Ideas For Decorating Your Front Door For Christmas

1 Basket, 3 Holidays

The quick succession of fall and winter holidays - Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas - can make decking out your front door feel like a chore. Simplify with a single slim basket or straw tote you can use again and again to easily create beautiful looks customized to each holiday.

Add House Numbers

Give your front door basket double usefulness by adding house numbers. Make the addition permanent by attaching metal versions with heavy-duty outdoor adhesive, or opt for a temporary fix, like these budget-friendly vinyl stickers. Tip: Make it easier to visually align the numbers by noting the basket's center with a piece of removable painter's tape.

Upcycle Packaging Materials

To give the straw tote or basket a rounded look, fill with clean, plastic grocery bags or leftover packaging materials, like bubble wrap or the ubiquitous air-filled cushions that come in so many online purchases. Tip: The packaging will also help to anchor the faux stems and prevent your arrangement from shifting when the door is opened and closed.

Halloween: Gather Your Supplies

Craft stores are filled with spooky seasonal silk blooms right before Halloween — but don't just haunt the Halloween aisle, additions like dried seed pods, foxtail millet and feather 'flowers' will look slightly sinister when mixed with black roses. For a free finishing touch, gather dead branches from your yard.

Halloween: Display Dramatically

Use a traditional metal wreath hanger or Halloweeny ribbon, we chose a classic black-and-white stripe, to attach the basket or tote to the door. If using ribbon, leave the ends long so you can snake it along the dead branches. Tip: It's easiest to secure the basket to the door first, then fill it to create an eye-catching arrangement.

Or, Make it Part of a Bigger Fall Display

To really wow Halloween guests or trick-or-treaters, surround the door with other fall touches, like dried hydrangeas, sunflowers and pumpkins.

Halloween: Add a Little Creep Factor

A large plastic spider perched on the bow's knot and eyeballs tucked into some of the roses' centers are fun additions that aren't noticeable from far away but add a little extra Halloween fun when viewed close up.

Halloween: Contrast Colors

Rich shades of plum, via the feather 'flowers,' and russet in the dried millet add bright pops of color that look right at home and equally as Halloweeny as the black silk roses. Tip: Adding just a few colorful elements elevates a Halloween arrangement from sinister to chic.

Thanksgiving: Gather Your Supplies

Keeping with the tradtional warm yellows, oranges and reds of autumn, we used an assortment of silk flowers and fall leaves paired with dried seed pods and grasses that carried over from the Halloween arrangement.

Thanksgiving: Make It Farmhouse Fresh

Mix stems of silk sunflowers, faux dill and fall leaves with dried grasses and seed pods for a rustic look that also pulls in all the seasonal shades of fall.

Thanksgiving: Pop In Some Plaid

Instead of a traditional metal wreath hanger, attach the basket or straw tote to the door with plaid wired ribbon for a fall-tastic finishing touch. Tip: It's easiest to secure the basket to the door first, then fill it to create an eye-catching arrangement.

A Front Porch Worth Falling For

Thanksgiving = lots of holiday guests so don't stop at just decking out the front door. Weather and space permitting - our front porch is deep and covered - create a warm welcome with rustic containers filled with dried hydrangeas, assorted lanterns, mums and piles of pumpkins.

Christmas: Gather Supplies

Faux evergreen branches are a must and, of course, you can never go wrong with a touch of glitz: gilded leaves and 'sugared' berries (reused from the Thanksgiving basket) add just the right amount of holiday sparkle.

Christmas: Create a Warm Welcome

Long a Southern symbol of a gracious welcome, magnolias are not only a symbolic addition, their large size also means you only need to tuck in a few of these dramatic blooms for a big impact.

Christmas: Add Sweet Surprises

Plastic candy canes (often available at your local dollar store) add an extra dose of Christmasy color and are a fun nod to the season's signature sweet.