which is getting harder each year as the area i live in is being rapidly developed

~ take a moment to smell the crisp air, notice the birds and squirrels and yes, even the sticky sap on your hands! this year a little robin sat watching me the whole time i cut holly, so cute

~ a small stepladder is handy, sometimes I see a great tree but by the time i've navigated ditches etc. i just can't reach the good stuff. i usually drag someone along for the ladder part, like i said, i'm chicken!

~don't cut from the lower branches, you know, like at dog's level....

~ my outside greenery lasts the whole season, inside i have to refresh a couple of times

~finally, smile sweetly when your family roll their eyes at you!!

Tracey

PS. see my previous posts for the full series of ~christmas decorating on the porch 101~

~christmas decorating on the porch 101 - the simple touch~

what do you love about christmas decorating?

trimming the tree and mantle...

the lights and sparkle...

i love all that, but my favorite of all is dressing my home with natural greenery

i love heading out with my boots and clippers, the air crisp with the promise of snow

and cutting all kinds of delicious smelling greenery

then i get to play around, filling planters

and old sap-style buckets (see my old thermos peeking there)

here's one of my porch projects this christmas

i have an old sleigh which i filled with a huge bouquet of greenery and holly

tied it up with a big burlap bow

love it's simplicity

i'll show you more in the next day or two...

Tracey