Prefer bow on the bottom & my fav is the MS with the white bow with tails....fun post

I love the look of wreathes and bows. My pet peeve is when they are too small for the window. I can't comment on the length of the tails of the bows without knowing all the other sizes.

I'm no help. I like both ways. I love that one house where the wreaths are hung from long ribbon with the bow on the bottom. I guess it just depends on your windows and landscaping.

My house is small and simple so just one wreath. As a contrarian, the bow (my favorite is a small black and white plaid because my house is barn red and my door is gray) is usually at the top but not centered.

You are an excellent planner. I'm usually out with my wheelbarrow gathering greens for a garland about December 8th.

My bows are at the top and the tails end just above the top of the inside of the bottom curve. Does that make sense? For me, having the bow at the top just seems to make the bow a part of the wreath.

Years ago when I worked at a Christmas store we wore out our fingers making velvet bows. Our decorator told us to advise people to place the bow at 4:00 on the wreath. I just thought I'd add that in there. Really, you can't go wrong if it looks good to you. This reminds me of your elaborate Christmas decor from your previous home. (rubs hands together in anticipation of photos later this year)

I like both but have a slight preference for bow at bottom or ribbon looped through the wreath with no bow at top.

I like both. I think a lot depends on the configuration and size of the windows to some degree. An example would be like the wreath on the door with the mail slot. Just doesn’t make sense.

I don’t like too much ‘tail flap’ for an outside bow because they can look sloppy after a windy day. Sure, it looks nice in photos but I would hate to have to go outside on a cold day to adjust them all.

I made up several of these, using faux wreaths, a huge spool of some great plaid ribbon, and wired on cones from my yard, grapevine, and a brass horn on each. I put them on the doors, and have a small hook below each window for one.

The peanut gallery peeking out the door are Rooney and Ginger.

Lyban, I also like the bow at the bottom, four loops in the bow and longer tails! My absolute favorite from the blog post is the snowy wreath, but that may be because of the snow. Normally I just do the front of the house, but our last home had a long approach from one side with an added wing so I also did the sides of that one. We used 22 wreaths in all.

This year, because the back of our house faces the golf course and is visible to hundreds of people every week I want it to look festive and be a source of holiday cheer for the golfers. I photoshopped this picture with the snowy wreath but could not make the wreaths small enough. The same-sized windows are all 31 inches wide, so I 16” wreaths for them.. You may notice that on the far left there is a trio of windows upstairs and down that have a center “standard” 31” window flanked by two 23” windows. I am going to try out the 16” wreaths in the centers, as shown below, and add smaller wreaths on the windows flanking it. This looks very very busy....but again, the wreaths will NOT be this large in proportion to the windows. They will be just a tad over half the width, so they sit nicely in the window without covering it completely.

I use wreaths with bows at the bottom and I like some length for the tail. I also hang my wreaths a bit higher on the window instead of in the middle of the window. Hmmm, I know my bows have more than 4 loops. I am thinking this year to have some new bows made with the Christmas plaid ribbon. I need to find some ribbon now before it is gone. M3dogs - I love your wreaths!!

Mythreedogs - did you put the same size wreath on your windows? Do you have a pic showing the wreaths/windows? I LOVE THEM!! Where did you find those horns and do you buy your ribbon on-line?

Fourth picture down in the link, bow at top with the ribbon the same proportion in the picture. I'd find a picture to send to the Etsy person.

I think the size of the wreaths in your picture are the perfect size. Anything smaller won't be very noticeable. What I would do though, is to use one wreath for each double window, putting the wreath in the center of each.

My3 dogs, those wreaths are GORGEOUS! I love the brass horns because they are not shiny. Where did you find them,if I may ask?

Oakley you propose what I seriously considered, but in all my trial and error over the years my favorite configuration is still one wreath per window, regardless of the size of the window. The symmetry of that arrangement is what makes so many wreaths work.

I was about to say the same thing as Oakley. One wreath hung between each of the double windows. 8 wreaths total on back of house.

I always place the bows at 2:00 and add a couple of real pine cones along with the plaid bow.

My3dogs, that is the sweetest photo... they're waiting for reindeer?

I generally like a bow at the bottom of a wreath, but I really love when the wreath can be hung by the ribbon. I do this indoors and out with simple boxwood wreaths.

I'm a long ribbon, no bow, no red person, but whatever you do, Kswl, it will look festive and lovely.

My3dogs, another beautiful creation.

Well, I said I preferred bows at the bottom but then saw My3dogs beautiful wreath and went looking for a past photo of my own door wreath and sure enough, the bow is at the top!

My3dogs - I also love your brass horn and would love to know where you found them if you are sharing :)

I like either or. It really depends on the wreath's contents and bow being used. I do have to say the last pic in the link of the "jauntily placed bows" --since there are so many one feels it was done on purpose but if I saw that on a front door I would think the wreath listed and needed straightening!! Whoever suggested 4:00 placement I would REJECT that suggestion. I have seen 9:00 placement done well.

Thank-you SO much for the comments on my faux wreaths! The fact that they are faux, means that I can hang them up in my garage in the off-season, then tweak/fluff the bows each holiday season, and just hang them up again... They started out with red velvet bows years ago, but I switched them up to the plaid recently.

I THINK I got the French horns on sale for next-to-nothing at Joann Fabric years ago. I looked for a pic of them on the house, but no luck. I screwed a brass cup hook into the wooden trim at the bottom of each window that the wire frame of the wreath settles into, and even if we have high winds, they never move. In the OLD pic below, I can tell you that I put one in the in the slight dip between the garage doors, and one at the bottom of that front garage window. The door that Rooney and Ginger are shown in can't be seen in this pic, but it's in the recess between house and garage at the top of the granite steps. Continuing to the right, one goes on the dining room window that faces the garage, and one on the DR window facing us. Then one on the front door, and then onto the living room window on the far right.

