Christmas Barn Decorations
Come and see our Christmas barn decorations! Simple, natural, and rustic touches add a festive feeling to our little barn.
We have a small barn on our property, about square feet that was built over 40 years ago. It has three large stalls on one side, space for two stalls on the other side, and a chicken coop with outdoor access. Our milking parlor takes up the space where the two extra stalls used to be.
When we purchased our log home here in Alaska several years ago, we had no idea that the quaint little barn would become so important to us. Now it holds our two Jersey milk cows, a flock of laying hens, and our waterfowl.
The barn was in bad shape when we moved in. Three of the windows had been shattered and all five of the stalls, that previously held horses, had been ripped out. So it was just one big space. And the chicken coop had no door.
Over the past few years we have rebuilt three of the stalls, the chicken coop, and replaced the windows. We added the milking stanchion, pasture fencing for the cows, an outdoor run for the chickens, and many other small touches and repairs.
Now we spend time in the barn every day caring for our animals so some Christmas barn decorations add to the excitement of the season for us, and we like to think the animals like them too!
Outdoor Christmas Barn Decorations
The front of our barn has a traditional barn door and a small window. Another side of the barn has the chicken run attached to it and the other two sides are within the pasture fencing for our cows.
This is the side we can see from the porch of our log home and what anyone coming up our driveway sees so I started there. A simple bough of greenery tied with a bit of red ribbon is hung on the door and one on the window as well.
I just walked around our property with some clippers and gathered a few cuttings from the spruce trees that we have all over. Only a few branches were needed to add a little touch of Christmas to the door and window.
The red ribbon pieces were scraps I already had and I just used a bit of wire that I found on my husband’s tool bench. I tied the branches together with the ribbon and then used the wire to make a small hook to attach the greenery to the door and window.
This was all it took to add some Christmas cheer to our little barn and it didn’t cost me anything but a little bit of my time. When we see our barn from the house, it’s an extra special treat! Now come inside and see a few more touches that we made.
Indoor Christmas Barn Decorations
Our two Jersey cows, Honey and Buttercup, were very interested in what I was doing while decorating the inside of the barn. I just added a few little touches to make it festive and cheerful.
One of our daughters loves to wood-burn and made each of our cows a sign to hang outside the stalls. She just found a nice log from our Woodstock and had my husband cut slices off using his saw. Then she wood-burned their names and other designs then attached some twine for us to hang them by.
I simply tore some strips from a piece of Christmas farm fabric that we already had and tied them to the signs she made for a Christmas touch. To easily tear a strip of fabric, find the salvage end of the fabric and cut a small slit. Then just start the tear at the slit and pull until the strip of fabric comes off. This is a great way to use up those random pieces of fabric we all have tucked away.
Another bough made from greenery that I collected and some ribbon hangs on the inside of the door at the back of the barn. It give the cows something new to look at!
Now each morning and evening when we’re milking and completing our other chores in the cold and darkness, we can enjoy our little decorations and sing a carol or two while we work.
Barn Decorating Tips
- Safety first-As fun as it is to decorate a barn for Christmas, the safety of the animals is our first priority. Never place decorations of any kind where an animal could possibly get ahold of them to eat. Even if I was sure that a decoration was hung securely, there’s always a chance that it could come down and be ingested by one of the animals, which would not be good at all. Keep all decorations, especially ribbon, where no animals can get to them.
- Use what you have-A barn doesn’t need to, nor should it, look fancy. Simple is best and can be achieved without spending any money or a lot of time. Greenery from trees and scraps of fabric and ribbon add to the old-fashioned, rustic feel of a traditional wooden barn.
- It will get dirty-Barns, even when kept tidy as we work hard to do, are still full of dirt, dust, and of course, animals and what they leave behind. Any decorations that do go into a barn are sure to get their share of them less so avoid using any decorations that you don’t want damaged. Once Christmas is over, the boughs can be composted or tossed into the fire. The ribbons and fabric scraps can be washed and kept for another year. Be sure to throughly clean any decorative items that are used around animals that you want to use again.
I hope you enjoyed getting a tour of our little barn at Christmastime! A few simple touches here and there make this space even more special to us as we go about our daily tasks. It doesn’t take much to create simple and old-fashioned decorations for the farm.
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