Outdoor Christmas Decorating Ideas

Mallory of Charming in Charlotte decked out her front door with a magnolia leaf wreath and garland. Bright ornaments in red, silver, and gold tones add a pop of color to decor. 

Mallory's Styling Tip: For a picture-perfect finish, stack kraft paper wrapped gifts against the door.

This inexpensive outdoor Christmas idea is a cinch to execute. Simply layer a stocky glass vase with faux snow and real cranberries (or fake, if you're worried about animals). Tuck in a pillar candle. Align on your walkway with fir bundles topped with your pretty luminarias.

Make the most of sheltered porch corners with an impressive (and easy!) display of candles and greenery. To get the look, top a small table with a patterned holiday towel, assorted candles, and pinecones. A festive holiday wreath and bucket of birch branches completes the look.

Add the soft glow of candlelight to your front porch with decorated lanterns. Jennifer of Dimples and Tangles filled hers with ornaments and topped them with beautiful bows and greenery.

Our most festive front door starts with a faux white reindeer surrounded by green leaves and branches.  Anchor the wreath with a neutral ribbon and pops of bright green berries.

Erin of Earnest Home Co. created a rustic dried orange and cinnamon garland to decorate her colonial-theme porch. We love the pop of red apples in her decor. Get her complete instructions here.

Searching for that perfect holiday wreath? Make your own with these easy step-by-step instructions from Alice and Lois. We love the seasonal combination of bay leaf branches and berries!

Prepare a merry welcome at the curb -- a pretty swag of pine tied on with wire adds a flourish to your mailbox. Embellish it with red accents and pretty pinecones. The first snow will only enhance the look.

Add seasonal greenery to your outdoor planters for a festive and bright entrance. Here, we used a mix of pinecones, berries, clementines, and evergreen sprigs.

Take inspiration from classic Christmas candy and fill a white planter with decorative candy canes for a unique outdoor holiday decorating idea. Store-bought plastic canes and weather-treated ribbon mean this front door decor can last throughout the season.

A wrought-iron planter holder features miniature dwarf spruce and other evergreens for a Christmas treelike display. Enhance the arrangement by adding glass ball ornaments and fresh-cut boughs of cedar and pine into the mix.

Light up your winter nights! Lay coiled Christmas light strands on top of soil, then insert branches and dried weeds to create a bushlike appearance.

Editor's Tip: Last year's lights all tangled up? Instead of buying new ones and coiling them by hand, just use your tangled ones.

Bottlebrush firs look like miniature frosted evergreens when arranged in a wintry bucket or planter. Votive candles add a calming, flickering glow to this outdoor Christmas decoration.

Dress up your entryway with a festive Christmas garland for a look that's both welcoming and of-the-season. To make this outdoor holiday decorating idea your own, customize a ready-made pinecone garland with ornaments that coordinate with your door color. Position the garland outside the door frame and secure at the top and sides with self-adhesive hooks or brick clips.

White twigs rise from a mound of potted juniper, making a small container stand tall. Snowy-white Mitsumata branches lend a striking profile and contrast with a festive red pot. Insert shimmery red ornaments and natural pinecones into the greenery for a colorful and textural impact. A faux-bird resting on a branch injects a bit of whimsy.

Editor's Tip: Make it your own. Choose redtwig dogwood, birch, or spray-painted twigs to create this display. Besides white, twigs painted silver or gold will shimmer in the winter light.

Ornaments aren't just for the tree! Give your outdoor planters a holiday makeover with a few round ornaments, birch branches, and grapevine balls. We use plastic ornaments to avoid breakage.

Dress up bare branches in festive Christmas lights for a unique outdoor Christmas decorating idea. A shimmery gossamer ribbon reflects the glow cast by braiding together several strands of colored bulbs.

Turn inexpensive glass cylinders in various sizes into miniature Christmas luminaries. Place a cranberry-red candle inside each cylinder, filling the space between the glass and the candle with miniature red and silver ornaments. Set atop moss in a planter outdoors for instant holiday spirit.

Hang a wreath that welcomes visitors with a snowy sport theme. Two white ice skates command attention from inside a foam wreath that's wrapped with sleeves of an old sweater. A decorative bow and snowflakes add pizzazz.

A supersize cone from a sugar pine brings star power to this container display. Set the pinecone upright amid a bed of moss and spruce sprigs dotted with small pinecones. Top the pinecone with a faux-cardinal for eye-catching impact. A potted evergreen in a complementary green, such as this compact 'Blue Star' juniper, creates a striking combination of natural elements.

A mix of bistro and mini lights brightens up any winter arrangement on your front porch. Here, we've secured some strands to a trellis with zip ties; more lights are tucked into evergreen boughs that cradle magnolia leaves.

Turn your dormant window planters into decoration space by planting hardy shrubs until spring arrives. Simple wire stars and white lights add festive glow to this outdoor Christmas decoration.

This hanging holiday decoration couldn't be any easier. All you'll need is fresh greenery (we like spruce branches), striped ribbon, and bells. Hang it on the front door, the mailbox, or anywhere that needs a holiday touch.

Spheres of grapevines wrapped in Christmas lights become shimmering orbs on a coat of freshly fallen snow. Place these magical globes in birdbaths, urns, or on stairsteps to cast an ethereal glow on your outdoor landscape.

Editor's Tip: Use an outdoor-rated power cord: Check the tag on the cord to verify it's safe to use outside.

Once the birds have flown south, take advantage of your empty birdbath for this dazzling holiday decoration. Frozen sections of kumquat, cranberries, pepperberries, and polished stones provide a striking contrast to the bright white snow.

Give your porch bench some holiday spirit with an arrangement of greenery, pinecones, gazing balls, and ornaments. Spray the arrangement with a light dusting of fake snow for extra winter flair.

Glowing frosted globes (available in large and small sizes from home-improvement stores) take the edge off a chilly winter twilight. Scatter the spheres around your yard to create an ethereal winter landscape, or group them in a birdbath or other outdoor winter container for maximum impact.

Editor's Tip: Plug the outdoor-rated power cord into a ground fault interrupter (GFI) outlet or a circuit with a GFI outlet on it.

When not cruising the snow-covered hills, an old sled embellished with pine sprigs, pinecones, and fruit does double duty as a welcoming Christmas decoration next to the front door. A bright red ribbon on top ties the look together.