When summer time ends and autumn begins, our minds subconsciously start to prepare again for Christmas — even if there are a few more holidays before then! Unfortunately, whether you wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate your garden and yard or you don’t, your decor item is at risk of fading and losing much of its vibrance. To keep Christmas decor, ornament items, wind chimes, charming figurines, and garden statues from color fading outdoors, read on to learn about what you can do to help this holiday season.

Why do Outdoor Decorations Fade?

As outdoor decor goes, they’re made to be exposed to the forces of nature and be equipped enough to not be torn down by the weather.

Sadly, even outdoor-rated garden decor items with a UV protective layer can wear down from the weather. The longer your garden decor products spend outdoors, the more likely it is for them to be damaged. One type of damage to be wary of is fading.

Fading of your outdoor furniture, decor, and art pieces is caused by ultraviolet rays that bleach the color out of the materials, some more sensitive than others. If you were looking forward to a vibrant and colorful outdoor setup but don’t even know if its colors will last until the 25th, read on to learn how you can protect them!

outdoor Christmas decoration

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Reinforce Your Christmas Decor Protections

Just because being outside can damage your Christmas decor, including glass ornaments, it doesn't mean that you should stop dressing up your yard with holiday cheer and colorful items! All you have to do is protect them before you leave them outside, depending on what material your decor item is made of.

Resin 

resin material

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Epoxy resins can be a challenge since they are the most prone to fading. They’re very sensitive to UV rays and they can completely change color in a matter of weeks. To combat this and keep your beloved resin ornament safe, treat them with a UV protectant spray like the SunGuard UV Protectant before leaving them outside.

UV protectants are often a type of polyurethane that wraps around your decor item surface and bears the brunt of the UV damage. Let your polyurethane light coat cure for at least a whole day and repeat this process on your decor item every four to six weeks to stay on top of its vibrance.

Metal

metal decorations

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Usually, outdoor items made of metal need to be equipped with a powder coating that prevents rust, weather damage, and fading. It’s applied to commercial and industrial metal pieces through a complicated process that will, ultimately, make the material stronger and more durable.

Metal powder coats can last 15 to 20 years but will always fare better if you protect them from the get-go. Apply a thorough polyurethane coat on the metal pieces before setting them outside. Regularly check on these items and, if you see any rust, deal with it quickly through this video: Removing Rust and Preparing Metal for Repainting

Wood

wood decoration

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Wood is gorgeous but can be expensive, especially when crafted as a Christmas decor item. To protect these beautiful garden treasures properly, use a couple of coats of spar urethane on its surface.

Spar urethane is a marine-grade varnish that strengthens wood and prevents fading. When applying this varnish on your wood, remember to stroke this into the material by brushing with the grain. Regularly check up on your wood items and if you notice a change in quality, you’ll know it’s time to reapply it.

Stone

stone decoration

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Art pieces are often made from stone, ceramic, cement, and other stoneware materials. They're obviously very durable but can be sensitive to temperature fluctuations.

Additionally, natural colored stones like granite, marble, and quartz can have their coloring changed from the sun, with the risk of both fading and darkening. In these cases, it’s best to keep your delicate stone decor inside and covered from sunlight.

Outdoor Christmas Decoration Ideas

Now that you have an overview of how to protect your decor from fading, here are three of the best outdoor Christmas decoration ideas that you should think about!

Starfall garden

curtain string lights

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Using Christmas curtain lights, string them overhead across your yard and let the strands hang down. This gives you a permanent meteor shower in your backyard!

Ribbon-wrapped

ribbon porches

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Sometimes, all a home needs are some gigantic ribbons wrapped around the porch. This gives them color and ties together holiday themes without taking attention away from the rest of the yard!

Safe In The Shade

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Lastly, our favorite outdoor Christmas decor idea is to be strategic in our placement. We put the more delicate and vulnerable items near shady areas while the extremely hardy or inexpensive decor can fill the rest of the sun-soaked space. This is less for design and more for extending the life of your decorative items.

In Summary

It may be surprising but outdoor decor is easy to protect as long as you research and plan before exposing them to the sun. With a few simple coats of a UV protectant, the color and beautify of your carefully chosen pieces are preserved no matter how strong the winter sun gets.

If you have any questions or ideas, drop them below and we’ll try to get to you right away. As you move forward, always remember that, before you can use your decor, you need to protect them first!