Decorating our Farmhouse Porch for Christmas (with Stuff from the Attic)

 

Most of our house is decorated with the "primitive preppy" Christmas decor from last year, but I wanted to do something different with the front porch.  Not having any electrical outlets on the outside of our house limits what I can do, so there are no lights, unfortunately.  For the most part, I found things in our attic and basement, some of them belonging to my husband when he was a child.

 

First of all, to all my readers who are PSU fans, don't be alarmed...this blanket was given to us and rests on our porch swing to snuggle under on cold evenings.  Since it's red, I left it on the swing for the Christmas season.  The small Christmas Blessings pillow was also given to us, but the plaid pillows were found for $5 at Target.  We don't sit out there much in the winter, but it looks inviting anyway, and it's become the favorite napping spot for our cats.

 

I took last year's wreath with the plaid bow and hung it from the rocking chair instead of the door.

 

I picked up the pine swag with another plaid bow at the Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving.  To the right, the black ice skates and skis were my husband's, and I found them after rummaging through the cluttered attic and very rustic basement.

 

A friend of mine painted the snowman hanging on the wall, but the hanger fell off it years ago.  I attached some rustic ribbon and after more than a decade of sitting in a box in the attic, it's now out on display once again.  I purchased the small live Christmas tree at Weis this year and found unused Peanuts Gallery ornaments that I bought and never used years ago.  For now this is our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but the plan is to plant it in the ground when Christmas is over.  Ollie, the cat (who is lapping up the water dripping from the tree) has been with us since 2012 when the kiddos and I came back from a short vacation to discover their dad had taken in two more stray kittens.

 

This entrance is the one most used and comes straight into our busy farmhouse kitchen.

 

This chalkboard has been around for decades.  I previously used it when I was homeschooling preschoolers.  Now it's become my fun chalkboard art display that changes with the seasons and holidays.  I wish I could say I come up with these designs on my own, but most of the time I copy and adapt them from Pinterest.

 The only new items purchased for our porch this year were the swag above the door, the miniature potted tree, and the two pillows on the swing.  That came to a mere $39 and it was all purchased at places I frequent anyway: Target, Weis, and a local tree farm. 

Now I just need to finish my Christmas shopping.  Too bad I can't do all of that from our attic and basement.  I'm afraid "regifting" dusty items from the storage areas of our farmhouse wouldn't go over well with our children.