Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 427 Comments

How To Hang Wreaths On Your Windows

“Can we make it like the Home Alone house?” That was Clara’s quote about decorating the outside of our house for Christmas. She loves “Kevin and Bros” as she calls them (yes, Buzz = Bros to her), and has even picked up that they have a similar type of house to ours – albeit a ton bigger and fancier. So we did some family brainstorming (listened to Clara tell us what we should do) and came up with the following plan:

  • wreaths hung in every window with gold ribbon (no other colors were even close to being right according to Miss Clara)
  • some lighted garland around the front portico
  • plug-in candles in every windowsill like we had in our last house (Clara has always loved those, and we had exactly the right amount, so we just reused ’em)
  • our three little red lanterns full o’ twinkle lights from Ikea a few years ago
  • real seals with red Santa hats on the roof (this one was Clara’s most imaginative suggestion, but I’m afraid we had to nix it for animal rights reasons)

Here’s where we ended up.

House Lit

I think my favorite things are the wreaths in every window (they look just as fun from the inside looking out). Or the lighted garland around the portico railing.

Portico Lit

Or the red lanterns full of lights with our blue door nearby.

Exterior Portico

Or catching a glimpse of our still-to-be-decorated Christmas tree through the bay window on the side. Sidenote: I’ve wanted to repaint those white trim pieces that hang down like a sabre tooth tiger for months. Just making those dangly bits the same color as the siding and leaving the trim around the window white will look so much better I think.

Exterior Bay Window

The wreaths ended up being an awesome deal, thanks to stacking a few sales, so this, my friends, is how you get eleven 24″ outdoor wreaths that would have been $88, for $53 instead. First of all, they had been marked down to $5.99 (from $7.99) at Michael’s, which meant I couldn’t use any Michael’s coupons that I had (their coupons are usually for full-price merchandise only).

Michaels Coupon

But knowing they match competitor coupons, I quickly googled “JoAnn coupon” while standing in line on my iPhone and they were running a “20% off your entire purchase of holiday decor (including on-sale merchandise)” sale with a coupon that I could get right on my phone. So the sweet lady at the register honored the coupon, and that’s how we got eleven 24″ outdoor wreaths for $4.81 a pop instead of $8.

Coupon Joann1

She also said it was cool to use the coupon towards holiday ribbon, so for another $12 I grabbed three big spools of gold and returned home with everything we’d need to hang these suckers in every window. Or so I thought…

The upstairs windows were pretty simple, it just took a little finagling with the storm window and the screen to get them out of the way so we could crack the window open enough (from the top) to slide the wreath out with the ribbon wrapped around it to hold it up. One tip is to clutch that ribbon like it’s a hundred dolla bill, because it’s annoying to keep dropping wreaths out the window and having to run downstairs to get them.

Once I had said wreath out the window and was holding the end of the ribbon, John just closed the window right on the ribbon (we could pulling it up if we wanted to raise it or let more ribbon hang out the window if we wanted to lower it). Locking the window held it pretty securely, but just in case we also used a thumb tack stuck into the ribbon and the very top of our wooden windowsill for good measure, since we’d seen that mentioned here (it only makes a tiny pinhole at the top of the window where our blinds cover it anyway).

Thumbtack

The downstairs windows were a different story (both literally and figuratively). Somehow their extra long storm window panes on top (these windows are taller than the ones upstairs ) didn’t allow for us to stick the wreaths out the top of the window unless we completely removed all of the storm windows, which defeats the purpose of them since it’s cold out these days. So we opted to hang the wreaths from the outside of the house on a ladder for the lower level, instead of using the window to hold them in place.

Trapeze Thing3

We didn’t want the ribbon getting pinched or gathered around a plant hook screwed into the top of the window, because the ribbon for the upstairs wreaths looks nice and flat, so we devised these handy little “trapeze things” as we called them, to keep the downstairs ribbon flat like the upstairs stuff.

Trapeze Thing1

They were just wooden dowels with two very small holes drilled in each side and some wire strung through them to create a flat little plane for the ribbon to be wrapped around.

