Every Christmas I love the look of poinsettias around a front entrance. That wonderful Christmas red surrounded by winter greenery makes a porch feel festive almost instantly. The problem is that I live in Missouri, where winter can be brutal, and a live poinsettia isn't going to appreciate spending the Christmas season sitting outside on my front porch.
So I started thinking about how I could get the same look without sacrificing a perfectly good poinsettia to a Missouri winter. My solution was a faux poinsettia winter planter using a realistic artificial poinsettia, evergreen branches, pinecones, a few red and gold accents and warm white fairy lights. The real poinsettias can stay warm inside the house, while the artificial one gets porch duty.
I planned this arrangement specifically for my covered front porch, where it will have some protection from rain, snow and strong winter winds. I wasn't trying to duplicate a live poinsettia planter exactly. I wanted something fuller and more interesting, almost like a winter container garden that just happens to have a beautiful red poinsettia in the middle of it.
If you like the idea, use mine as inspiration rather than a set of rules. Change the colors, move the branches around, leave something out or add something completely different. This is simply how I created mine, and hopefully it gives you a good place to start.
🎄 What I Used for My Poinsettia Planter
The first thing I did was gather everything together so I could see what I had before I started. I've learned from both gardening and decorating that it's much easier to change an idea while all the pieces are sitting in front of you than after you've already wired half of them into an arrangement.
For my planter, I used:
- A large decorative outer planter in red or metallic gold
- A smaller inner pot or container
- A realistic artificial poinsettia
- High-density dry floral foam blocks made for artificial flowers
- Artificial evergreen branches and picks
- A mixture of pine, fir and cedar-style greenery
- Pinecone picks
- Scented pinecones
- Red berry or ornamental sprays
- Gold decorative sprays
- Warm white battery-operated fairy lights
- Floral wire and floral tape
- Wooden floral picks or stakes
- Wire cutters or sturdy snips
- Gloves
- Extra greenery or moss for hiding anything I didn't want showing
I didn't worry about having an exact number of branches or decorative picks because the size of the planter determines much of that anyway. I knew I was going to move things around once I started, and I'd rather have a few extra branches sitting beside me than discover I've created a beautiful arrangement in the front with a large bald spot in the back.
🎁 I Started With the Container
I wanted the container itself to contribute to the Christmas look, so I chose a rich red or metallic gold rather than treating the pot as something that needed to disappear. Either color works beautifully with the poinsettia and evergreens, so this really comes down to what looks best with the other decorations around your entrance.
I set the smaller pot inside the larger container and placed the faux poinsettia in the center. Then I stood back and looked at the height and proportion. This is where my trial and error really began because what looked perfectly centered when I was standing directly over it looked completely different when I walked a few feet away.
I moved the center pot until the poinsettia sat high enough to remain the star after all the greenery was added. I wanted a full arrangement, but I didn't want the poor poinsettia completely swallowed by an evergreen forest before I even got started.
🌲 Then I Added the Dry Floral Foam
Once I was happy with the position and height of the poinsettia, I filled the open space between the smaller inner pot and the large decorative planter with high-density dry floral foam blocks made for artificial flowers. This is the firm floral foam made for faux and dried arrangements, rather than the type intended to absorb water for fresh flowers.
I cut and fitted the blocks around the inner container until I had a sturdy foundation for the evergreen branches and decorative picks. It certainly wasn't pretty at this point, but it didn't need to be because eventually all of the foam would disappear beneath the greenery. If a little spot insisted on showing after everything was arranged, I knew I could cover it with another evergreen branch or a little moss.
Fitting the foam was another bit of trial and error. I trimmed pieces, checked how securely they sat and kept adjusting them until the base felt sturdy enough for me to start arranging without having branches wobbling around every time I touched the planter.
How I built the faux poinsettia planter from the inside out.
🌿 Building the Evergreen Base
Once the poinsettia was sitting where I wanted it and the dry floral foam was securely fitted around the inner pot, the arrangement finally started to come together. This was the point where I could begin playing with the greenery and creating the full winter look I had pictured in my head. I worked some of the longer evergreen branches around the poinsettia first, letting a few extend over the edge of the container, then added shorter branches and different textures wherever the arrangement needed a little more fullness.
From there, it was really trial and error. I'd add a branch, step back and look at the planter, and sometimes decide that branch needed to move a little to the left, sit at a different angle or come out altogether. There are no rules saying the first place an evergreen branch lands has to be where it spends the rest of Christmas.
I kept turning the planter and looking at it from different directions. Did one side look heavier? Was a branch sticking out farther than everything else? Could I still clearly see the poinsettia as the centerpiece? Sometimes moving one branch an inch or changing its angle was enough to make the entire arrangement look more balanced.
Susan's Tip: My years in visual merchandising probably make me fuss with things longer than necessary, but that's also part of the fun. I keep stepping back and looking at the arrangement from several feet away. If something seems a little off, I move it. Your eye will usually tell you when you've got it right.
