Sweet Sixteen Barn Dance

| Allison

Hello, dears!

Remember how one of our friends had a barn dance at our shop last year for her birthday party? Well, this year we did it again and it was SO much fun! The shop was a mess, so it was a good thing we had a dance motivating us to clean it up. 😛 I took plenty of pictures throughout the preparation and actual party, of course, and I hope you guys enjoy browsing through them!

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Let’s start with some before and after pictures, courtesy of my sister Megan. As you can see, this place was kind of a wreck before the dance. :[] Last year the cleaning wasn’t too bad since we hadn’t moved many tools from our old shop, but this year everything was in the building but hadn’t really been sorted out.

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Here’s what it looked like after several days of some serious work. Look at the difference and be amazed, my friends, because it was even crazier in real life! XD We decided Sam should have her party here every year so the shop will stay clean. 😉

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One of the last spots we tidied up was a big table covered with all sorts of random odds and ends, which you can kind of see on the far right of the “before” picture, under the loft. We mostly just picked up something and asked Dad if he wanted to keep it or throw it away. XD

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We threw a LOT of stuff away, including several pounds of dirt. Ahh, music to Maggie’s ears. :’D

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After we finished tidying and sweeping (that was a LOT of sweeping), Megan cleaned the extra dust off with a leafblower. Lastly, Dad pressure-washed the floor to get the remaining grime off, but I don’t have any pictures of that because I wasn’t there. 😉

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A nicely swept shop floor is good not only for dancing, but for resting on if you’re a tired dog. And for roller skating if you’re a person with energy left over. I seriously just added this picture because HA! Look at the blurry roller-skater in the background! They look like a real life stick person. :’D

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Since this is summer, after all, IT WAS HOT. Very, very hot and muggy. So Dad and my brothers set up a big fan and fixed up this squirrel cage fan too. (Yep, that’s what it’s called.) We still got quite sweaty during the dance, but the moving air helped a lot.

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This was one of the more enjoyable parts of tidying. 🙂 Dad hung up the tools he uses regularly on the lower half of the wall, and some neat antique tools on the top. He was pleased with how it turned out and so were we! It reminds me of Cracker Barrel. 😛

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We found these old milk jugs while cleaning up the shop, and put them to good use holding some flower pots to decorate the outside of the building.

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Last year we found a big, beautiful moth while we were getting ready, and we found one this year too! Not as big or as beautiful, but still neat looking.

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As a finishing touch, my brother helped me hang up two strands of string lights. They’re so pretty, even amongst not very attractive tools. XD

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Finally Sam’s family came, bearing the final decorations. I love this photo! Isn’t Sam beautiful in her flower crown and bright dress?

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A few guests came trickling in and helped with the decorations. They hung a bunch of balloons from the shop door, which added a really neat touch!

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We needed several tables to hold all the delicious food that came later. Sadly it was missing a rotisserie chicken because Mom was thawing it outside on our porch and Maggie ATE THE WHOLE THING. :O BAD DOG. I think that’s really what she was grinning about in the fourth photo up there. :’D

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Sam brought a beautiful bunch of daisies for the table. They fit the barn dance vibe perfectly, wouldn’t you say?

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I went “upstairs” to the loft to take some photos from a bird’s eye view (there actually are birds in the shop), and one of our friends saw me as he came in, heh heh. The picture is blurry but still worth keeping, right? 😉

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For some reason a bunch of people started walking forward in a line. By the time I captured it, of course, it was disintegrating, but still. Just for fun: can you spot eight folded paper fans in this photo?

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This little guy is adorable (but don’t tell him I said so :’D). He says little boy things in such an earnest, grown-up way that it’s hard not to laugh. 🙂

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Sam’s youngest brother is ALSO quite cute. AND THIS PHOTO. ❤ ❤ Aww, it makes me smile.

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We set a fan up behind these haybales to cool people off, with the added bonus of making streamers fly to perfection!

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If you don’t have a fan, you can always race through a group of friends with a streamer tied to your wrist. *nods*

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Now we get to the dancing part. A friend from church calls (gives instructions for) all our barn dances because she’s amazing at it! She keeps a little laminated stack of index cards with notes to remind her of the moves.

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Sadly I didn’t get many dancing pictures because I was too busy dancing. Heh. I did take a video (which turned out very dark – ugh, the shop needs better lighting! XD), so at least I could save photos from the video. Here’s the one that looks most like an organized dance instead of a bunch of people moving chaotically beside each other. 😉

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Later on in the evening, we had an intermission for swing dancing. 🙂 Barn dancing is my favorite, but swing dancing is pretty fun too, especially when I dance with people who are my height or taller, like my brother. 😛 Sam and her friend Kaleb are quite good at it!

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Overall, I think the dance was a great success, even if I could hardly walk after dancing barefeet on concrete for four hours. XD We shall end with this wonderful photo which pretty much sums up the whole evening. :’D

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Hee hee, I hope those photos made you smile like they did for me. I’m so glad we got to host your party, Sam! It was a blast. 🙂

OH, and this might be a good time to tell you… Sam just started a blog called The Chocolate Box! It’s one of my top favorites I follow now because her posts are so well-written and thought-provoking, and just PLEASE GO READ THEM.

