Better Late Than Never? (Christmas 2016, Outdoors)

So... This post is way late.  These were my Christmas decorations for the exterior of my house, but let's just call them winter decorations, ok?  Most of them will carry through the winter just fine, and will keep my front entry from looking totally bleak, so we'll just roll with it.

Merry, err, Happy Winter, everyone!

My wreath, from a local greenhouse, is made from birch bark, and I like that it is very simple, and also that i can save it for next year.  I added the ribbon just to make it a little more festive.  For you know, winter. ;)

I made the planters (see that post here) that sit on our front porch, and filling them seasonally has been fun.  Once the fall grasses finally died out, I was looking for something nice and green, but still simple, to fill them.  

In my opinion, good arrangements have a mixture of color and texture.  There was a pretty simple formula for this one: a few different greens (pine branches and the furry thing in the corner I can't remember the name of, and the osage orange), a pop of color (berries), one more layer of texture/fill with the pine cones, and one shiny/metallic thing (the ornaments).

I also added a few lanterns, and shoved a string of lights in them to give them a nice glow at night.  I think painting the wood scraps that they are sitting on would have looked nicer; maybe next year.

I also filled our window boxes with some greens, artificial berries, and a candle:

Which looked pretty neat when an ice storm came through:

A few more photos, just for fun:

From the ice storm: