A Touch of Christmas on Our Barn

I added a touch of Christmas on our barn in the form of a simple wreath and it makes me ridiculously happy.

All the barn needed after that was a little dusting of snow to make it look like a scene straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

And then Mother Nature cooperated with my snow wish. That never happens!

Although, I forgot to mention the words “a little dusting” when I made that wish. Five inches of snow later…oops!

Let’s get back to the touch of Christmas on our barn.

I made the wreath that I hung on the barn.

Could you tell?

If you say no, I’m going to take it as a compliment.

If you say yes, I’m going to take it as a compliment.

That is just how my mind works.

Now you’re probably wondering how I made this wreath, aren’t you?

Did I cut branches from one of the trees on my property?

Yes.

Did I use a wreath form to get that perfect-ish circle?

No.

Did I use a hula hoop?

Good guess! No, but I gave it serious consideration.

Did I use a circular piece of metal garden art (or maybe it was a trellis?) that I found in one of my overgrown flowerbeds?

YES! Repurposed garden junk for the win.

Did I scratch my fingers all up making this wreath?

Oh, yes. Blood was shed. I don’t have work gloves strong, yet flexible enough for wreath making. I needed maximum finger dexterity to twist copious amounts of floral wire to secure the tree boughs to my makeshift wreath form.

Did I then leave the spool of floral wire in my sweatshirt and run it through the washing machine getting the spool of wire trapped in the machine’s rubber gasket?

Why, yes. Yes, I did.

Was it worth it?

Totally.

But if that washing machine stops working, we never had this conversation.

Did I hang that wreath all by myself on the side of the barn?

Yes, again. I even had to get out the big ladder and defy gravity to climb up there to reach the nail that was already pounded into the side of the barn. That was a convenient bit of happenstance.

Was that the end of this story?

Of course not!

If this really was the setting of a Hallmark Christmas movie now would be the part in the story where something inevitably angst-ridden happens before the happy ending.

The day after I hung the wreath I was out and about doing errands. I was super excited to return home so I could drive by and experience my barn looking all festive for the holidays. I can’t see the wreath from my house, so this was my moment to imagine all the joy it would bring my neighbors who regularly drive this particular route. I even slowed down to savor the feeling.

Except…the wreath wasn’t there.

That wreath had the AUDACITY to FALL OFF the side of the barn with a big ol’ splat.

*sigh*

I briefly considered just leaving the wreath there. Even my overactive and self-indulgent imagination could not conjure up any joy in this particular moment.

If there was a bright spot to be found in this fiasco it was that the wreath survived the fall – more or less. Thankfully, my copious amount of wire twisting was not in vain.

However, I was now in a “fool me once” situation. I had to haul out the big ladder again to rehang that darn wreath. The good news is that I couldn’t figure out how to fully collapse the ladder the first time (or I wasn’t strong enough), so I didn’t have to work too hard to set it back up.

I’m also fairly certain I earned myself some bad holiday karma by muttering some choice words about this holly jolly situation while I was standing on top of the ladder in plain view of my neighbor’s house. He’s a pastor, so he already knows I’m a sinner, but I don’t need to remind him.

I was not going to be fooled twice by this wreath. I took my now super clean floral wire and wired that sucker wreath to the barn in three different places. Three. I used all the wire left on my spool. Take THAT gravity and wind and other forces of nature.

Sometimes I make things that I’d like to blog about, but I don’t really have much to say about whatever it is that I’ve made. These are the projects that you’ve never heard about. I figured that was going to be the case with this barn wreath until making and hanging it turned into a comedy of errors. The only thing that got me through this fiasco was knowing that at least I’d have something to write about now!

Happy Christmas!

P.S. I never figured out how to fully collapse that ladder the second time either.

P.P.S. There’s one more shake-your-head part of the story.

The bottom half (only the bottom) of the barn has been painted recently, but the painter didn’t remove any of the signs attached to the barn. He or she painted around them.

Cue the sad refrain of “why, why, why?”

I don’t have the paint they used.

That would be too easy.

I can only hope that it was a generic “barn red” color.

Until I figure that out, all the signs on the barn are staying. You can’t tell from the pictures in this post, but there are a lot of signs.

I’m only telling you this because I did not intend to add a touch of Christmas on our barn in this exact spot. The hayloft door is great, but not the most visible place to spread our Christmas cheer due to how the barn is oriented on the property.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled with how it looks. I just want you to know that it’s not all Hallmark movie perfect around here. You know…just in case this whole blog post didn’t make that abundantly clear.

Thank you for following along on this foible-filled journey to add a touch of Christmas on our barn! Here are some other posts you might enjoy. 

Chalkboard Globe Advent Calendar

Add Wood Name Tags to Store-Bought Christmas Stockings

Not Your Usual Board Games to Gift This Christmas

*affiliate links in this blog post*