Best Outdoor Holiday Decor Ideas ~ Nature’s Bounty Inspires DIY Garden Glamour with Rich Symbolism

Art of the Garden

Dec 16

The Best Things in Life are Free” Coco Chanel famously said. The fashion designer cheekily followed up with, “The Second Best Things are very, very expensive.” (We’ll explore that tempting idea, anon 😉) Perhaps a better suited quote to showcase DIY natural, “quiet luxury” is from another of my heroes, Thoreau ~ (no shade, Coco) ~ “All good things are wild and free.”

Good Things indeed are readily found in the wilds of Mother Nature and easily accessible for us to forage and gather from our yards ~ for free. Yes, gratis ~ easy on the wallet, and totally free, if you don’t count our labor 😀

I prefer to decorate outdoors with a nostalgic, vintage look which brings together luxurious textures, deep festive colors and is, of course, sustainable. The result is a classic scheme that feels both elegant and warm. It’s a quiet kind of timeless luxury that is also deeply resonant with meaningful symbolism.

It’s such a joy for me to be outdoors, especially so during the winter holiday season.

I love the quiet, almost whispering “sounds” of winter; the intense light and the corresponding shadows. There’s also the “gallery-worthy” tree barks’ spirit that beckons like a garden fashion show. And the birds. And the skulk of foxes never fail to excitedly set us scurrying for our cameras as they fox-trot across the gardens. I hope you like winter landscape vignettes as much as I do. There’s truly so much to explore and enjoy…

I’ve always preferred to create DIY Holiday Decorations using nature’s gifts. It is so satisfying, fuels my creative expression and is empowering to know you can design your very own custom look. Did I mention that it saves money?!

Recently, I scanned the weather forecasts and chose the optimal day to work outside ~ a crisp, sunny afternoon that would allow me to kill two birds with one stone. Er, I mean, multi-task. No “fowl” play on my part. Ha!

Seriously, I aimed to clean up some of “nature’s pruning” ~ which is what we horticulturist’s refer to when the wind and precipitation knocks down branches, pine cones, and other tree “debris” ~ and to gather and assemble nature’s offerings to create an old-fashioned, nostalgic “green” holiday decor display.

I filled a bucket with “conifer cones” or strobilus, which, by and large, are the female seed cones (yes, I’m a nerd for hort details.The male pollen cones are usually found in spring.) I gathered these tree jewels that fell onto our yard from one of my neighbor’s white pine. For my taste, the tree is often too “generous” with its cones that truthfully are always more of a nuisance (and don’t get me started on the needles!) but this year, I’m putting my cards on it being a Mast Year because there’s an over abundance or bumper cone crop this year! If you like mysteries, you’ll be so intrigued to learn about how trees, along with phenology, coordinate this seemingly magical, environmental phenomenon.

In my little world, Mast provided a decorating inventory that was bountiful and free and a sure thing. (no out of stock!).

Putting aside the messy element of the cones, it’s lovely to know of the conifer cone’s very good virtues: enlightenment, fertility, rebirth, and spiritual awakening. I’m almost an acolyte now…

I (sparingly) cut some red-twigged dogwood’s cheery branches aiming to channel its symbolic resilience, renewal and endurance found in its hopeful stems.

BIll helped me cut lots of our Garden State Holly Ilex opaca ‘Jersey Princess’ branches. Of course everyone knows that Jersey Girls don’t pump gas but maybe folks don’t know about the Garden State holly royalty. The female holly is what you want to cut. It’s prettier than the males, of course 😀and boasts those red, red berries.

The Holly symbolizes many virtues, including protection, good fortune, resilience, and eternal life. In ancient Norse times, it warded off evil spirits ~ so good to have near my front door, don’t you think?!

And the always-munificent Cherry Laurels, Prunus laurocerasus that symbolize immortality and perseverance, look so elegant with their glossy, evergreen branches that are incredibly long-lasting in an outdoor composition and when cut for indoor floral creations. I love using this plant in my garden designs for many reasons.