Which photo was your favorite? Do you prefer barn dancing, swing dancing, or none of the above? Did you check out Sam’s blog?

Thanks so much for reading, dears, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

P. S. Photos taken with my Nikon 3400 and a 35mm lens. Edited with picmonkey.com

46 thoughts on “Sweet Sixteen Barn Dance”

  2. SUCH FUN! I love barn dances. Which ones did you do? Ah yes, it’s much more fun to swing dance/waltz with someone who’s same height or taller that you. Otherwise it’s just…. awkward.😆
    Happy Birthday, Sam! Her dress was so pretty. That picture you took of her should go in a magazine! So pretty(:

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    1. YES INDEED. We did… oh my goodness, a LOT. Some ones I remember are the Virginia Reel, the Snowball Reel, the Patty-Cake Polka, Postie’s Jig, the Cumberland Square, and the Spanish Waltz. Ha ha, YES. Usually we do barn dances with quite a variety of ages so the little kids are sometimes partners with tall guys (or me XD). It’s okay, though; I love the family aspect of it! Swing dancing, though, is just for the older kids and you kind of have to have a taller guy and shorter girl or it just doesn’t work very well. 😛
      YES, I loved it too! Aww, that’s so kind – thanks, AK!

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  5. Oh yes! I remember reading about the barn dance last year!
    Aww Sam looks soooo pretty, and I LOVE her yellow dress! (yellow’s my favorite color 😝)
    It looks like you guys had a lot of fun!

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  7. Ahh, this seems like a lot of fun and that aesthetic *dies* Also Maggie wow xD That actually happened with my cousins’dogs, Koa and Meco, who happily ate 2 trays full of taco fillings while we were gone.
    It was interesting to say the least. xD

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  8. WHERE DO I START?? I love these pictures! Thank you for hosting! And for sharing my blog! It means a lot to me that you think it’s good. 🙂 Also I keep forgetting to ask, could you send me some of the pictures for my scrapbook?

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    1. AWWW THANK YOU SO MUCH for that amazing comment! I’m so glad you like the pictures, Sam! Of course, my friend – I truly do love your blog. 🙂 Oh, why certainly! The ones on my blog are resized to a little lower quality, but I could send you better ones. Do you like how they’re edited or would you rather me send you more “normal” versions?

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  9. AAH yes, it looks like you had loads of fun and laughs! 😀 I really love to barn dance! Although, swing dancing is not exactly my area of expertise. Me ‘n my sis started to learn it by watching YouTube videos… but we eventually gave up. XD

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  10. I love this post, Allison!! You captured it so well in pictures! 😀😀
    And, Maggie!!! 😂😂😂 That’s a lot of chicken. 😆

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  13. EEEP WHAT FUN. By the way, I love that first one (I think) of Sam! It’s really lovely. I WISH I WAS THERE. and BAHAHAHA OH DEAR, BAD MAGGIE. I burst out laughing at that. XD XD I loved these so much, Allison. 🙂

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  16. Ahhh! I wish I could be there! A barn dance looks like a lot of fun, and quite hot as well! XD I just went and followed Sam’s blog. 🙂 That looks like it took a lot of work to get the barn clean! The before picture looks very intimidating. XD Bad Maggie! XD I bet Maggie was very happy. XD That is such a cool moth! This was a really awesome post! I loved all of the pictures! 🙂

    -Laura ❤ 😉

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    1. I WISH YOU COULD TOO. Yep, you pretty much got it right! YAY, I’m glad you followed her blog. 🙂 It sure did! Heheheh. YES, BAD MAGGIE. It didn’t help her weight any either. :[] 😛 Thanks so much, Laura! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. 🙂

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  17. Seems it was a lot of fun. You all had a gala time. Now that you mentioned Cracker Barrel, I missed that so much, especially for their unique country style store upfront and the tall order of Pancakes – so delicious – and the never-ending fill of piping hot coffee. Just too good.

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  18. I love it! It looks like such a fun time! I so want to go to a barn dance sometime. I think it is so cool, and I really like that photo you took from your video. 🙂
    Also, you did a fantastic job cleaning the place. I’ve done enough cleaning to know that it takes much work and time. 😉

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  19. Like I probably said last year, that type of dancing looks like SO. MUCH. FUN. I’ve done some Scottish dancing at a party before, but I’d really love to go to a barn dance. We have a huge shop, too (which houses things like our corn picker)… I might have to see if our family can do something like this in the future. 🙂

    Thank you so much for sharing the photos with us!!

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    1. Heh heh, like I probably replied last year… IT IS SO MUCH FUN. That’s super neat! I hope you get to host a barn dance because yep, they’re great, and shops are great places to have them!
      Of course, dear! My pleasure! 😀

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  20. *squeals* THAT LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN😍😍😍 I wish I could have been there! But oh dear, Maggie is naughtier than Beorn now…😂

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