Trapeze Thing2

Then John could hang that trapeze hook over a plant hook that we had screwed into the side of the window, but the ribbon would still stay flat. To keep everything secure, he stapled the ribbon together to make a loop around the hanging trapeze thing while up on his ladder (that way I could stand back and make sure they were all the same height before he stapled).

Trapeze Thing4

See the two subtle staples in the picture above that are holding the ribbon? So far they’ve been up about 4 days without any breakage or ripping, so we think they should hopefully hold up for the season and we have high hopes of reusing them future years too. You know we’ll keep you posted if they all jump off the house or something though (and now I’ll go knock on some wood).

Next up was the garland around the portico. We just swagged it a few ways to see what we liked, and eventually used a few cable ties to keep it all in place once we pinned down our favorite look. We tried going up the peak in the portico, going around each of the pillars, and finally ended up liking it this way the best. Something about the light already coming from the top of the portico (our little porch light) made the garland lights going up that high look like too much upper-action, so keeping them low felt more balanced. And we thought it was nice for them to drape down the steps like this.

Exterior Railing2

Oh and I bought these three strands of lighted garland from Joss & Main for $18 each I think. Not a bad deal, and they all can be plugged into each other to make one long strand, which is nice and convenient.

Exterior Garland

Then we broke out the candle lights for each window from our old house (we used to have three of them in the side windows since you saw the side of the house a lot from the street) and were so glad to have the right number for this house. Well, not enough for the garage, but the idea of going in and out of the garage to turn them on and off each night sounded annoying, so we opted not to add any more to our count, and just stuck with 9 of them inside.

Finally, out came the old red lanterns from Ikea a few years back, which we filled with lights (one strand per lantern) and just connected them all to each other. Placing them on every other step ended up being our favorite spot for them (we tried them down on the walkway and on either side of the door, but this was the winning placement) and thankfully we had an outlet right on the porch for the garland and the strand of connected lantern string lights, so no blackouts were caused in the making of this holiday scene.

Exterior Rail3

We certainly have seen fancier holiday lighting displays (there are some gorgeous ones in our neighborhood) and we have some pretty elaborate dreams of adding to ours over the years (like decorating that Chirstmas-tree-esque holly on the right corner of the house, and getting a big lighted wreath for the front door), but for now, we’re pretty proud of our first attempt at a holiday display here in this house. One of our neighbors even stopped by to asked me all about the garland and where we got the red lanterns, so that was nice. I might have been a little too into the conversation, but what can I say, I loves me some holiday glow.

Exterior Portico

I worried it would be kind of ugly during the day without the magic of the lights, but I’m happy to report that it’s not too bad that way either. Sidenote numero dos: Oh how I wish I had pulled that weird doormat at the bottom of the stairs out of the way – I’ve been meaning to put it in the garage after we finally found a wider one for the front door, but somehow it ended up down there. 

Portico Light

Are you guys decorating the outside of your house? Who goes all out and follows the roof-line with lights? What about those awesome draped trees that look like weeping willows but they’re just a mass-o-lights. Love that so much.

Psst- To see how we decorated the outside of our house last year and the year before, click here and here.

Update: You can check out all of our favorite holiday decor finds here – many of which are under $15! 

Comments

  1. Sara says

    I used to be a teacher and we were talking about Christmas one day as a class and one of my students said “My mom grew up in the real Home Alone house!” I completely dropped my teacher act and basically freaked out in front of my entire class of 6th graders..what can I say..I’m a pro. I later fact checked my student at parent teacher conferences..she wasn’t making it up. I gave her an A.

    Reply

  2. Lucy says

    Wow – I love it all, but my favorite (FAVORITE) things are the window wreaths. Since we bought our house ten years ago (yikes, I sound old), I’ve wanted to do with, but wasn’t sure how (and was honestly nervous they would block too much daylight, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case?). I’m forwarding this to my husband ASAP. Thank you so much!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They don’t seem to block much light at all, and they’re really fun to see from the inside too (sort of festive and a little surprise in each window since you’re not used to seeing them). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  3. myamogabi says

    It looks so nice! Thanks for sharing where you got everything. Our neighbor across the street has this pretty lighted garland on her front portico and I’ve been eyeing that thing for two years!!

