Where you place your ribbons makes the difference between ornaments that look like they're sitting inside the arrangement instead of hanging on the front of it.

Create a porch garland people assume you paid a designer for—starting with faux garland you can buy anywhere. Once you nail this format, it works regardless of your style and favorite color scheme.

Live garland is beautiful and expensive. This is how I get the same full, textured look for a fraction of the price—and keep it looking good through the season. This is the foundation for the layered porch garland. Get the base right and every layer after it looks better.

Ornament clusters are a great way to create a major statement on your garland. They’re perfect for the corners of your porch opening, or the centerpiece in the middle. Clusters are easy to get wrong, and the mistake is almost always the same: making both sides identical. This is the anchor layer in the layered porch garland.

Most people build their statement pieces and stop. Their porch still looks good. It just doesn't have the thing that makes you slow down when you drive past. That’s where cascading echoes come in, and they take about fifteen minutes.

Lights are what make your porch worth walking up to at six o'clock in December. Done poorly, they read as a string of dots stuck onto a garland. Done well, your garland glows from the inside.

A show-stopping garland starts with your shopping cart—do not skip the ribbon. The key is the right mix of ribbon so your whole look works together. 

Create a beautiful, one-of-a-kind wreath that people will assume you purchased—starting with a standard wreath you can buy anywhere.