Decorating outside your house for the holidays is easy since you get a large canvas to work with. If you need ideas on how to set up your outdoor Christmas decorations, you’ll have no difficulties finding something perfect for you.
Outdoor Christmas decor is an easy but complex endeavor, but we’re here to help with some ideas you can try out!
1. DIY Crate Train
Choo choo! Here comes the gift train! Liven up your patio, deck or even your lawn with this adorable DIY. The wooden crates are reusable and are just perfect for carrying gifts around (decorative and actual) plus if you put it on your lawn, can you just imagine how magical it’ll look with a few fairy lights and a dusting of snow?
2. DIY Giant Paper Plate Lollipops
If you’re a sweet tooth and proud of it, this easy and cheap DIY is just perfect for you! Embrace your inner candy witch and decorate your home with the iconic swirls of the best Christmas candy ever created!
3. Giant Christmas Ornaments
These giant Christmas ornaments are just so extra! These giant ornaments will sit perfectly on your snow-covered lawn and just look ethereal. We love how the designs are so intricate and Christmassy. We also love how these feature hand-painted designs and glossy finishes.
4. Giant Light Balls
It isn’t Christmas without all the bright, shiny, glorious lights! This DIY is incredibly easy and will have your lawn looking like the pinnacle of Christmas in no time! Plus. Who doesn’t love big balls of amazing, glimmering light?
5. Pallet Christmas Tree
Oh, the joys of Christmas Trees! It seems like you can never have enough! Well, with this DIY you never have to long for more trees, you could build an entire forest of trees right in your lawn! Plus the wood just looks stunning when painted and it’s incredibly easy to decorate too!
6. DIY Wooden Stars Decoration
Starlight star bright, we all know the importance of the stars on Christmas and we know you’ll love this amazing DIY made of wood. Add in some warm white lights to your star and you have yourself an incredibly magical hanging.
7. DIY Birdseed Outdoor Tree Ornaments
It can be difficult for birds to navigate their way through the cold winter and we wouldn’t want them to starve! These birdseed ornaments help our little friends out while adding some much-needed decor to our outdoor trees! You could even hang these up on your porch!
8. Candy Cane PVC Pipes
Sugary-sweet and incredibly huge, these candy canes sure look scrumptious! But, uh-oh! They’re not really candy! Yes! You heard it, these candy canes look like the real thing but are really made out of PVC pipes and a little elbow grease. Oh well, they look adorable outside though!
9. DIY Old Tire Christmas Ornaments
You don’t really need to shell out the big bucks for those giant outdoor ornaments, in fact, you can make your very own with a couple of old tires and decorate them any way you want! This easy DIY is adorable and will make your house look like a beacon of Christmas.
10. Large Red Christmas Truck Sign
Everyone knows how important picking out a Christmas Tree is, it’s always a fun little drive home with the tree and it just signals and solidifies further the fact that Christmas is finally here. Embody that special moment you have with this gorgeous wooden sign.
11. DIY Oversized Ornaments
12. Starburst Ornaments
13. DIY Joy display
14. DIY Giant Ornaments
15. Pine cones and fruits
16. DIY Lighted Gift Boxes
17. Beer bottle Christmas lights
18. Hand-Painted Christmas Sign
19. Lighted PVC Candy Cane
20. Mini Christmas Tree
21. DIY Tiered Tomato Cage Christmas Trees
22. Giant Snowflake
23. Outdoor Christmas Planter
24. Merry welcome
25. Christmas Light
26. Bucket planters
27. Candle holders by using logs
28. Entryway
29. Christmas Wreaths at Fence
30. Mailbox
31. Wood Shavings Wreath
32. Gingerbread Man Door Decor
33. Paper Bag Lanterns
34. Entrance Light
35. Silhouette christmas trees
36. Lighted deers
37. Hanging Lanterns
38. Arbor
39. Christmas Wreath on the Door
A classic Christmas wreath placed on the front door is an essential part of your outdoor decor during the holidays. Pick a lush wreath with a big red bow, pinecones, and berries for that traditional Christmas look.
If you’re looking for something unique, get a glittering or frosted wreath and accompany it with metallic ornaments and accents. You should consider getting one that comes with LED lights so that your front door is warmly lit at night.