    Also cannot wait for your announcement on Friday! Hope little Bun will cooperate!

    Reply

  5. Shaina says

    I didn’t see it mentioned, but Michaels sells the auto on/off candle lights. It’s what we use. You plug them in, they stay on for 8 hours, off for 16. So you only have to do it once a season (well and hope the power doesn’t go out). The hubs and I take a floor and at the right time plug them all in as close to the same time.

    Reply

  7. Stephanie says

    Very pretty but I think it would look even prettier if you put white lights in the bushes in front of the house on both sides of the porch. My unsolicited two cents. ;)

    Reply

  8. Meg says

    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!! Not only because I’ve always wanted to do the wreaths-in-the-windows-plus-plug-in-candles look (not to mention the “Home Alone”ness), but because you consulted your little design expert on it!

    For the first year ever, we finally added a string of Target globe lights — which, for being a relatively short string, are SOOOOO bright! They light up the whole darn neighborhood. Makes me sing Broadway show tunes.

    Reply

  10. Heather @ What Does She Do All Day? says

    Looks great! We used to follow the roof line. Hubby would do the upper and I would do the lower, but since my first pregnancy 4 years ago (I was not willing to get on that roof!) we haven’t done it. It’s hard to find the time with two little ones (one of which doesn’t nap). The one that doesn’t nap helped me decorate this afternoon, though. We put a garland on our lightpost, lights up the driveway, around 3 bushes, and around the door and garage. I’m excited to show her our handy work when it gets dark tonight!

    Reply

  11. Judy W. says

    Someone else may have already said this; I didn’t wade through four pages of comments. I think you guys really need a wreath on the front door. I know you are saving up for a splurgy big lighted wreath, but just for this year, maybe you could buy a real wreath (without lights) from your local good-cause-supporting neighborhood Christmas tree lot. It would be lit well enough with the other lights on the portico, and your door wouldn’t look so naked. Tie a red ribbon on it, stick in a few pine cones from the back yard, and voila!

    Reply

  13. Liz says

    Your house looks beautiful, and totally reminds me of Home Alone!

    Praying that Baby is healthy, and so excited that you’ll be finding out the gender today (I’m guessing boy!).

    Reply

    • Liz says

      I just went back and read some comments…looks like there are a lot of guesses for boy! I know you probably already know the gender by now, but did you have a strong feeling one way or the other about what it would be? I knew 100% I was having a girl (and I was right!).

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I totally knew with Clara but have had girl and boy feelings with this one. It’s only one in there though, so I’m wrong on one guess and right on the other! Haha!

      xo
      s

  14. Mii says

    Hi Family P.!
    I’ve been a follower and (book) reader of yours for years now, from Germany. At first I was sure that the picture was photoshopped with all those beautiful wreaths in the windows but at a closer look I saw this is real! You’ve really done a great job, it looks absolutely gorgeous and matches totally your home with the facade of bricks and the window shutters, which both of them I really adore.
    Happy holidays!
    Mii
    PS: Sorry for my crumbly German accent.

    Reply

  16. Brynn says

    Am I the only one that thought John was standing ON the bush in that picture? (I am the only one on the first page, because that is all I read through LOL)

    House looks great!

    Reply

  17. Jodi says

    The great thing about celebrating Christmas in summer (Southern Hemisphere – woot) is that a lot of us use solar fairy lights for Christmas – no need to worry about outlets! Also, makes for pleasant evening strolls wandering around the neighbourhood looking at everyone’s displays. We have some neighbours who have gone the whole hog with a light up nativity and a blow up Santa taller than their house. Super tacky, but isn’t that the fun of Christmas?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I looked everywhere (HomeGoods, Garden Ridge, Target, Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s) and finally saw one on Joss & Main about a month ago. It was in one of their porch/outdoor collections if that helps. Might have been $25 or $29? I forget!