✨ Adding Pinecones, Red and Gold Accents
Once the greenery looked full enough, I started playing with the decorative pieces. I tucked red berry sprays into the evergreens to carry the poinsettia color outward, then added a few gold sprigs for height and a little sparkle. The pinecones brought some natural winter texture back into the arrangement and kept all that red and gold from becoming too formal.
I didn't work from a formula here either. I put something in, stepped back and looked at it. If three gold picks seemed to be having their own private party on one side of the planter, I moved one. If a pinecone was sitting too close to the poinsettia and competing for attention, I pushed it a little farther into the greenery.
Don't forget the fragrance. This is also where I tucked in some scented pinecones. Faux evergreen can give me the look of Christmas, but it can't give me that wonderful Christmas-tree fragrance. The scented pinecones add that little hint of Christmas when I walk onto the porch while also becoming part of the arrangement itself.
I tried not to get carried away. Between the poinsettia, berries, gold, pinecones and lights, quite a bit is already happening in one flowerpot. Like perfume, gold jewelry and relatives at Christmas dinner, sometimes a little restraint is a very good thing.
💡 Adding the Fairy Lights
Once I was happy with the decorative accents, I worked warm white battery-operated fairy lights through the greenery. I loosely tucked the wire among the branches rather than tightly wrapping everything because what I wanted were little points of warm light scattered throughout the planter.
After turning the lights on, I stepped back again. One area needed another little loop of lights while another had plenty. I also made sure the battery pack was hidden inside the arrangement but still easy enough to reach because burying it beautifully under six branches and three pinecones wasn't going to seem nearly as clever when the batteries needed changing.
The lights are probably my favorite finishing touch because they allow the planter to have two completely different looks. During the day, it's all about the red poinsettia, evergreens, pinecones and gold. In the evening, those little warm lights give the same arrangement a completely different personality.
✨ Knowing When You're Finished
Once I thought I was finished, I walked away and looked at the planter from the driveway, the walkway and the front door, which are the places where people will actually see it. That's when I made my final little adjustments, moving one branch slightly, changing the angle of a gold pick and tucking a pinecone a little farther into the greenery.
None of those changes was dramatic, but together they made the arrangement feel more balanced. This is where I think it's important to remember that there really aren't any rules. If you think a branch needs to move, move it. If you love more gold, add a little more. If you'd rather use burgundy berries, plaid ribbon or silver instead of gold, that's your planter.
I just kept playing with mine until I could step back, look at it and stop thinking about what I wanted to change. There's probably a very fine line between a beautifully layered Christmas planter and wondering whether Hobby Lobby exploded on the front porch, so eventually even I have to put the floral picks down.
❄️ Why Mine Is Staying Under Cover
My finished planter is going on my covered front porch, where it will have some protection from our Missouri rain, snow and winter weather. I wouldn't put this particular arrangement completely exposed in the yard because the faux poinsettia, decorative picks, foam and lights weren't chosen to spend the winter being battered by every storm that comes through.
I also check the manufacturer's information for the particular materials and lights I'm using because artificial doesn't automatically mean weatherproof. A protected entrance makes sense for the life of the arrangement, but it also happens to be exactly where I want it. This isn't really yard decoration as much as a Christmas welcome at the front door.
🎄 My Finished Faux Poinsettia Planter
My finished faux poinsettia porch planter during the day and night with fairy lights
During the day, the poinsettia is still the first thing I notice, which was important to me from the beginning. The evergreens make the arrangement feel like a winter planter, the pinecones add natural texture, and the red and gold accents give it enough Christmas sparkle without taking over..
At dusk, the fairy lights change everything. Those tiny warm lights catch the gold and brighten the evergreens just enough to make the entrance feel especially inviting without overpowering the arrangement.
❤️ A Little Christmas Creativity
This whole idea started because I wanted a poinsettia on my porch and Missouri winter wasn't going to cooperate. Rather than give up on the look, I found another way to create it, and that's really what I enjoy about projects like this. I start with an idea, try something, move it around, stand back, change my mind and eventually end up with something that looks the way I pictured it.
If you decide to create your own faux poinsettia planter, don't worry about copying mine exactly. Use what you already have, choose colors that work with your home and move things around until they look right to you. That's the fun part of being creative. There really isn't a wrong place for an evergreen branch if you step back, look at it and like what you see.
Make It Your Own: Mine is red, green and gold because that's what works with my Christmas porch. Yours doesn't have to look like mine. Change the container, use different decorative picks, add ribbon or leave something out. Step back, look at it and trust your eye. That's the fun of creating it.
This is simply how I created mine, and I hope sharing my process gives you a few ideas for creating your own. If your finished planter looks completely different from mine, I think that's probably the best part.
Merry Christmas and happy decorating!
Susan
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