Things You'll Need:
- Window boxes
- Exterior paint
- Paintbrushes
- Craft paint
- Polyurethane
- Holiday themed wood cutouts
- Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
- Garland
- Plants
- Soil
- Battery-powered string lights
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Step 1
Choose a simple, unadorned window box to decorate. Wood is the easiest surface to paint and is durable enough to use for many years into the future. You could also build your own window box from scrap wood or treated wood purchased from a home-and-garden-supply store.
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Step 2
Scrape and sand the window box if it's been previously painted and you wish to re-paint it. Wear a face mask to avoid breathing in paint dust.
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Step 3
Paint the window box in a festive holiday color such as red, green, silver or gold with exterior paint. Craft paint can be used if the window box will be protected from the elements by a roof overhang or other structure. You could also paint it an unexpected color like deep purple or light blue.
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Step 4
Use a pencil to draw shapes onto the window box, if you wish to paint designs on it. Some ideas include harlequin-style diamond shapes, candy canes, snowflakes or stars. Fill in the shapes carefully with craft paint and small paintbrushes.
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Step 5
Protect your painted designs with a coat of spray-on or brush-on polyurethane.
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Step 6
Glue on pre-made, painted shapes if you'd prefer a more 3-D look. You can get many different holiday-themed wood cutouts that would work perfectly for this purpose.
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Step 7
Use a hot-glue gun to attach a garland to the top edge of the window box. You can purchase pre-made garlands from most craft stores. Different styles include tinsel, greenery, poinsettias, beads, pinecones or snowflakes. Create a 'swag' look by only gluing the garland onto the window box at set points, letting the garland hang in between. If the garland you chose is too heavy for glue, use a staple gun.
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Step 8
Place a bow in the center of the window box at the level of the garland if desired.
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Step 9
Plant festive miniature Christmas trees, poinsettias or evergreens inside. If you'd prefer not to use living plants, try spray-painting some tree branches with silver paint and rolling them in glitter.
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Step 10
Wrap a strand of battery-powered Christmas lights around the plants.
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Step 11
Add a decorative 'mulch' of miniature glass ornaments, pine cones, berries or glass marbles on top of the soil.
