Christmas Tree Wonderland in Country Carpenters’ Buildings

Patty stood at the threshold of her classic red Baker barn and slowly scanned the snowman themed Christmas tree she created.

Bundled-up on a chilly December morning with a cup of coffee in her hand, her eyes begin to glow as a warm smile radiates joy.

“It reminds me of my childhood in the winter,” said Patty, taking a moment to pause and reflect.

The meticulously crafted scene features snowmen, vintage sleds, ice skates and children’s mittens and boots.

“Growing up in upstate New York, we had snow from November until the beginning of April,” Patty recalled. “So this is what we did. We skied, we went sledding, we skated.”

All while creating memories that replay as sharp as the day they were formed. 

Every snowman, each prop, is carefully arranged to create a scene that conveys the joy of being a child at Christmas time. The Baker barn is just one of many buildings on Patty’s farm that she decked out with themed Christmas trees.

“It’s a happy place,” says Patty.

A happy place that Patty hopes creates new memories for friends and family who come to visit.

Tucked away on the hillside farm in Central Connecticut, Patty transformed her six outbuildings into a Christmas wonderland. Four of these structures are from Post and Beam Barns by Country Carpenters, while the other barns were part of the property when Patty and her husband Joe purchased the farm.

Patty began working on the themed Christmas trees back in July, spending multiple hours a day on each setting. 

If you’ve met Patty before, you know that she is very creative and extremely detail-oriented! She wasn’t going to take on this project without being able to produce a project that is anything less than spectacular.

“I’ve always been creating,” said Patty. “I used to make dollhouses when I was little. I was always creating as a child because we grew up with five kids and not that much money. So you had to do it with what you had in your environment.”

As a retired special education teacher, Patty sees these displays as more than just decorations. She’s planned “I Spy” activity sheets for visiting children and tours for her church congregation—all completely free. “A lot of people, they don’t expect to experience this kind of thing or they’ve never had it in their life. So I want to just share the joy.”

The inspiration for these various scenes traces back to childhood trips to Manhattan. “The Macy’s [and] Bloomingdale’s windows during Christmas time, I was fascinated. They were incredible, how they were all put together, themed, the details, the colors. That’s what got me going.”

But perhaps most importantly, these displays represent pure happiness. “It just makes me feel really good inside,” Patty says, her eyes lighting up. “There’s so much garbage in the world right now. To me, this is my little world… It’s just a happy, happy place. I just want to bring joy to people’s lives, even if it’s for five minutes.”

“When I look at things, I don’t see whatever this is. I see an animal,” Patty explains, pointing to an old door hinge transformed into a reindeer. “I think outside the box, I guess that’s the easiest thing.”

Even the stockings in the barn carry her signature humor—with name tags for the WFSB 3 Great Day Connecticut crew, including one for Scot Haney marked for coal. “I like adding comedy. Comedy is fun,” Patty grins.

The journey starts at Patty’s Even Pitch Garden Shed Kit from Post and Beam Barns by Country Carpenters, where she created a stunning red and green garden-themed tree. “I wanted to make a tree that went with the potting shed,” she says. “These are themed Christmas trees.”

But here’s where Patty’s creativity really shines—the tree itself is made from nine tomato cages stacked together. “They’re easy to hang ornaments on,” she notes. The tree is adorned with everything from gardening gloves and boots to miniature tools and baskets. Real vegetables make appearances too, with tomatoes and beans adding authentic garden charm.

The crowning touch? Watering cans with lights cascading down like a waterfall. “I saw the watering cans on Pinterest, and I liked that idea,” Patty shares. The result is a three-dimensional scene that draws you into the shed itself. “I wanted it open so you could see the interior of the shed as well.”

The creative process is pure Patty: “I’ll look at things and say, ‘Ooh, that’ll look nice.’ Sometimes it doesn’t look nice. I’ll take them off.”

But the true showstopper is what Patty calls “the farm tree”—a spectacular display that celebrates the history of the 1700s farmhouse with toy tractors, horses, cows, pigs, and every imaginable farm tool in traditional red and green.

The scene includes vintage toy barns (including one Patty drove all the way to Massachusetts to buy for just $140), wrapped presents that perfectly complement the color scheme, and hay bales as staging for the smaller decorations. A treasured rocking horse stands proudly, and tucked among the ornaments are little dolls representing Patty and her husband Joe.

“Growing up, who doesn’t love toys?” Patty laughs. “I just love toys.”

The next stop on the tour brings us back to a familiar place, the Baker barn adorned with snowmen. 