40. Cozy Pathway Marker Lights
Place warm glowing path markers so that your visitors have a nice pathway guiding them to your doorstep. Put up lanterns or snowman lights to make your walkway much more festive. Solar-powered lanterns are a nice choice to save on energy along with being more convenient.
If you’re in need of more holiday spirit, place glowing reindeer or Christmas presents on the sides of the path. These kinds of lights are fun and whimsical so it keeps the outdoor display looking welcoming.
41. Light-up Reindeer Figures
Reindeer figures that glow are traditional and many houses will have their own classic reindeer figures lighting up the outside of their homes. It doesn’t matter if you use a full-on sleigh set of reindeer or a single elegant reindeer, they’ll add a touch of holiday spirit to your porch or yard.
If you want ones that can resist harsh weather and are perfect for being used outside, go for LED versions. These reindeer look best next to trees, beside your porch, or around your front lawn. Light-up reindeers are the perfect addition to create a cheerful holiday spectacle.
42. Glimmering Tree Lights
Wrap a few lines of string lights on the trees outside your home to create a scene that’s straight out of a winter wonderland. If you’re looking to keep it elegant and cozy, choose white lights. On the other hand, colorful and vibrant lights will keep the holiday spirit going.
43. Giant Ornaments
Elevate your outdoor decorations by using oversized Christmas ornaments to spruce up the decor. Put up large baubles on the trees or roof so that your home looks bold and whimsical. You can also use some as decorations on your yard itself.
Pick ornaments that match the theme you’re going for, such as candy canes, stars, or snowflakes. You can also get red, green, gold, or silver balls that look like regular ornaments but oversized.
44. Projector Light Displays
Projectors can be such a helpful way to incorporate festive designs into your outdoor decor. You can use the projectors to cast fun images like stars or snowflakes onto your house. There are special projectors made for displays that come with dynamic effects.
It’s easy for you to set up on your own and the displays can project the images over large areas which makes them effective at transforming the outside of your house into a spectacular holiday set without much energy exerted.
45. Holiday-Themed Porch Decorations
Turn your porch into a cozy Christmas set by putting different festive decorations around it. Put garland around the windows and door frame, hang up a glowing wreath, or put a few large reindeer figures down.
Hang Christmas-themed lanterns up with fairy lights or candles in them to make your porch more whimsical. If you have chairs on your porch, put blankets and cushions with holiday designs to make them more inviting to guests.
46. Homemade Hanging Snowflakes
Get some cardstock and cut it up to create your own homemade snowflakes. Once you cut them up, get some fishing line so you can hang them from the trees or your porch roof.
These snowflakes are simple, but that will give them a cozy appearance that makes visitors feel at ease.
FAQs
How can I make the outside of my house look Christmassy?
Decorate your outside space with colourful lights, fairy lights on trees and shrubs, outdoor tree lights or rope lighting to outline the shapes of windows. Keep it simple. Don’t have too much going on or you’ll lose that all-important festive feel! If your house is relatively plain, get a big statement inflatable snow man or santa to get people talking!
Choose festive lighting to outline the different areas of your house. For example, you could have fairy lights around your porch or outside your house number. You can even put them in plants for extra interest! Choose lights to suit the style of your home i.e. traditional or modern, and don’t forget to hang some Christmas cards in your window.
Remember, the inside of your house is just as important as the outside! Get it looking spick and span by removing present boxes from under your bed and put them everywhere so they look like presents ready for Santa, create a breakfast bar with festive ingredients, such as mince pies and cranberry sauce and make sure you have enough seating for your guests!
How do you weatherproof Christmas decorations outside?
Outdoor Christmas decorations are always a popular choice, but sometimes the weather can make it difficult to show off your festive lights without them shorting out or becoming damaged in some way. However, with the right equipment and a little bit of know-how, you can weatherproof your Christmas lights and protect them from the elements. Here’s what you need to do:
Each light set should consist of three wires – a black or white wire which is the ground, a green or copper wire which is the grounding conductor and an uninsulated or insulated wire which is the hot or switched wire.
Start by examining each light set and wrapping a piece of electrical tape around any that have frayed or bare wires. If you can, take them down from where they’re hanging and give them a quick mend – otherwise you’ll need to put them away somewhere safe before continuing with your outdoor lighting project.
