very pretty...

Wow, I love those swags, did you attach them with anything? I can't tell from the picture. Is the plastic wrap caught in the window frame? I have windows like those in the front of my house and those would be perfect.s

Beautiful homeagain. Your home is always a step above. You have great taste an a true talent for design.

Lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful! Love your swag especially, think I'll give your idea a try!

Love your creativity. Everything looks terrific!

Lovely!

Love the swags! Very nice look. Simple yet elegant. And the bonus of looking great both day and night :)

I'd love to have a magnolia tree hanging around my yard!
Very nice decorations.

I like your style - easy and free doesn't always translate to stylish but you've done it! TFS

How pretty - you did a great job!

Oh, I love them! Would you mind doing some for those of us challenged in the creativity department?

How nice this all looks....thanks for showing us!

Very nice! I wish I had greenery like that here!

Thanks for looking and all the nice compliments!

We've had faux greenery that we have used in/on the house for years and I usually just stick some real stuff in with it. This is the first time I've gone completely "green" and really love the look.

I had no experience whatsoever, and if I can do it, you all can too! The key was to just to lay everything out first and come up with a pattern of sorts before adding it to the florist foam. It made sense to start with the biggest foliage and fill in with the smaller stuff. Each window is exactly the same plants although no two are exactly alike since the size/shape varies.

homeagain - I do love what you have done, both inside and out! The wreaths are so natural and simple. Your windows look outstanding! How are they lit?

I made similar wreaths last year using an old frame. Instead of greenery from the yard, I used some roping that I bought from our local nursery. I had bought 25' for decorating elsewhere, and had some left over.

You may have seen my post in the below linked thread, but I did use my own greenery with store bought fruit to decorate at Thanksgiving. Now, I am all about using natural items from the yard.

Wreath Christmas 2010

Here is a link that might be useful: Thanksgiving table

newhomebuilder,

Love the wreath. I wouldn't have thought to wrap an old frame. That's gorgeous! and so are the Thanksgiving tables. I missed that one...

The windows are lit with a string of 35 lights. We had outlets place under each window on the front of the house and wired to a single wall switch for use during the holidays. I just carefully close the window on the string of lights and plug inside. Then I flip one switch and all the windows come on/off.

Sorry I didn't answer the other questions. Yes... the plastic wrap is caught under the window to keep it in place. The coat hanger is stretched from shutter hinge, through the swag and bent around the other shutter hinge, holding the whole thing in place. I also try to weave the string of lights in such a way as to help hold everything together too.

HTH!

Just saw a clip with Heidi Klum and "Mr. Christmas" a decorator who shows how to decorate a tree with what you have around the house.
Wrap boxes as "gifts" and use as ornaments, he spray painted a toy train gold and placed that on the tree.
He took three red ornaments and attached them with wire to make a cluster.
He cut wide ribbon and made it look like it wove through the tree, but they were actually short pieces.
He used old sparkly fabric bunched together and it became a decoration.
Interesting to think about how to use things that you already have.

Today I pulled the last of the dead mums from the tall planters flanking my front door then wandered the yard cutting armfuls of white pine, arbor vitae, spruce, and winterberry. I shoved the cut branches into the potting soil, sort of like making very big flower arrangements in a foam base. It looks terrific and is FREE. At some point this week I will gather plain dry branches and hit them with some silver and gold spray paint then shove them in the planters too. The trick is the massing -- it has to be full and round. I think it looks great and I have the satisfaction of knowing everything came straight from my own yard. I've done this every year, some times I'll find some great item at the craft shop and shove them in too...glittery feathers are a particular favorite. But even if I don't do that, the planters look good.

By the way, when I planted my garden I included things like winterberry and hawthorne because they produce winter berries. Worth considering whether or not you want to "harvest" for arrangements when you're choosing trees and shrubs! In this busy and overcommercialized time there is something so peaceful and extremely satisfying about doing things like this yourself.

homeagain - Thank you for the compliment. I did love that look last year.

That's so smart to put outlets near your windows!

ellendi - Is there a link to that program?

judithn - Sounds beautiful. Could you take a photo? My pansies still look good, and we had a really hard freeze this morning. I hate to tear out a good thing (I have 5 planters full with some ornamental cabbage mixed in), but they do look a little springish.