      xo
      s

  21. susanbetweennapsontheporch says

    Sherry and John, Your home looks beautiful! The evening pics with it all lit up are truly magical! The trapeze idea was brilliant…filing that away in case I ever run into a similar situation. That is sooo cute how Clara is involved in the design decisions…I know she loves the lights!:) Thanks for the shout-out, too…much appreciated! XO

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That stinks! Someone else said that too! I can’t believe they’re so strict! My girl hardly looked at my phone and just scanned a code they have on some pre-printed sheet to honor it in their system!

      xo
      s

  24. Katie says

    My aunt and uncle used to live right near the Home Alone house – previous poster was right, it appears MUCH bigger in the movie than in person :) My uncle also used to take the train into Chicago for work from the train station Kevin runs through after seeing the old man at the store…I remember something about him buying a toothbrush in that scene?? Great movie :) Hope all went well with your u/s today…can’t wait for the big reveal!! Side note pregnancy question…since you’ve had a few u/s already why don’t you have a definite due date? Just from my experience and the way my dr works is that if you have a very early u/s the due date is determined from that and stays the same throughout the pregnancy. With both my girls I had early u/s (first pregnancy at 6 weeks and second pregnancy at 9 weeks) and with both I measured exactly 1 week ahead so my due date was determined based on the baby’s measurements at that time. I know some drs will change due dates during the pregnancy based on the baby’s size (mine doesn’t)…just curious as to what your dr does with all that :) As all moms know due dates are just an estimate anyway! Hope you’re starting to feel better and soooooo excited for your growing family!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Katie! I have an initially assigned due date, but due to my previous birth complications with Clara I won’t be allowed to go full term. That’s why saying a date that we know I won’t reach feels weird, and it’s flexible in my case (they’re just going to monitor my body to keep the baby in as long as possible but also to avoid the potentially dangerous complications that labor set off with Clara).

      xo,
      s

  25. eliza says

    home alone seems scary for a little one – is this her first year watching it? wondering if my 5 year old could handle it…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just choose select parts (we own it so we can fast forward, etc). She likes the “Rocking Around The Christmas Tree” song with the pretend party that he creates in the window, and she thinks it’s fun to watch all the kids together at the beginning (before they leave him – she seems really into big groups of older kids, and especially loves Buzz). Anyone else have a 5 year old who has watched it? Do you watch the whole thing or only parts?

      xo
      s

    • elizalegs says

      nice! kiddie christmas movies that everyone enjoys are in short supply – she is a big elf fan but we always have to fast forward the bummer scene where the dad yells at elf :( learned that one the hard way!

      i had forgotten about home alone, we may add it to our repertoire now! fun! my kiddo also loves “group kid” scenes – cute.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      There’s a part where a grown up says “Look what ya did you little jerk!” so we always just skip that part in the group scene, but otherwise she thinks it’s hilarious (they fight over pizza, which is something she’s passionate about too, haha!).

      xo
      s

    • Kathryn says

      Was wondering about this too. (Thanks for answering, Sherry). I’m about two months younger than Mr. Culkin and saw it in the cinema when it came out, being the perfect target demographic.

      I remember being really stressed out and thinking it was crazy violent and unpleasant. Sensitive soul I guess! I still can’t watch it and get warm fuzzies. A child, fearing for his safety has to assault two criminals. Creatively. Er, Merry Christmas, everybody?

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, there are definitely parts you want to skip (there’s a “look what you did, you little jerk” scene, and anything where he’s watching that movie about the gangsters). Clara loves when Kevin sleds down the stairs and goes outside to cut his own Christmas tree though!

      xo
      s

  26. Emily says

    Your decorations are beautiful & very similar to my house, guess it’s a Southern thing being that I’m from NC :-). Just curious as to whether or not you are going to put a wreath on the front door? It would really complete the look & be gorgeous with a bow made from some of your pretty gold ribbon!

    Reply

  31. Kate says

    So, after you mentioned getting your garlands at Joss & Main, I logged in there to see if they had anything like it… the top event (on my phone) was the Home Alone Curator’s Collection! Well-timed! :)

    Reply

  33. jennifer says

    Cracks me up that it took until now to realize that the fronts of our house are almost identical. It’s the candles in the windows that did it because we do the same exact thing. I love the wreaths too. Never thought of that. Now I know what I’ll be doing tomorrow.
    FWIW, I like the white trim on the side of the house. It just makes sense to me.

