Front Porch Winter Display With FREE Greenery

Sheeewww! What a busy Thanksgiving break. I got a LOT done but still have a lot to do.....probably like everyone else. We're just getting started with the Christmas/Winter season so there are plenty of posts coming your way now that I am getting back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving.

 

I was up for two days straight as I went from Thanksgiving dinners straight into black Friday shopping at midnight then on into the morning at 6am and didn't stop until about 2:00pm Friday afternoon, then had to be at our 3rd Thanksgiving dinner at 6pm Friday evening. I was exhausted and took it easy Saturday.

Today I had more energy and  spent time working on some projects that I will reveal one by one throughout the next week.

Here is one of the projects I worked on today.......our front porch.

You know me...I am a thrifty chick so I knew that I wanted to ultimately create a warm and welcoming front porch without spending much any money, so here is what I put together.

For starters, I picked up some FREE pine clippings from HD. Tip of the day......the hardware stores have to clip the bottom of the trees to shape them so they have a PILE of pine branches sitting in a bin for the public to take. It is their TRASH but YOUR treasure! As we all know, fresh winter greenery can be costly, but HELLO! They are throwing it away so why not do them you a favor and take if off of their hands for them! :)

So this is what I did. I helped them out LOL

Gasp! ....What a waste! I just HAD to help them out with their trash problem. LOL

I could have taken more but this will work for now. I didn't want to be too obvious or look greedy.

And this is what I used for my project......FREE greenery and FREE burlap from the hardware store, FREE wood from my house, and FREE pine cones from my neighbor-not pictured.
(I helped her out too!) LOL

If you follow my Thrifty Finds posts you may remember when I found this really cool galvanized tub at the local thrift store and I wasn't sure what I was going to use it for...until now!

Here is the bucket  put together with the wood, evergreen clippings, pine cones and burlap ribbon. Since I was going with a rustic feel, I decided to add a simple "Welcome" message to the front of the bucket by freehand with a Sharpie, to welcome guests up to our front door.

Then, on the other side of the porch as you walk up the steps I added a black lantern and dwarf spruce tree in a black urn.

Again, if you follow my Thrifty Finds posts, this lantern was a thrifty find back in the Summer. (You can read about it and all the other finds that week, HERE).

I debated on whether or not to paint it a different color but in the end I stayed with classic black and displayed it with more pine cones and evergreen clippings, with a creamy white vanilla candle.

I just {LOVE} how everything turned out. It was all virtually FREE, or things I already had on hand that I used to create a warm and inviting Winter vignette on the porch.

So lets recap the thrifty tip of the day.....run, don't walk, to your local hardware store and ask for their clippings. They consider them trash, but for YOU this is a home decorators treasure!

I hope you enjoyed my front porch and were inspired. It should not cost you a lot to create a warm and inviting home. Just look around and use what you already have on hand then embellish it with simple touches of free things provided by Mother Nature.

Have a wonderful week!

Jennifer

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