5 FREE WINTER CONTAINER DESIGNS

There is no Christmas tree in my house. That, of course, was not the plan. The plan was to be ahead of the game this year, but once again it's the last minute and nothing is done. I'm tempted to just skip the tree at this point, but we did that last year and I feel like skipping a tree one year is fine, but skipping it two years in a row is positively scroogelike.

But the outdoor decorations are finished so that's something. And I'm happy to report that I met the challenge I set forth for myself to not spend a penny on any holiday containers and use only what I already had or what I foraged. I did buy some garland at Costco for the pergolas, but that puts the entire budget for everything I did outside at $30. I'm calling that a win.

The trough planter by the garage is big enough that moving it without removing the soil would be impossible. And because there are two clematis in there (they are group 3 types so they'll be cut back in spring, but for now I've taken the foliage and tucked it behind the holiday decorations) the soil can't be removed. Really simple decorations here: dogwood and evergreens just stuck in the soil with birch logs from the big tree that fell in our woods just leaning against the garage and a simple garland wrapped in lights.

The urn in the middle of the garden got a similar simple treatment. The snow came so quickly after I finished it that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before it was covered in the white stuff. 

The large planter by the front door got an unusual treatment that I thought played off the ring in the window box. Again, no sooner did I finish it, than a big snowfall did some of its own decorating. The small lit rings are metal rings from the inside of rotted wagon wheels that I wrapped in tiny LED wire light strings. (You can see what I did with those rings in summer here.) And yes, there is a sad and formerly lovely rosemary plant in a pot next to it that was forgotten when I brought plants in, so now it serves as sculpture of sorts.

Of course you've seen the window box already.

I had to throw in a picture of our special 'Hudsonii' spruce, planted in honor of our first Newfoundland Hudson. It's the only thing that gets colored lights and it looked so perfect with the snowfall against the otherwise black-and-white winter landscape. 

I also very quickly did the container at the office. I hate to admit it, but I really threw this one together with what I had left around and in about 15 minutes, so it isn't quite as neat as I would like. The trellis lives in another container there during the summer but I thought it added a nice touch. The big ornaments sort of look like they are waiting to hatch in their little nest.

So there you have it: five winter containers all done without spending a penny. There is actually one other small pot I did on our garden bench but I didn't manage to snap a picture before it was mostly covered in snow. I'll shoot one when it emerges.

Where are you at with your holiday decorating?

HOW TO MAKE A HOLIDAY WINDOW BOX

I got a lot of questions recently about how I constructed my holiday containers and window box so I thought I'd share a quick tutorial. I can't say that I invented this method, but I've gotten pretty close to perfecting it after several years of tinkering with it. The inspiration for it came from the professionals, mostly Deborah Silver. 

Just a reminder, my challenge this year was to only use foraged materials and things that I already had, so I did not spend a single penny on this window box.

I try to leave about three-quarters of the potting mix in the window box after I remove all the plants and to do this before that soil freezes, because it's much easier when it's soft. The foam—3-inch-thick large sheets that I purchased at Michael's several years ago—is saved an reused every year because it's an investment. I hot-glued smaller pieces of foam as supports underneath the main foam layer, which is several pieces doweled and glued end-to-end to fix the window box. You can also use green waterproof tape (affiliate link) to tape pieces together, which is what I do for other containers. 

Small pieces of foam hot-glued to the bottom of larger foam pieces adds stability.

Once I have the foam fitted in, which sometimes requires moving some soil around, I use two bamboo stakes at an angle pushed all the way through to help hold it in. These stakes will freeze in the soil.

I use two bamboo stakes at angles to help secure the foam foundation.

The next step is the ring, and this is the bit I've had the most questions about. Detroit Garden Works sells pre-lit metal rings for hanging or staking, but if you're looking for a less expensive option, you can look in a few places. My metal ring came from a local metal worker, who made me several rings of different sizes a few years ago at the same time we had him make a fire pit ring (two of them ended up as art). I don't recall the cost, but the rings were incredibly inexpensive, so if you can find a person like that, it's a good option.

I've also retrieved rings from rotted out wagon wheels (of which there several inexplicably kicking around my neighborhood) and the metal bands from old whiskey barrel planters. As an alternative, I think you could double up a pair of hula hoops or even PVC tubing and paint it black.

My metal ring (covered in pine needles) came from a local metalworker.

