The challenge of Winter Windowbox ideas is how to make Window Boxes look festive. Yet, still get through the New England Winters.
I love the window boxes on our house. This is the first full season I have got to enjoy them in our new home. Yet, it is always a challenge to figure out what to fill them with. Plus, how to design them each season. While we live in a neighborhood that hires out contractors to design their window boxes, I DIY my window boxes. I give myself a $50 budget per box. (I like the challenge.)
The $50 per box budget may seem high, but my window boxes are narrow and long. They’re approximately 7 inches deep and 44 inches long. So it takes a lot of filler and often I cannot buy premade window box fillers because they are too deep and not long enough. Often I would need to buy two or three of them to fill my window boxes. With prices around $50 for one window box filler from sites like Grandin Road or Frontgate – it would easily cost me $150 per box!
I typically use real flowers and the like. However, for the winter windowbox, I like using cut pieces or faux pieces so I don’t have to worry about watering – or the boxes freezing and cracking. So I challenged myself to come up with a winter window box – and here is the result!
I decided to get mostly faux filler pieces. It ended up costing me less than buying real and if possible, I can get two or three winter seasons out of them. Making it really economical!
Taking advantage of coupons and store sales – I bought the faux pine garland for $6 at Home Depot. Then I purchased the cone and faux plants at Hobby Lobby for $5 each piece ($20 total). I bought the holly floral picks at Michaels for $3 each ($6 total). Due to the glitter on them, I sprayed with matte clear spray before arranging. Hopefully, to prolong the life span of them!
I also placed pool noodles at the bottom of the winter windowbox to fill in the gaps, since I am not using dirt and planting. So it also helps the pieces sit higher in the box. The pool noodle was $1, and I just cut it to fit the box.
I purchased the real cypress tree for $6 at Home Depot, and left it in its pot. When spring comes, I will connect with a local landscaper and donate the trees to they can be repurposed. The battery operated lights I got from (affiliate) Amazon for $6.
So, in the end, each window box cost me around $40, and I may be able to get two (or more) seasons out of them. It took me about two hours to arrange all six window boxes, string the lights, etc. (Though it took me a day of shopping!)
In the end, I think they look pretty good and you have to get really close to see if they are artificial or not. Plus, they are more winter themed than holiday themed, so I think I can get to March/April before I need to change them out. I may just take off the red bow, remove the holly picks, and place some early spring floral picks to tide me over until I put together my window boxes for summer.
So hopefully this inspires you with some winter window box ideas too! Want to see what I did for my Winter Planter? Check out my post here.
