Evergreen & Pinecone Garland DIY

I'm not a big holiday decorator (as in crazy Christmas lights and all of that jazz), but I do like to incorporate elements from each season into our home. I always have a season-inspired wreath on the front door, and I'm well-known for picking the latest flower or foliage in the yard and throwing it in a vase. This past weekend, I decided to bring some of the latest outdoor finds to our entryway. You just never know who may stop by the house this time of year, so I like to make sure the front door is inviting!

We don't have many trees in our yard - a single pine tree, in fact. However, we tend to get a lot of leftovers from our neighbors trees. Sticks, leaves, pine needles (Tyler's favorite), and as of late, pine cones! I picked up bags and bags of pine cones last year and turned them into some decorations around our house. A little spray paint here and a little twine there and we had some excellent garland! I even threw some in extra bowls and vases I had laying around the house for some instant winter pizzazz.

Well this year, our lonely pine tree had some branches that were getting pretty low to the ground. It was becoming a real pain to mow under them, so I asked Tyler to cut off the lowest hanging guy and I would figure out a use for him. He didn't seem all that big just laying on the ground, but I started to cut him into smaller pieces and realized I had quite a bit of foliage to work with.

 This would make excellent garland on our outdoor railings! Tyler helped me tie each piece to the railing with twine and then I strung together some pine cones, just like last year, and twisted those around the garland.

It took me an hour or so to complete, but it was completely free! I love how it turned out and it's great to be able to re-purpose items from our own yard.

I finally rigged up some stocking hooks using 3M strips, so our DIY Sweater Stockings are officially hung, and we also decorated our little tree. I'd definitely like to get a real tree one of these days, but our sort of Charlie Brown tree just gets me every time! A little DIY garland here and a few special ornaments there... it's sure feeling more festive around our house.

Oh, by the way, Tyler made that snazzy little "tree box" for me last year. I've never been a fan of tree skirts, so I asked him to make me a box sort of like an apple crate. We had an extra pallet laying out back, so he just whipped up the perfect little holder for our Christmas tree. Snazzy, huh?