No sir.  I don’t need expensive Pottery Barn decorations to make the outside of my house a winter wonderland!  I found myself pretty taken with this exterior shot when the holiday Pottery Barn catalogs started arriving in October.

But there was no way I was paying $79 for a 22″ wreath and $59 for a 60″ garland studded with plastic ornaments.  Plus, the greenery is FAKE!  I hate fake!

So I got my own REAL pine wreath for $19 at the Boy Scout tree lot near my house and set out on a mission for ornaments suitable for outdoors.  An impulse trip into Kirkland’s turned up just the thing I needed.  I came home with over 40 red and silver jingle bells in 3 different sizes for $35!  And the next day I found the red and white wired ribbon in a gift shop for $3.  Here’s the outcome:

I nestled some of the bells in between ornamental cabbages and kale in my front window boxes.  REAL, LIVE ornamental cabbages and kale.

I used floral wire to wire bunches of bells into my wreath. And yes, I tied that bow!  WOOT!  Click here to see the video that helped me make such a gorgeous bow.

So I’m pretty excited with the outcome, if you can’t tell.  What could have been $200 at Pottery Barn was $57 (not including the cabbages and kale because in our climate those will last until spring time) and they should be usable year after year.

Pottery Barn rip-off accomplished!