I have been thinking about how to make my house more welcoming this time of year for my holiday guests. Plants are obviously not going to be a big factor (though pots filled with greenery is always so much nicer than bare dirt). I came up with a couple novel ideas.

The little birdie mat chirps when you wipe your feet.

I think a little surprise by the front door would be nice….I love these grey, concrete cast garden gnomes. Nothing cheesy about them. So long as there is no snow, they would be very eye catching in a winter landscape. The blue version of the classic egg birdhouse is very festive to me and captures the essence of of a cold but sparkly cool winter garden.

How would I do these?…I wouldn’t do just one, I would at least 5 of each (birdhouses and gnomes) you can even play a game of find the gnomes with kids after a nice meal.