    Reply

  34. Jessica A says

    So of course this post has had me thinking about Home Alone all day and I’ve been really wanting to find a picture of the house all decorated. I finally found some screenshots from the movie here: http://hookedonhouses.net/2008/12/12/home-alone-kevins-house-in-chicago/ and I couldn’t believe that there is only one wreath on the door and no where else! In my mind, that house was completely decked out with all of the lights, but with wreaths EVERYWHERE!! I guess my brain just morphed their house into the super classy look that you have created! I think yours looks even better than the Home Alone decorations!

    And I hope everything went well at the doctor today! I’m sure that telling Clara whether she is going to have a brother or a sister will be one of the most memorable moments you get to share with her!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Jessica! It was certainly a big day for us. Wahoo! And that’s so funny about just having a wreath on the door. In our heads it was all decked out too. Maybe we’re thinking about when the parents come home and Kevin has decorated the whole house for them (and even picked up milk and detergent). That kid is pretty awesome.

      xo
      s

  37. Tamara says

    It looks beautiful! I live in Wilmette, Illinois, where much of the movie was filmed. One of the preschools I looked at for my son last year is located in the beautiful old church featured in the movie. I didn’t grow up here but fell in love with the house and neighborhood when I saw that movie, never knowing that I would end up in the area. Anyway, as someone who has an older house and feels like I am “growing up” a little with my decorating tastes, I am really enjoying some of the more traditional touches in your new house.

    Reply

  38. Suzanne says

    so simple and festive at the same time. the wreaths need a little twinkle lights in them to make them shine at night, otherwise perfect!

    hope to see pics of the rest of the decorations around the house. is a mini fresh tree going to happen this year too?

    Reply

  39. Cindy @Made2Style says

    Home Alone is one of my absolute favorite movies and I LOVE that the house looks like it!! I would be a crazy jealous neighbor if I lived on your street!

    Hope everything went well with the bun! Can’t wait to hear!
    xo

    Reply

  41. Deb D. says

    Love the wreaths! We do the same from our house every year — the previous owners actually left them for us to use since they were downsizing. Anyhoo, the clever trick they used for hanging from the inside was to staple the ribbon together (kind of like John did for the outside windows) so you have a loop and then put a pencil through the loop and shut the window with the pencil on the inside. Wish I could show you a picture, but it is so easy and you never have to worry about the wreaths all being even because you just measure the same amount of ribbon for your loop and they’ll all be the same height. Plus, no holes! Crossing fingers for a boy (but know you’ll be happy with whatever you get!!). We have one of each three years apart (now 9 and 6) — they keep us on our toes!

    Reply

  42. Katie says

    When I hear by Friday I read probably tomorrow. You know, like a little kid who takes her parent’s maybe to mean yes. :) I’d imagine that you’re having a giddy night of talking about names and dreaming up nursery designs. Enjoy!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I love it! We still have some relatives to tell (we have a dinner with a bunch of them tonight) so you guys are literally finding out about 12 hours after they do :)

      xo
      s

  43. Pia says

    In Sweden not everyone want to know the gender. That we found out with our two boys was strange to some friends and family. Anyway. I just wanted to ask if you have any plans for the lovely glowing stars (from Amazon) that you have used previously on your porch. Those are my favorite. I imagine them in your veranda/sunroom.

    Reply

  44. Rachel says

    Home Alone is hands down my favourite holiday movie and when I saw this post I thought “damn I love u guys even more than before”. You’re just my type of people :)
    Love it all. Bravo!

    Reply

  47. Aoife says

    Decorations look gorgeous! I’ve been wanting to hang wreaths on my windows since last Christmas but haven’t got around to it yet! But I’m wondering how do you secure them so they don’t bang off the windows in the wind?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ours don’t seem to have an issue blowing, but someone mentioned that they can be tethered from the bottom too (like with fishing line and closed in the bottom of the window). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *