Bedecked with boughs

 I missed posting yesterday, but by the time I realized, I'm not sure I'd have been able to type a coherent sentence. It was a busy day. The weather was gorgeous once again. Greg and I got the outside lights up finally. I wore a t-shirt, capris, and flip flops while we worked outside. So awesome!

Thought I'd show you a little of what I did with the greenery my neighbor and I gathered the other day. It's really simple, but adds that wintry holiday touch to the porch decor.

This is the left side of the front door. The wreath around the light is faux, but the poinsettias are velvety and so pretty. The sled was purchased at a garage sale a few years ago. I spent a bit more on it, but it's authentic. It's also broken. When I picked it up, Greg looked at it and told me, "That's not going to work for sledding." I think he thought I was getting it for the grandkids. I told him I didn't need it to, and he just shook his head and walked away. These days he's more into the junky, rusty, chippy vintage, but back then he just didn't understand. I do plan to decorate the sled, and it will probably stay there all winter. The greenery is in an enamel bucket. No idea where that came from - probably a garage sale. The doormat does have our last name and the year we married, but it's been outside for a year, and is not wearing well. I recently learned that they should be sprayed with a polyacrylic sealer, then the paint on them will last. It's not in front of the door because when we built that porch, someone who was helping us didn't leave any space under the door for a mat. They put the board right up to the bottom of the doorway, so I've always had to put our welcome mat to the side. By the time I found out, most of the porch was built, so there was no changing it. When we re-do the porch (hopefully next summer), everyone who helps will know to leave me space under that door. 

This is the right side of the door. The crock is from an auction a long, long time ago, and the lantern belonged to my grandparents. My maternal grandfather worked for the railroad and while I don't know for a fact that this lantern is from that job, it reminds me of Grandpa. 

Lastly, I wired together some swags. This is at the bottom of the steps and there's one on the other side as well. The ribbon I was able to get is slippery and just didn't tie well for bows, but I like the cheery bright red with the green. All the bows look like that, so while they're not show-pieces, they are consistent. I made another swag to put on the mailbox post, and will make one more to put on my daughter's front porch. I really like real greenery for decorations, but rarely ever purchase it. Getting to go help cut and gather this was such a blessing and I really appreciate that I got to do that.

I'm planning to get the inside decorations going today, but there's a lot to do around the house before that happens. I suppose I should go work on that, shouldn't I? 

We have sunshine and no wind today, so our temp of 43° is pretty nice. This next week is much of the same, and I'm not mad about that. I hope you're also enjoying a wonderful Sunday!