For more than 30 years, tin can holiday décor has outfitted a yard in Clay Center. Along the corner of 8th Street and Highway 24, a lighted star, tree, and more can be seen by all who pass. With a spot along popular travel routes, it’s a house that has been recognizable by locals and travelers for decades.
Owner Steve Wohler lives at the home, along with his wife Elizabeth, who said they enjoy sharing the décor with holiday traffic.
“I’ve had them for a quite a while,” Steve said, saying he has built various sizes and shapes over the years. “I have a tendency to save more cans than I need, but there are always repairs so it’s nice to have extras.”
Saving up pop cans, he uses a strong glue to adhere the cans to one another, then places in lights one of two ways. Each has its own benefits, he said.
“You can put the lights in-between the cans or you can put them in front. When behind, you get the reflection of the tin, which is kind of prettier, but you have to be straight-on to see it,” he said.
Steve said the idea for the décor came from his parents’ former neighbors, when they lived out of town.
“My Dad’s neighbor, he made Christmas trees out of cans and it kind of started with that. Then I made it into a star, then started making things in different sizes.”
In years since, he added a large cross to his house, and a small Christmas tree, which is featured in his downtown window-front at Wohler’s Bandbox Cleaners.
“They started it then we just kind of added to it,” he said. “You can do a lot of different things with it.”
In total, Wohlers have around seven pop-can Christmas decorations at their home. And though the labels are not visible from a distance, nor are they on the bottoms of the cans, Steve said he doesn’t remove them.
“A lot of them fade over time, but you can see them if you get up close,” he said.
Over the years, Steve also said he’s had to do maintenance of the pieces. Last year, a wind storm took out an entire piece when it was crushed by the family’s fence.
But even in calm weather, he said cans crinkle over time, or glue and lights will fail.
“They get beat up, especially when they go in storage and get banged around a bit,” he said. “But if it’s too bad we just put a new piece on so they can be a little bit of work. But they’re unique and something you don’t see all the time.”