There is a small hole for a stabilizing stake in the middle of my ring, so I used that to hang the ring from my basement ceiling and I could easily wrap the lights around the hoop. The key to keeping the ring look is to wrap the lights (I used a string of 200) around the outside of the ring, instead of wrapping them in and out through the middle of  it. Make sure that the male plug is at the what will be the bottom of the hoop. When the lights are wrapped, I used zip ties (see my trick for managing the little buggers here) in a dark color to secure the lights in various spots around the ring. 

Hang the ring to make putting the lights on easier.

Putting the ring up is the trickiest part because it requires a bit of lean. I use a stake through the hole in it to keep it from rolling around but you could fashion a method of pinning it down with a bend wire hanger or something else if you don't have a hole. 

A stake helps hold the ring in place. Lights behind it help it "glow."

I like the window box to look like it's glowing from within, so take another string of lights and just lay them behind the ring. I wish I had added another set of lights or used a light garland (the kind that are nothing but lights) because I would have preferred more glow. You should also hook up your extension cords at this point because it's much easier to get to before all the greens are in.

Next I make the dogwood bundles. For this window box I wanted the red dogwood to have a lot of punch and that's difficult to get with individual branches, so I pick out the nicest, straightest branches and bundle them together. Then I take a bamboo stake (the same ones I used to prop up my dahlias in summer) and stick it in the middle and tie the whole thing together with zip ties. I actually needed two ties for each bundle because they were too fat for just one.

Insert a bamboo stake in the center of a bundle of twigs and secure very tightly with zip ties.

I try to make all the bundles the same size and height and I leave a little bit of room at the bottom to make the sticks shorter if needed.

Make the bundles about the same size.

When I put the twig bundles in, the stake holds them in place and I made sure to drive it all the way through the foam into the soil. 

After the twigs, the next step is the greens. I try to cut all the pieces roughly to the same size for some uniformity, but that's not required if you like it to look a little bit more natural. When I put them in I start with the branches sticking straight out, coming from the side of the foam, and starting from the bottom, I work my way up to more angled greens. Because this is a high window box, I don't worry if there is foam showing on top because you'll never see that either from the ground or inside. 

A little foam showing from the top doesn't matter because in a window box this high it will never be seen.

With the greens in, it needs a little color.

With the greens filled in and trimmed a bit here and there, I added faux red berries, purchased several years ago at a Black Friday sale and saved every year. Make sure you buy faux branches specifically labeled for outdoor use or they will lose their paint or completely dissolve quickly. I also had some short pine branches with adorable little pine cones still attached that I used to fill in near the dogwood. I don't like to fill in too much too high because I still want to see out the window from inside.

Make sure to use waterproof faux berries labeled for outdoor use.

And, of course, a good snowfall doesn't hurt either.

And even from inside, it's a lovely view.

CHRISTMAS CHEER

Christmas is pretty basic at our house this year and I can't tell you why. Maybe it's the unseasonably warm weather we've been having that makes it seem not-at-all like Christmastime. Maybe it's having house projects in the plans and not wanting to have to deal with anything more. Maybe it's the logistics of a lot of decorations with a 135-pound puppy running around. I really don't know.

There will be no Christmas tree at our house this year. Saying that makes me sad. I love having a tree. I love the tradition of bringing out my beautiful ornaments and finding the perfect spot on the tree. I know that I will be very sad about it Christmas morning when there is no tree to turn the lights on. On the other hand, I'm happy to have saved the money we would have spent on a tree, and I'll be VERY happy to not have a tree when it comes time to take it all down and pack it up. But mostly, I've been far less stressed this year than ever before and that's undoubtedly because I scaled everything back. What is the point of going all out for the holidays if it turns you into a miserable person?

Other than the outside, Christmas decorating in our house this year has been limited to the mantel. No garland anywhere else, no bowls of shiny ornaments. In other words, watch out next year because it is going to be holiday crazy in our house!

In the meantime, let's take a look at some of what I did bother to decorate this year. Sadly, as much as I tried, I couldn't get a decent photo with the lights on the outdoor decorations. I broke my tripod a few weeks ago and those kind of shots are pretty much impossible to take without one. (Master of excuses!)

Raindrops, not snowflakes are nature's decoration this year.

The window box isn't much different from last year. I loved it then and I love it this year.

I did some special decoration on each of the garland attachment points on the pergola.

Detail of the wreaths on the garage, which really look horrible in the photo below but I have so many lights on each one that it looks great at night.

I followed these instructions to make bleached pinecones and I love them.

Maybe not impressive, but simple and heartfelt.

I may not have done much decorating this year but check out some years past.

• Last year's tree
• 2013
• 2014 outside
• Some snow in 2012
• 2013 outside
• A simple swag
• A tree in a pot