Fall Decorating Idea Using Hay Bales

I absolutely love decorating with hay bales! Hay bales are a simple way to add that fall feeling to your holiday decor with very little effort. My fall decorating idea using hay bales is one I go back to year after year. I promise that you will too once you see how easy it is. Come take a look for yourself!

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Post updated 9/21/2020

I’m so excited to share with you today’s post featuring my finished Fall Front Porch Decor. It’s one of my favorite posts to put together every year because I love the “wow” factor it brings to my front door space. There’s just something about decorating with hay bales that just makes my heart swoon!

This fall decorating idea using hay bales has been a tradition of mine for years and years. I have used this technique at two different homes of ours and have loved them both equally. Our previous home had a smaller front porch so I was only able to put one fall hay bale display out.

The entryway in our current lake home is much larger allowing me to do not one, but two, fall hay bale displays. I might be a little too happy about this but it’s the small things for me. Who’s with me?!

In one of my Halloween posts, I shared everything you could possibly ever need to know about hay bales. You’ll learn what kind of hay to buy, where to purchase them, and who to ask in case you have no clue in the world where to find them. It’s a plethora of information so make sure you give it a read before heading out to the store!

One big drawback that I know keeps people from purchasing hay bales during the holiday season are the hefty price tags associated with them. Believe me, I totally get it! I found my hay bales for $10 a piece, and after buying four of them, I was already $40 deep in the project before even adding a single decoration to them.

Try explaining that to your husband…

Lucky for you, and my husband, I’ve learned a few tricks along the way to help offset the cost making that initial purchase a little more digestible. To avoid being redundant (I already talked about this in detail in my Halloween post too!) I’ll just hit on the two main things I do to make this project an overall cost-effective one.

First, I use these same hay bales for Halloween, fall, and winter. You heard me right, folks! I keep these four bundles of hay from September straight through December. Now if that’s not getting my money’s worth I don’t know what is.

I simply remove the old decorations from the previous holiday and transition into the next one. Easy peasy!

Second, I try to go as cheap as I can on the decorations I add to the hay bales. For Halloween, I literally snagged all my decorations from the Dollar Tree. If you haven’t tried Dollar Tree for holiday decor, you’re missing out. With these hay bales being exposed to the outdoor elements for four whole months, you don’t want to spend a fortune on decorations anyway. So here’s my permission to go cheap whenever possible!

This year I did something a little extra special with my fall front door decor. I’ve been feeling the sudden urge to craft lately. Is anyone else feeling that way this fall season? I’m finding myself wanting to add some homemade fall decor pieces to my usual fall displays I do every year. Case in point, these adorable DIY Pumpkin Topsy Turvy Planters!

Last week, I shared my buffalo check pumpkin craft that I transformed into wreaths for my front doors. Yes, I typed that right…doors. We have two of them! Make sure to go give the buffalo plaid pumpkins a look. They’re so easy to make and the possibilities are endless as to what you can do with them.

I also purchased a blank coir mat from Ikea a few weeks back and created my own design for it. I planned on sharing the process here as well but it turned out to be a little bit harder of a process than I anticipated it to be. After attempting a couple of different techniques, I was finally able to create a personalized fall doormat that I was happy with and placed it on top my this buffalo plaid rug.

On a side note, if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably head over to my friend Jaclyn’s fall porch decor post and purchase a mat from her recommendations. If I hadn’t spent a fortune on materials to make my own, I would’ve easily broken down days ago!

I added a few decorative pieces to each of the hay bales. This one received an abundance of pumpkins and an adorable turkey sporting football gear. The turkey is from Cracker Barrel but is unfortunately sold out. I did splurge and buy these stackable pumpkins from Home Depot but they’re plastic and will withstand the elements for years to come. The other plastic pumpkins were from Dollar Tree. I purchased my real orange pumpkin at Aldi for $3.99! 

The other hay bale was decorated with a lovely cornucopia and “Autumn Harvest” wooden sign. The scarf you see here and on the other hay bale was found in the dollar section at Target. I just love the look the scarves give to the hay bales. You find similar fall scarves here. The large Hello Pumpkin sign was found at Joann Fabrics but I couldn’t find a link. You might like this fall sign instead though.

I placed a few more pumpkins right by the entryway flower pots and called it a day.

I’m completely and totally in love with my fall front porch decor! I smile every time I go outside to water my mums. Which I’m religiously doing every day, so you know. I felt I should point that out since I’m infamous for killing all flowers and plants that I encounter.  

Do you like this fall decorating idea using hay bales? Can you see yourself taking the plunge and purchasing a few for your own home? I truly hope you do. I’m looking forward to you jumping on the hay bale bandwagon with me. You know you want to. I’ll even save you a seat!

Want to remember this? Post this Fall Decorating Idea Using Hay Bales to your favorite Pinterest board!

WELCOME TO THE WEDNESDAY LINK PARTY! MEET YOUR HOSTS:

Jaclyn from Coffee, Pancakes, and Dreams
Brittany from Dreams and Coffee
Mary Leigh from Live Well Play Together
Tiffany from Lake Life State of Mind
Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World
Keri from Cultivate an Intentional Life 
Holley from Simply Holley Marie