How to Add Festive Christmas Front Door Garland

November 29, 2008

How to hang Christmas garland around a front door.


dress up small porch for Christmas
This is an easy and festive way to decorate the front door for Christmas using garland and lights. Make the outside of your house as pretty as the inside at Christmas! 

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This is what you'll need to hang your front door garland:


Measure the height and width of your front door. Take your garland and figure how many feet you'll need. Most come in nine foot sections. (By the way, you can easily cut these to size with pliers or wire cutters.)

Then, depending on how much you have and how full you want it -- twist numerous strands together. It's easier to wrap the strands of lights around the garland before hanging! 

Take your cup hooks, and start putting them around your door. I like to put them opposite ways, so the garland kind of weaves around them:
cup hooks around front door
At the top of the door or doorway, put one hook right in the middle. 

Then find the middle of your garland:
measure garland on floor
Keep a hold of that point in the garland, then hang that part on the middle cup hook. Then drape the rest down the sides of the doorway, tucking the garland in the cup hooks as you go. (Make sure the plug for the lights is closest to the outlet!)

If you don't have an outlet, just use a bunch of garland and make a full one to put around the door. Stick ornaments, ribbon, whatever in it! I have a very small porch, so I put up two sets -- one around the door and one around the overhang. 

I also do this around the garage in the same way. The cup hooks will leave a very small hole in the trimwork. If you are worried about the hole, use the smaller cup hooks. 

The great part is, you'll know exactly where they go every year -- the hole is already there! 

Greenery makes for a very traditional, sophisticated exterior and I LOVE IT. If you have the 12-foot, blow up Santa, I'm sure it will still work with that. 

To do this:
attach Christmas wreaths to windows

You can either hang the wreath on a Command strip or hang with some wire over the window screen (and shut the window to hold it. 

attach wreaths with ribbon on windows
Really, none of this is hard. It just takes time! The first time you do it will be the longest. 

After that, it takes me well under an hour, start to finish, to hang everything.

So worth it! Festive and beautiful!: 
garland lights front door and porch

See this post for more Christmas decor ideas for your exterior

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Comments

  1. BEAUTIFUL! You did an amazing job! :)

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  2. Everything looks beautiful. You did an amazing job.

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  3. And I thought you were taking those light photos through a piece of Saran Wrap!

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  4. It looks like it's snowing in one of the pictures. Beautiful!

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  5. showing sits love.

    love that you list tuesday morning!

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  6. Girl you have gotten with it! Very pretty!!:) Thanks for the tips!

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  7. Very pretty! I need to really get cracking on my Christmas decorating... I feel so behind already!! ;)

    I had to stop by and share this cool craft with you:
    http://uglygrayhouse.blogspot.com/2008/11/recycling-catalogs-into-ornaments.html
    Check it out and leave a comment letting me know what you think!

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  8. Love it!!! I can't wait to see your tree!! Thanks so much for your sweet comment you left on my blog. I really appreciated that!

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  9. In response to your comment... yes, you can use any kind of paper! I used a catalog, but you could use scrapbooking paper, gift wrap, or anything along those lines! It's not hard at all either, just a little time consuming as you have to make 60 of the individual petals, but it's easy enough to do while watching TV, and you can just stack them all in an envelope until you have time to glue them together. (tip: use paperclips or bobby pins to hold the pieces together while the glue dries... I used a Glue Stick for the petals, and white glue for the final assembling.)

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  10. Everything looks GORGEOUS! And who woulda thunk to put pretty lighted garland around the garage? I think I might just have to copy that one.

    p.s. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those shutters on your house!

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  11. love it! After I read this earlier today, I immediately went outside to look at our front door. Then I went to find some garland!!

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  12. LOL! I didn't picture it being IN your house, just wondered if maybe you made it and gave it away!!

    I bought some awesome garlands and picks etc at Joann's today for next to nothing with their awesome sales and coupons. I'm so excited to decorate for xmas. Tomorrow......fall decs come down and we're buying our tree!

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  13. purdy. I like that classic Christmas look. Unfortunately my hubby is slowly turning our house into the Griswald house. Tee-hee

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  14. I love it! I do something like that with my front door, but it's my entire front porch and railing. Of course half my lights burn out and it all looks lopsided, not like your gorgeous lights. :)

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  15. You outside decorations are so pretty!! I have been working all weekend decorating....I love new ideas.

    Trying to figure out how to decorate the mirror in my dining room now????

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  16. I love it! I'm going out to get some garland today.

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  17. It looks great! I haven't gotten to the outside yet. I'm still working on the inside.

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  18. Great tips! I've been having a hard time getting a decent picture of my tree with the flash, and without the flash! Wonder if there is some setting we don't know about? LOL

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  19. Oh! I've been away for too long! Look at all the stuff you've been up to!You have such great ideas!

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  20. That looks gorgeous!

    Please tell me you got the "I'm funny." line from an episode of Boston Legal. My dh and I LOOOVE that show and say that one line all the time from an episode that cracked us up.

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  21. LOTS of beautiful goin' on here. I really like what you did in front of the garage door!

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  22. I am in LLOOVVVEE!! (that's my singing voice.) I told the Hubster that we need to do this to our door asap! Keep the tips coming!

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  23. I love your door! What a great idea. How beautiful! Your garage door is AWESOME!

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  24. I think the pictures of the light were pretty dern cool! I felt like I was looking at them through those fancy christmas glasses that make shapes around the lights. :)

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  25. TOOO pretty I amy have to run and get me some garland!

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  26. very pretty! I love your blog.. I don't remember how I came upon it, I have noticed you use a lot of vinyl lettering.. I do that myself, I actually make it myself.. {and it is a bit cheaper than uppercase living}.. so check out my vinyl blog...
    thanks for the awesome ideas! love your style!

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  27. That's gorgeous! I'm doing it!

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  28. You are too funny! The wreaths and decor are great. :)

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  29. instead of hooks....I use those sticky hooks by 3m. No holes and they are removeable when you are finished. And even better....farland hides them! I love the holidays!!!

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  30. Your description of hanging the wreath cracks me up! Sounds very similar to my recent home improvement projects. Too funny.

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  31. Hi, Ash from Australia here and love love love these ideas. I also think you are extremely funny.
    I have a very fancy camera like yours and a few tips I was given for night shooting.
    Hold your breath when you're pressing down on the shutter...{button to which you take pics- no jokes, my hubby teases me when I asked what was the shutter!! still after 15 years!!} Also use the no flash selection, and try to stand really really still. I got some great shots last year, but can't post them here for you. thanks for the great ideas and keep strong, you will get better with the camera!! from one-shutter-don't-know-how to another, merry Christmas.xxx

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