Bring the elegance of the season to your front door with gorgeous holiday decorations! Whether you’re looking to protect your home with a DIY Swedish gnome or showcase your artistic side with a stunning holiday porch planter, we’ll show you everything you need to get started on designing your own stunning Christmas displays.
DIY Swedish Gnomes
A little bit of background on these Christmas cuties: in Sweden, they’re known as Tomte, Knome, Gonks, or Nisse, and are thought to be “protectors of the home.” They perfectly complement mini Christmas trees and planters as part of your front porch display, and are sure to keep your home safe from those lousy winter blues!
To make your little evergreen garden buddy, you’ll need the following:
- Red, green, and white felt fabric for the hats and mittens
- Mixed fresh evergreen varieties. We recommend fir, cedar, and spruce.
- A roll of florist’s wire
- Nude-coloured pantyhose
- Hot glue
- Cotton balls
- Elastic Bands
- Tomato cage
Now that you’ve got your supplies, let’s get down to building your gnome. Don’t worry; It’s easier than you think!
1. Place Your Tomato Cage Upside Down
Set a tomato cage upside down on your table or work area, with the ring at the bottom. The prongs at the top can be secured using some florist’s wire.
2. Assemble the Evergreen Base
Cover the tomato cage with evergreen cuttings, enough to hide all traces of metal. Make sure there are no large gaps or bare spots by attaching your evergreen cuttings with additional wire. This is what will become your gnome’s body.
3. Make The Hats
Fold and cut approximately 60 centimetres of red felt in half along a diagonal course to make two triangles. Using your hot glue gun, attach one side of the triangle to the other to make a cone, AKA your garden gnome’s cap. Using scissors, cut a slight curve across the open hole to even out your hat’s shape.
4. Stuff and Attach the Nose
Remove the foot off the pantyhose and fill it with a generous amount of cotton stuffing to form the nose. Then, twist up all the loose ends and secure it with an elastic band. Finally, tuck in the nose underneath your gnome’s hat using more florist’s wire, so it looks like it’s just poking out from underneath the brim.
5. Cut Out Your Mittens
Make and cut out two sets of identical mitten patterns with your red felt, two for your gnome’s left hand and two for his right. After gluing your mittens together, stuff them with cotton and secure them to either side of your gnome’s body using wire.
And voila, you’re all done. Told you it was easier than it looks!
Winter Planter Designs: The Tip That Will Change Everything
Designing beautiful garden planters begins and ends with the classic thriller, filler, spiller method. This design strategy makes your Christmas planters look full, complete, and bountiful, with elements literally spilling over the sides! Here’s how:
Start by adding your thrillers to your arrangement. These are tall, dramatic elements that add an element of height and excitement to your planter. Three to five branches of noble fir, juniper, pine, or spruce make for the perfect “thriller” element. A few birch poles also work to help hold things in place. Insert them upright in the centre of your planter to create the base.
Next, add in your filler plants. These plants “fill in” or cover over empty spaces, ensuring your planter looks full. For this, use fresh bushy evergreen cuttings, twigs and sprigs from winterberry shrubs, red twig dogwood, basically anything you can source from your backyard to make your Christmas planters look more full and lush.
Finally, add your spiller elements. These are meant to “spill” over the edges of your Christmas planter, giving it that overflowing look of abundance. Try using ribbons, draping cedar boughs, ivy, long berry branches, or decorations to achieve this effect!
Fresh Greenery Decor Tips for the Front Porch
All fresh DIY decor starts with the simple step of pruning a few evergreen branches from your backyard or picking up some live boughs of greenery from us! From there, these four best practices will help you get the most out of your DIY decor, regardless of what you decide to craft this year:
- Keep your evergreen cuttings in water until you’re ready to decorate to ensure they are fresh.
- Treat your cuttings with an anti-desiccant spray before you decorate to prevent water loss.
- Mist your live evergreen decor every one or two days to help keep hydration to a max.
- Add ornamental accents like pinecones, dried orange slices, and lotus seed pods to your decor, to create a more natural and authentic winter look.
Looking for more tips on decorating with your fresh greenery? Visit us at our Bala & Port Carling Garden Centre locations for more Christmas decoration ideas for plant-lovers!