The white birch cuttings ~ that symbolize Purity ~ completed the natural compositions I planned to create in the urns for both the front and back terrace porches.

The color scheme amplifies the holiday’s traditional red, green, and white ~ naturally.

When you design your planters or urns, feel free to play around with the height and volume so that it looks abundant and elegant. And brings you joy.

I nestled the hand-made birdhouses ~ one in each urn ~ as an added accessory. Hoping for a tenant 🪺🐦

The ball lights add a cinematic drama at sunset.

I think you’ll get a kick out of this: Not long after I took my photos, I received an Amazon proof of delivery photo shot for a package I had ordered. So I have to ask, who did it better? Me or A? Ha.

The Terrace Porch Look

I brought out my red, heart-topped, three-tiered stand to showcase those foraged conifer cones, set atop a table so we can enjoy from inside our garden room. I had admired my (seamstress) friend Aimee’s tiered conifer tower on her porch table when I dropped off a skirt to be mended. It inspired me.

I flanked the conifer tower set atop the table with holiday urns filled with holly and laurel, and added a low planter that in summer, blooms with white, edible begonias to float in our happy-hour cocktails. Repurposed for winter, I topped with yellow-tipped cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa Golden Hinoki, ‘Gold Post’ and some lovely, still-strongly structured, blue hydrangea mopheads that have transitioned from blue to a deep violet, almost reddish color.

I’ll add a few twinkly lights but already, with the snow and the bay beyond, along with the ice-laden copper rain chain, it’s a moody, dreamy Wyeth composition. I like it.

When I shopped a nearby store for some other indoor plants, I was kinda’ gobsmacked at the prices they were fetching for cut stems and branches. 😳 That reinforced my pride in creating our frugal DIY looks using materials from our yard. For Free!

Garden Nandina turns red just in time for the Holidays

We can all embrace the nostalgic, vintage holiday look using the abundant bounty of Mother Nature found right in our yards. No yard? No frets. You can gather the materials at your nearby shops, at a botanic garden or arboreta, nurseries, plant retailers, or the grocery store. Or a relative or neighbor who might “gift” you the cuttings in exchange for some yard clean up.

When you create your Nature-Inspired Holiday Green Decor, Look for:

Evergreens to use in urns, as swags, to wrap pillars, use as grave blankets, and more.
Herbs, especially winter hardy Rosemary
Conifer Cones ~ so many varieties from which to gather
Fallen branches ~ especially glamorous with lichen
Shells & Other Beach or River Treasures
Abandoned Bird and Hornet Nests!
Berries ~ in addition to the luscious red, Jersey Princess “beads,” you’ll love the Beautyberry or Callicarpa’s purple berries. 💜
Cut some of the inflorescence/flowering heads from ornamental grasses
Repurpose stuff you have ~ I use a sled from my childhood to conjure good, old-fashioned sleigh rides, (even if it has seen better days!). I also use old (really old!) skates that Bill claims he had as a teen. I dunno ~ I’ve only seen him skate maybe once… says he’s an “ankle skater) But it’s a pretty vessel for holiday greens ⛸️ You can also use baskets, bowls, pedestals, old ice buckets. The opportunities are almost endless.
Add fairy or solar lights; perhaps some glittery painted cones or colorful, shiny balls

And almost the best part of creating a natural, sustainable holiday display?

When the calendar turns, you can simply compost your designs. In your own homegrown compost or at your municipal site or the one at your greenmarket.

Ahhh, the circle of life and renewal.

You’ll feel ever so much better igniting a new beginning in January and for respecting your ecosystem and Nature’s natural, seasonal, authentic pace and style.

You’ll also feel those natural, spiritual connections and symbolisms that we all need. Especially nowadays.

And the joy in your heart will be matched by the spring in your step you’ll feel with all those extra greenbacks in your wallet that you saved by working with Mother Nature’s inventory. (If I could only harness these exquisite, jewel-like icicles…)