Level Up Your Outdoor Holiday Decor With A Festive Pool Noodle Porch DIY

As just about any long-time DIY crafter knows, pool noodles have many more uses beyond simple floatation devices. You can use the cheap, colorful foam noodles for loads of different things around the house, making them last far beyond the summer months and instilling them as a year-round necessity. There are plenty of great pool noodle hacks for making the sweetest Christmas decor, including this new idea to make a festive porch display by zip-tying a pool noodle to your front porch railing.  

Before you get into the crafting part, the first step is obviously acquiring enough pool noodles to match the length of railing that you want to decorate. Pool noodles tend to be about 45 to 60 inches long (like these Oodles of Noodles Swim Noodles, which are 48 inches long), so you should measure the length of your patio railings to get a good sense of how many noodles you'll need. When buying your noodles, consider opting for green, red, or white so that the base of this Christmas craft doesn't need to be fully covered in order to look on-theme. If you only have other color options, you can easily spray paint pool noodles with festive colors — just be sure to use a water- or acrylic-based paint to avoid accidentally melting the noodles. 

Once you've acquired the proper pool noodles and cut them to the right length, you can strap them onto your porch railings using some zip ties. Then, it's time to decorate the railing with various wintry decor. You can use garlands, foam snowflakes, faux flowers, and more, building out a large, festive railing. Because you have a pool noodle as the base, you can easily stick pins into the project to keep your decor in place, and can also use other zip ties to hold down the garlands you select. 

Some other ideas for adding a touch of holiday magic to this DIY include a tinsel garland (like these red-and-white Alupssuc options), dried eucalyptus strands from your local flower store, and pine boughs that can stick directly into the pool noodle. If you choose to go the traditional red and green route, you can also add in some holly, pinecones, and faux red and white poinsettias. Finally, consider adding some weatherproof string lights (like these JMEXSUSS LED Indoor/Outdoor Lights) so that your new decor can shine at all hours of the day and night.