Outdoor Christmas Planter

This year, I decided I wouldn't buy any outdoor Christmas decorations.  I have many planters, gardening supplies, and Christmas lights. So, I have been trying to make do with what I have.  I'm actually very pleased with the results.

One of my main goals with any DIY Christmas planter is to have lights. I enjoy Christmas lights so much both inside my home and outside! I've modernized my Christmas village houses, which are all white (I LOVE them). I also have a Christmas glass block with white lights inside. It's so pretty in a darker corner of my home. It makes the fact that it's dark so early in December much less depressing.

Why I Love this Outdoor Christmas Pot

It is so pretty at night with the lights on! It truly cost me nothing to make because I used what I had in my yard or my Christmas bin. Most of what I used was repurposed from my summer planter!

Supplies

Large planter pot
A tall trellis
Branches from my spruce tree (ones on the ground that I was going to trim anyway)
Branches from my arborvitae (again, ones on the ground that needed to be trimmed)
1 string of 100 lights (green cord)
2 large picks of red berries

Instructions

Step 1
Place the tall trellis (obelisk) in a large pot.

Step 2
Take some of the smaller branches of arborvitae and spruce branches and put them inside the trellis.  

Step 3
Wrap a string of white lights (I used ones with a green cord) around the obelisk trellis)

Step 4
Start poking some of the branches into the dirt and also things like red picks of berries. I always love the combination of white lights and red decor!

Outdoor Christmas Planter Decor Tips

Keep adding branches in until it looks nice and full. Pretty much the only trick to making your Christmas planter look really good is to use lots of branches.  Also, use different types so there are different textures in your finished display.

Step back and look and see how it looks during the day. Of course, there will be wires from the lights. They aren't really noticeable until you are up close.

The height, the different textures, the lights, and the splash of color make it looks interesting.

I had some big red berry picks, so I just bent those to spread them out and added them to the planter.

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The red berries are actually my favorite part of my Christmas planter. It's what makes it look pretty during the daytime. That's something that I try to consider. Everything looks great in the dark with sparkly lights on it. But does it look good in the daytime?

I used free tree branch clippings from trees in my yard. If you don't have those available to you, you can often get branches free from places that sell live Christmas trees.  Just ask them! Or, use some old garland that you already have.

This is my Christmas planter at night.  I'm just waiting for a dusting of snow to make it perfect!  I love how tall the trellis is; it adds height to this Christmas porch planter display.  It's nice not always to use little Christmas trees in the planter!

Other Christmas DIY Decor Ideas

Please pin the image below to your Pinterest board!

Originally published Nov. 30, 2013.