Yay - I just found a pic of the house with a light snowfall Dec 9, 2005; second pic below.

ANCIENT pic of my house after I added the garage in 1995, to my 1937 cape that I bought in Dec. 1986.

ETA, I just found the spool of ribbon that I know I bought online, but don't recall where! It's 50 yards by 2.5" and it's wired at each edge. I looked up the 'item number' on it and didn't find anything, but I'll keep looking.

ETA - similar on Amazon, but mine is heavier - https://www.amazon.com/Morex-Ribbon-Festival-Fabric-50-Yard/dp/B00A23JZME

https://www.craftoutlet.com/textiles/ribbon/holidays-and-seasons/christmas/design/plaid/roll-length/50-yards/page/2

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Holiday-Wired-Christmas-Tree-Ribbon-2-1-2-x-50-Yards-Green-and-Red-Plaid-Garland-Gifts-Wrapping-Wreaths-Bows/245597658

My3dogs, your house is the archetype of “home” to me. I love it, every time I see a picture of it I love it even more. It’s beautiful, inside and out, and YOU have made it so.

Noooo. Not Christmas. Not yet. Can we just live in the moment a bit? And I get mad when the pool people email me August 1 to arrange September's pool closing date!

Boxwood or magnolia, bow on the bottom off to the left side, black and white plaid taffeta.

Kswl2, THANK-YOU. I adore my little cape cod with the river out back.

I bought it in 1986, and I hope to be right here until my ashes can be sprinkled in the yard! It's perfect for my rescue dogs, too, who just run down the cellar stairs, out thru the first doggie door to my wood working shop, and then out another to the 'puppy pen', which is about 60 x 80'. They are safe there with the 6 foot cedar fence facing the street and 6' chain link on the back so we can gaze at the river. They have trees and a bird feeder out there, and they have a ball.

Mtn - we NEED to mentally 'cool off'. :-) The temps here today and today are going to be gross, and the humidity even worse! I just wish I'd made some snowballs from last year's storms and saved them in the freezer to remind me that this won't last forever.

Oh my! I almost spit my drink out at that funny! Mountain, I'm certainly not thinking of Christmas, but once seeing these wreaths, I remembered I want Christmas plaid ribbon and need to find some now. I wanted to change my ribbon last year but even before Thanksgiving could not find the plaid ribbon. Yes, I want to enjoy summer and than fall because after that is my least favorite time - winter! I left a comment yesterday on a blog I frequent as she was "putting out her fall pillows"!!! Now I know bloggers do things early, but not this early surely. Here in the south we will not even feel like fall for a couple more months at the earliest. I usually decorate outside for fall in October. BUT, I might just be off on an internet search for some french horns! LOL

Love this look.

Bottom. Looks better balanced to me.

I'm a top bow fan myself, and think My3dogs' wreath is pure perfection.

Rubyclaire, I like your wreath also! I have seen those bells on blogs/instagram. Where did you find them?

Thanks Tina - I ordered mine several years ago from a little online shop but have also seen them on Amazon.

Shop

Tina, check here for similar bells to rubyclaire's -

But these are cowbells and not round - I think they'd still work.

There are various finishes on them, but you could spray paint them, if you wanted them gold.

Here are some 3" red ones at Amazon that are really cute, and 12 for $9.46.

Rhode Island Novelty Red Metal Cowbell (1 Dozen)

My ocd flares with bows so I skip them entirely and hang them with long ribbons sans bows.

I do not mind the bow being part of the attaching ribbon if they are well done.

That picture is perfect, Roarah, exactly as I envision mixing two diffeent sizes of wreaths on my own house. We have five windows across the front, two in the DR that are the same size and will have the 16” wreaths and the other bank of three in the sitting room Is the two narrow flanking the bigger center window arrangement. I’m glad to see a real life example of different sizes used. Is that your house? It’s beautiful!

Roarah’s way is best!!

Not my house but it was what I used for inspiration. I do have window boxes under my wreaths filled with pine too. I like the simplicity and the dual purpose of a ribbon used for attaching the wreaths.

Yes, love Roarah's ideas!!

I only remember seeing them with bows at the top, but then I don't remember seeing all that many of them.

If you have been to Jerry Pair in Florida (I noticed their window in the link you posted), then you may have seen some of my furniture designs, at least if you went a few years ago.

Love this discussion! Except for the bonus room window over my garage, I don't have access to the upper level ”ornamental dormer” window (its unfinished attic space), nor the 3 small windows on the upper center portion of my house. A lot of folks in my southern town put a candle in each window, but I can’t do that either without access to those windows. The covered front porch has an overhead light, so I could just feature that area with decor. I’m 76, so not going on a ladder either. i usually put an indoor artificial pre-lit xmas tree in the bonus room at the over-the-garage window. Any ideas for wreaths, candles, outdoor Xmas decor that’s easy for a senior? This is a 6 year old home, I prefer something more traditional, but this house is mostly on one floor, making it easy to navigate. Im planning on using just one wreath this year - centered between the two windows on the front porch. i put a hanging basket from Ballards on my front door with greenery and a bow. I’ve included an image of my front porch on a patriotic holiday just to give an idea of its size and furnishings.

Even though this thread is 5yo, I am voting for this bow. LOL I like that it isn't the traditional "bow." Love this wreath of boxwood and berries.

To the last poster, your porch looks nice and I like the Ballard basket too. In the house we raised our children, I had the window candles with three candles in all of our windows. I really liked the look. When we moved to our next house, I sold in a moving sale. Regretted when we moved the next time.