Depending on the occasion, a hay bale can be used as an interesting material for decorating your house. Autumn is not the only time to use hay bales as decorations. From birthdays to weddings, Halloween and the Fourth of July, hay bales can be used to dress up your home or property.
Hay is mainly made of grass that has been cut, dried and stored for feeding animals in the long winter months. Before the invention of hay equipment, farmers use to gather the hay by hand and tie them into bundles. Now, there is a modern way of creating bundles of hay. The more productive hay accumulator does all the dirty work. It can arrange the bales and load them onto your hay wagon.
Where to find hay for sale:
- Internet – many websites advertise different sizes of hay bales for sale
- Hay farm – check your area for local hay farms
Hay bales come in different sizes. There are round bales and square bales. Here are some ideas on how to use hay bales to decorate your house:
- For an outdoor picnic, cover hay bales with canvas to turn them into seats or chairs. For a wedding, cover the bales with vintage fabric with bows clipped at the four corners. You can even turn the bales into a love seat by stacking two bales for the backrest and placing one bale in front for the seat. Cover this with a fabric of your choice and top with some throw pillows. The size of the hay bale sofa will depend on how may sets of bales you stack and put together.
- Turn a round or square hay bale into a car, a space shuttle, a dinosaur, an alien or a recognizable cartoon character like Sponge Bob for your child’s party. You can even turn it into a snowman, an Easter bunny or a scarecrow.
- Create small hay bags (tightly packed loose hay in a net), then attach brightly colored bows at the top of each bag. Hang them around the perimeter of your house and in the trees. During Christmas, you may want to use only red, green or gold ribbons to highlight the holiday.
- Using a small hay bale, decorate it with flowers, fruits, dried leaves and bows as a centerpiece for your dining table or for the mantle. You can also place it at strategic corners around the house.
- Place potted plants on top of hay bales both inside and outside your home.
- Place a hay bale beside your sofa and put magazines or other reading materials on top. You can also put bowls of candy on top of the hay bales sprinkled with colorful confetti.
- If you have a hay wagon, load it with some hay bales, adorn it with flowers and colorful fabric, then park it behind the outdoor buffet table as a backdrop.
- Spray paint hay bales in the color of your choice and simply place them in and around the house as décor during birthday parties.
- Stick poles with flags into hay bales for the Fourth of July celebration. Or stick poles with signs telling your guests what is being served at a particular food station: salads, drinks, desserts, and others.
A hay bale is no longer used just for feeding farm animals. With some creativity, you can effectively use hay bales to decorate your homes. Decorating with hay bales can give your home that lovely, homey rustic feel.
