It looks like Christmas outside!

Welcome to our Christmas home!  The outside is always the first place I decorate.  I think maybe I feel like the twinkling lights outside our house greet the season and help me get prepared.

I went outside and made these photos just before it got dark one afternoon this week.  It was just dusky enough that the timer and turned on the lights but still daylight enough to show the look of the outside.  Our new driveway comes straight toward the house and this is the view right at the curve of the driveway which sweeps around toward the back.

Each year I've used this faux greenery swags to drape our porch and the front doorway.  Simple.  Traditional.  Yet, certainly festive.  The greenery is intertwined with clear lights.

The view coming up the walkway really shows off our summer update of painting the porch rail and adding the Charleston green to the top of the rail.  The greenery sort of sets that off, I think.  This year, since we updated and now have wrought-iron stair rails painted with matching green, I decided not to run greenery down the rail so that anyone coming up the steps can easily hold onto the rails and because, well, they are already green and beautiful!

I added little trees to the flower pots that held the pumpkin topiaries for fall and moved them to the bottom of the steps.  I moved the clay pots with lavender in them to the top of the stairs and placed a metal, cone-shaped trellis over the top.  Then, I twined lights around the trellis to look like another set of miniature trees on the porch. 

The bow on the wreath that has hung there since the first Christmas I moved here looked a little tired after ten years on this porch and one on my old house.  So, I removed it and added some lights.  All the twinkling lights make Mike and me happy and they must really make a statement.  Even the pizza delivery guy told me how pretty it was driving up the driveway and coming to our front door the other night!

From this angle in the yard, you can see the large easel chalk board that moved from just inside the door to the front porch.  I needed the space for the Christmas tree and I decided that the chalk board could be our welcome message this year.  I also added a cheerful little lawn flag to keep the concrete bunny company just to the right of the steps.

I thought the wreath needed a little something.  So, I got a set of tag door ornaments from Bridgette over at Goody Stuff that say Santa stop here!  The two milk cans still stand sentry on either side of the front door.  The one on the right holds snacks and bottled water for our wonderful delivery persons who have been dropping off boxes on a daily basis filled with Christmas treasures for the children and grandchildren. 

We are blessed and grateful to have a beautiful home and I am glad to be able to dress her up for the holidays!  From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!