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Tag: holiday decor

Cozy Adirondack Christmas Porch

Christmas is officially less than 2 weeks away.  It’s crazy how the season is passing us by so quickly.  Are you ready?

So I’ve got another surprise for you today…  Yes, another secret!

Since I shared a tour of the inside of my home last week, it’s time to take you outdoors… to my newly decorated Cozy Christmas Adirondack Porch.

Welcome…

I’m usually so focused on decorating the interior for the Holidays, that the porch often gets little thought and sadly neglected – are you like that?  Well not this year!

On a way-too-cold-to-be-outside day a few weeks ago, myself and the troops (a.k.a The Mister and the kids) ventured outdoors to decorate.  After a few hours, way too many decorating edits, broken bulbs (and they were brand spank-in new), and a couple of trips to Lowes, I was finally satisified with the result of this year’s cozy adirondack-style front porch. And I have to say, it’s our best yet.

Thankfully I can say that I live in the adirondacks, so having a front porch with a rustic, natural aesthetic is so apropos.  (my interior doesn’t really reflect the same look, but that’s okay).

I didn’t start off the porch with a specific idea in mind, but as the family and I started decorating, it all came together (over many cold hours) to create a cozy outdoor haven.  We began the transformation by removing some of the porch furniture that we have out for the summer.  We left the pretty lutyens bench though, draped a blanket over the back, and added a few pillows – it was the beginning of the adirondack porch.

In front of the bench, I positioned a round table (which is actually an electrical cable spool that I found on the side of the road) and added some festive elements including “dressed-up” mason jars, a lantern, and some pine and berry sprigs.

I said to the Mister that afternoon, “Let’s get some hot chocolate, cuddle under the blanket, and enjoy our newly decorated porch”.  Well we all ended up being too chilly and unfortunately ‘sitting and enjoying’ hasn’t happened yet, but it sure looks so inviting.

Would you stop over and have a cup of-something with me?

On the other side of the porch, I created a small festive vignette.  I stacked two large slices of cut logs and topped them with a poinsettia and a small pile of pinecones. As a larger and taller anchor, I brought in the potted boxwood (which sits throughout the year next to the garage), two lanterns filled with a large candle, and another poinsettia.  The varying heights and sizes of the elements, plus the differing textures, in the vignette, create an interesting composition.

Behind the poinsettia and pinecone vignette, I wanted even more height and added a leftover piece of pallet scrap, which I added a quick coat of white paint to and wrapped with twine.   A super simple 3 minute project!

Of course, we needed some greenery on the porch and I surely didn’t fail in that department.

On either side of the front door are two small (3′ high) faux trees decorated with petite ornaments and twine for garland.  Plus we added more greenery on the columns with a garland mix of pine and cedar.

The last element that we added to the front porch are the hanging ornaments.  This was the last addition and definitely my favorite!

The overall porch…

And alittle more ornament action…

And of course donned on my front door is my whimsical winter wreath that I made a few years ago.  Still a favorite.

Thanks so much for taking a tour of my newly decorated cozy adirondack front porch.  The porch and/or entryway of a home sets the tone for what’s to come inside.  Whether you have a simple wreath on your door or you go all out with lights, festive decorations always bring happy cheers and smiles.

Christmas in a Minute: Vintage-Inspired JOYful Sign

Happy Monday!  What a busy week upon us with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and the official start to the holiday season.  As the crazy Christmas sprint begins, I’m thinking simple, easy, and quick.  So this weekend, I created this fun + easy vintage-inspired JOYful sign.  Scraps of wood and a little bit of paint makes this a simple and very inexpensive creation.  It would be great for the mantel, outside patio, or as a gift.

Here’s the breakdown…

Christmas in a Minute: Vintage-Inspired JOYful Sign created by @Jenna_Burger, WWW.JENNABURGER.COM

Simple-to-follow tutorial on how to create a JOY sign

1. Cut the wood to your desired height and width. I used leftover pallet scraps to create this sign, but you could also use new wood instead.  I like the old pallets because they’re free, plus they have a distressed, worn look, which means no “beating up” the new wood.

2. Create the sign and sand.  If you have more than one piece of wood, you’ll need to attach them from the back.  Across the two pieces of pallet boards, I nailed two smaller pieces of pallet scraps on the back so the sign stayed together. Then I gave the wood a good sanding on the top and sides.

3. Paint the sign.  I painted the base of the sign with plain ole’ white paint leaving some of the raw wood to show through.

4. Outline letters.  I freehand sketched the letters J – O – Y on the sign.  You could use a stencil or silhouette if you wanted.

5. Paint the letters. Then I filled in the letters with red craft paint.  I used about 3-4 coats, but it dried quickly.  To give an even more distressed look, I gently went over the surface with a piece of sandpaper (by hand).

And that’s it.  Pretty simple, right?!