By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Almost every yard is decorated right now.

If you didn’t put out any plastic snowmen or reindeer, holly boughs are heavy with berries, and pine cones are plentiful. Our Franklinia tree has adorable round capsules all over its branches. Long skinny bean pods cover a neighbor’s Catalpa tree and on frosty days there is a fairyland of dangling icicles. Way up in the tree tops, tulip poplar seeds fan around a center spike; looking a lot like a little candle in a cup that Christmas carolers carry.

While wildlife and nature themes and materials are popular for Christmas – like the delightful tree filled with birds my sister-in-law Donna decorated – even our gaudiest indoor ornaments are inspired by what comes naturally outdoors.

With glass, paint and glitter, berries become baubles, vines wind up as garlands, icicles transform into tinsel – and the lights illuminate it all like the morning sun, the moonlight’s glow and a shining star above to top it all off.