We keep our outdoor Christmas decorations pretty simple, but I wanted to do a few more things this year than we did last year. The biggest thing was to get wreaths to hang on the four "lantern" lights on the front of the house. So I went to Target and there were some really pretty wreaths with colorful shiny ornaments woven in, but they cost $25 apiece, and I didn't want to spend $100 on wreaths. So, I tapped into my crafty, thrifty inner chic (it's buried deep inside of me but comes out every now and then), and I bought four small plain wreaths for $5 each and a spool of pretty ribbon. Then I tied a bow onto each wreath and hung them up. They barely fit around the lights because they are small, but they looked cute and served their purpose. I was pretty pleased with myself for finding a much less expensive option and doing something crafty (I know that tying ribbon on a wreath isn't terribly creative, but it's pretty good for me!).
I've been wanting to get a lamppost wrap but haven't found one (meaning that Target doesn't have them and I haven't looked anywhere else), so instead I tied some of the ribbon to our lamppost in a small bow. I expect Martha Stewart will be stealing that idea from me when she comes across it here.
And for the grand finale, these are our awesome outdoor Christmas lights. Aren't you impressed? There are lights in the garland wrapped on the porch, lights on the little tree next to the front door, and you can see the lights of the Christmas tree through the window. My planned upgrade for next year is to get another pre-lit tree to put on the other side of the front door. We are fancy folks!
One last thing. This was one of my favorite finds of the season. I went home to Massachusetts for a weekend in December and when I went to see my brother Nate's new apartment, his neighbor had the coolest indoor wreath hanging on their door. This is a wreath that book-lovers everywhere will appreciate:
I loved the rolled-up book pages and how they form most of the wreath. The book-lover in me coveted this wreath, but I had to content myself with taking pictures of it instead and resolving to find one somewhere, someday. Or who knows? Maybe I'll make my own! :-)
