Northern California farmhouse captures Christmas magic
BROWNS VALLEY - Debbie Barnes may just be Mrs. Claus in disguise. As you step into her quiet farmhouse in Northern California, you will find Christmas magic in every corner.
Barnes may live in the small town of Browns Valley, but when it comes to Christmas decorations, she goes big.
Every inch of her Yuba County home is filled with hand-made wreaths, winter villages and Christmas trees in each room.
A massive 15.5-foot tree stands in her living room, boasting hundreds of Hallmark ornaments Barnes has collected through the years.
Barnes thinks about her decoration plans year-round.
"I start in July and it starts getting to me. 'Where am I going to put this? Where am I going to put that?' So I really think about it all the time,'" she said.
Barnes even has a Barbie tree with ornaments marking each year of her daughter's life.
Thirty-three years later, an all-grown-up Samantha Frey has a tree of memories to look back on.
As Frey raises kids of her own, she gets to relive the Christmas magic her mother created for her.
"Her kindness and giving nature together really make her, I think, what makes the Christmas spirit this time of the year what it is," Frey said.