Holiday Inspired Outdoor Decorating That Lasts

White birch logs and evergreen branches add a festive touch to a tall garden container, an ideal holiday decoration for your front porch. A container of large pinecones offsets the tall decoration, and a small string of lights and a faux red bird finish the holiday display.

With a little help from Mother Nature, even outdoor walls will welcome holiday guests. Line a wire wall container with moss; fill with florist's foam. This beautiful outdoor arrangement happily overflows with Fraser fir, burgundy-dyed eucalyptus, purple caspia, winterberry holly, and poppy pods.

White twigs rise from a mound of juniper, making a small container stand tall. Snowy-white Mitsumata branches lead a striking profile and contrast with the red pot and greenery. Embellish with artificial snow, pinecones, small ornament balls, and a faux cardinal.

Editor's Tip: Go out on a figurative limb with redtwig dogwood, birch, or spray-painted twigs.

Create a striking and festive look for your holiday front door with this pretty garland. Customize a purchased pinecone garland with ornaments that coordinate with your door color, using florist's wire to secure the ornaments. Position the garland outside the door frame, and secure at the top and along the sides with easy-to-remove self-adhesive hooks or brick clips. Finish the warm entry with white pillar candles set inside tall glass lanterns adorned with holiday berries.

Instead of hanging an evergreen wreath on your front door, use it to liven up a plain white urn. Dress up the decoration by setting lime-green and pink ornament balls on top.

Pile pretty ornaments on top of an urn for an outdoor Christmas decoration that's easy and cheap.

The simplest of natural touches on your front porch can create a festive welcome for holiday guests. Choose a spacious galvanized pail to house an assortment of fresh cuttings, such as fountain grass, golden Hinoki cypress, and glossy-leaf Oregon grape holly, that will last all season.

A cardinal perched atop a giant pinecone from a sugar pine makes this outdoor holiday decoration pop. At the base of the cone, spruce sprigs resting on a bed of moss add the perfect seasonal touch. The design complements a potted, compact "Blue Star" juniper accented with pinecones.

Light up your front porch for the season with glowing orbs displayed in hanging baskets. Frost a basket with spray paint, add a nest of greens, and top with an indoor lamp globe. Hot-glue felt snowflakes to the globe and add a balled-up strand of battery-powered lights to finish the decoration.

Encase holly sprigs and pyracantha berries in ice that you mold in a flexible plastic ice cream bucket. Create a candleholder in the center of the ice with a recycled 2-liter bottle. Fill the gap between the two containers with branches and berries, then fill with water; freeze. Give it a traditional look by placing a red pillar candle in the center, and pose the finished arrangement in a wire basket.

This cheery woodland-inspired container extends the season's festive mood to your outdoor spaces. A store-bought boxwood ball tops this arrangement of blue spruce twigs, offering a fresh alternative to the usual upright designs. Perch a faux bird on the boxwood ball, and scatter pinecones for easy embellishments.

Provide an enchanted welcome for visitors with luminarias lining your walkway. Fill glass vases one quarter full with faux snow, top with a layer of colorful cranberries, and insert a pillar candle in each one.

The architecture of wintertime branches offers alluring beauty, especially on a small scale. In this wire window basket, pieces of artfully arranged branches are the focal point. Turquoise-color faux berries add a bright pop of color, and small bits of greenery warm the scene.

Add holiday flair to your walkway lights in just a few simple steps. Tie a small piece of greenery and ribbon around the top of the light, add a seasonally hued candle, and use florist's wire to attach a faux cardinal.

Winter is a great time to explore all the color that evergreens have to offer. This window box displays at least six different varieties accented with pinecones and multicolor foliage. Add a seasonal accent to the bright red container with bits of evergreen tucked under birch logs along the edge.

Flowers are go-to additions for containers in warmer months, but in wintertime, you'll need something that can withstand the elements. Pinecones retain their color, as do evergreen boughs. Adhere small pinecones to a foam ball with hot glue and add a patterned ribbon for a dash of color.

A birdbath supplies a perfect and unique spot for a bit of seasonal merriment. Tuck evergreen boughs under and around a shiny ball and spray-paint pinecones to match. For the final flourish, secure matching berry sprigs and a premade bow with wire to the evergreens.

In place of traditional evergreens, a window box corrals a mix-and-match collection of colored-glass bottles, jars, and candleholders. To elevate shorter containers, place upside-down plastic boxes underneath. If you're hosting a holiday party, light a few candles in some jars for a cheery welcome.

Without blooming flowers, containers such as these two rectangular planters rely on texture for visual interest. For a seasonal decoration, choose unifying elements but mix up their sizes and shapes. Birch vases hold the sculptural growth of dwarf evergreens, while grapevine balls and shiny ornaments offer pops of texture and shine.

Use your exterior lighting to offer a warm welcome to guests and family during the holiday season. Attach a "Merry Christmas" message to the top of a lamppost and secure a satin ribbon tied into a pretty bow to the bottom. When the lamp is on, the light accents the message.

Editor's Tip: Instead of ribbon, attach pinecones or jingle bells for a similar seasonal decoration.

Charming and simple to assemble, this wire basket presents an alluring arrangement of blue-tinted glass jars and ornaments. Tuck in some leftover evergreen branches under the jars and a few plastic snowflakes between. On special occasions, add snow (if you have some) to a few jars and add lighted or electric candles.

Wrapped in bright bows, these garden orbs resemble oversize packages with their silver shimmer. Set them atop mixed-green wreaths (that match the wreath on the front door) to elevate them in urns.

Plants don't have to be potted to supply your outdoors with picturesque charm. Try grouping together a few seasonal items, such as pinecones, bits of greenery, and some leftover ornaments. Leave the basket by the front door, or put one container on each of your entryway steps.

A clutch of evergreens tucked behind an outdoor sconce adds just the right amount of seasonal flair. For a pop of color, tie a bow with long tails and use florist's wire to add a few contrasting jingle bells or ornaments.

Many people put away hanging baskets when wintertime arrives, but with a little creative flair, these summertime standbys can deftly transition into winter. The key for this outdoor decoration is to include texture and hues for visual variety. Use several kinds of evergreens to offer both light and dark shades of green, and add yellow berries for an unexpected pop of color in the arrangement.

Repeating a pattern or plant is a great outdoor decorating tool. White-painted pots are the base to this window box, while two types of evergreens -- one vertical and one horizontal -- complement each other. To pull the design together, drape an evergreen swag along the bottom of the arrangement.

Using a monochromatic color scheme is a great way to tie together different elements in outdoor decorating. These apples -- piled in urns, tucked into trees, and wired into the wreath -- add a bit of brightness to the otherwise dark green foliage.