The snowman-themed tree features vintage sleds, ice skates, colorful mittens and scarves, and hot chocolate mugs. A beloved L.L. Bean toboggan holds special meaning: “Every Christmas, my parents said we could pick out one item from L.L. Bean,” Patty remembers with a wistful smile.

The star of the show is a floor snowman that Patty completely remade. “He had a different hat on. It was an awful looking scarf, so I ripped them all off, and I gave him a new hat, gave him the pipe and scarf,” she explains. “I see something that’s so-so, I’ll add to it, I’ll take things away from it.”

Patty walks a few steps ahead and excitedly says, “wait here,” as she gently closes the porch door behind her.

The innocuous creeks of the vintage hardwood floor mark the time as Patty turns on the lights for the next display.  

“You’re not going to believe this,” she says.

And she was right!

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Patty opens the door to her ocean-themed room—a complete departure from the rustic farm aesthetic. A coastal Christmas tree rises from a bed of real sand (yes, real sand in the house), complete with beach toys, seashells, and kayaking memories.

“This reminds me of going to the beach out on Long Island with my kids when they were little,” Patty says softly. The room features a sound machine with ocean waves and at night, becomes “spectacular” with twinkling lights reflecting off beach glass and nautical ornaments.

But the most clever touch? Pieces of barn wood the goats had actually chewed off, transformed into rustic ornaments. “They love taking my barn apart,” Patty laughs. “So these are pieces that they tore off, and I just made them into ornaments. You don’t know how many times Joe’s had to reconstruct parts of the building and put in a wire, but they still manage.”

Patty admits this tree is “a little boring compared to the rest,” but adds with a smile, “They needed a tree, too.”

The true artistry lies in the materials: old hinges transformed into ornaments, branches that become reindeer antlers, and a wagon wheel serving as the tree base. “I don’t know what you would call that, but I think outside the box, I guess that’s the easiest thing,” Patty says, holding up an old doorknob repurposed as a Christmas ornament.

She credits a seventh-grade art teacher, Mr. Kant, for planting the seeds of this creative philosophy. “He emphasized recycling, repurposing, and this was back in the 70s,” she remembers. “He would bring in objects and say, you can make this out of it. You can make that out of it. And that stayed with me. So when I look at it like this, I don’t see whatever this is. I see an animal.”

The result is a tree that feels authentically connected to its space. “I look at the space. It’s a blacksmith shop. The tree has to go with the blacksmith shop,” Patty insists. “You know, I don’t want to see a pink tree in here with whatever on it. It has to fit.”

“I saw it on Pinterest, you know, the idea of using a bookshelf,” Patty says. “This is the day before Christmas. Everyone’s out there having fun again, the winter scene, while Santa is preparing and the elves, family’s anxiously awaiting, and then Santa, ready to take off.”

The approach mirrors the way Patty creates all her displays—starting with the space itself. “I found a bookshelf tiered corner and then painted it,” she explains. What makes this display particularly special is how it literally brings the concept of a dollhouse to life within her actual dollhouse shop—a beautiful meta-moment that isn’t lost on visitors.

“There’s a lot I could have done, I could have decorated the dollhouses,” Patty reflects, gesturing to the vintage dollhouses in the space, “but this just hit me. I said, ‘I’m doing this.’” The three-dimensional effect creates a storybook quality, with each tier pulling you deeper into the Christmas Eve narrative. And true to Patty’s teaching background, there are hidden details throughout—stockings with family names, miniature wrapped presents, and tiny characters that invite closer inspection. “It’s alive. There’s motion, there’s activity, there’s feeling in it,” she says with satisfaction.

When asked what she wants people to take away from experiencing her Christmas village, Patty’s answer is simple but profound:

“I just want to share the joy. Bring smiles to people’s faces… It’s just very, to me, it’s uplifting. It’s very, very uplifting and happy. And then this time of year, of course, makes it even more special.”

For children, there are lessons about farm life, history, and the changing seasons. For adults, it’s about memories and nostalgia. “I hear stories about that all the time… ‘Oh, I remember when I had that rocking horse’ or ‘Oh, look at that wagon,'” Patty says warmly.

In a world that often feels too complicated, Patty’s Christmas village is a reminder that joy can be handmade, that creativity is timeless, and that the best gifts are the ones that bring people together. Her Country Carpenters’ buildings have been transformed into something truly magical—not through expensive decorations, but through hundreds of hours of love, imagination, and an unshakeable belief in the power of the Christmas spirit.

“It’s alive. There’s motion, there’s activity, there’s feeling in it,” Patty says, surveying her work. And she’s absolutely right.