How long should you store outdoor Christmas lights?
I’ve been getting this question a lot lately. Last year I was asked for the first time, and it seems to be becoming more common… People are wondering whether or not they can store their Christmas lights outside, if they are weatherproofed. The answer is no, probably not. But there are some caveats.
When should you store your outdoor Christmas lights?
When should you take a set of Christmas lights out of storage? When the first cold temperatures arrive, typically around early November. If your display is all LED or other low voltage lighting, then it’s even later in the year because you will have to wait for dark to test them and see if they work.
You should store your lights indoors, in a climate controlled environment. They should not be stored outside if you expect temperatures below freezing. If you do store them outside the following things could happen:
Lights could fail to light as they may short out or corrode (frozen water is no good for batteries) The cords and plugs could get brittle and crack, especially if they are plastic. Cords may be chewed by animals looking for insulation or nesting material (birds).
If you expect to have cold temperatures where your lights will be stored, make sure the cords are not touching the ground. If they do, prop them up off of it or put something underneath the cords to protect them. This will help ensure that water won’t collect on the cord and cause it to short out or corrode.
It’s more of a hassle, but you can store your lights indoors in an unheated garage or basement if you know that there won’t be any cold temperatures where your Christmas display is located.
How do you make large outdoor Christmas baubles?
The most important things you need to make outdoor Christmas baubles is: space, dedication and a bit of courage. The preparation phase itself can be long and arduous as well as time-consuming, but the creation process is generally fun and will give you a great feeling of achievement when it’s finished. Be prepared for some bumps in the road, though. The first time you make Christmas baubles may take up to 24 hours, so be sure to allow yourself enough free time and energy for the entire process.
The materials needed are simple: water balloons, a basin of similar size to the finished bauble, string (25 meters per ball), heavy-duty scissors, one meter of metal wire and modeling clay for sticking the two parts together.
There are several approaches to making large outdoor Christmas baubles: You can both fill and tie balloons or just fill them, you can blow up the balloons yourself or use industrial pumps, etcetera. We chose to blow them up ourselves because we were only making a few and it required very little physical effort. For smaller projects you could also use small pumps, but of course that is not an option for making larger objects.
Step 1: Preparation
We first cut 25 meters of string into two pieces, put one piece aside, then measured 50 cm from one end of the remaining length of string, tied the end of the balloon to it and began filling. After about 100 balloons were filled we turned them all upside down in a large basin and left them there for 24 hours so they could deflate evenly.
Next we gathered up all of our “expanded” balloons, cut off their necks with a sharp knife and pulled out the rubber. After this we cut the tops and bottoms off each balloon so that they were left as large, round pieces of rubber.
Step 2: Shaping
Each piece was rolled up as tightly as possible around the metal wire and dipped into modeling clay at two places approximately three centimeters from either end, which would prevent them from slipping off under the pressure of the next stage. This process can be quite time-consuming and we recommend taking a break every 10 minutes or so in order to keep your hands healthy and pain-free. After four hours of rolling and dipping we had 16 clay-covered balls with tubes in them, which we then filled with air using an industrial pump (the kind that is used to fill tires), letting the air enter through the tubes. They were then left for another 24 hours so that they could properly inflate.
Step 3: Finalizing
The clay molds are then carefully removed, taking care not to rip the rubber apart since this would spell the end of your project. The balls are first separated, then the metal wire is cut off and we were left with our large Christmas baubles.
Step 4: Painting
They had to be painted, of course. The painting process following this pattern: stenciling (two layers), sanding (if necessary) and varnishing (two layers). We let the paint dry for a few days before we put the string inside and hung them up on a tree.
The result is a very festive outdoor Christmas decoration that not only looks great but which no one else will have, providing you with a unique piece to decorate your yard or balcony. We hope that soon it will be warm enough in most places for these large outdoor Christmas baubles to be hung outside, but until then they will give their best in storage in some dark corner in your garden shed.
Conclusion
Let us know if this list helps with your outdoor Christmas decor. Write a comment sharing your thoughts and which idea you liked the most. The outside of your house is what everyone sees first of your home, so make it look good this holiday season!