With Christmas (and many other holidays) comes many decorations; ornaments, strings of lights, tinsels, stockings, ribbons. But it also comes the need to keep them organised and safely stored until the next festive season.
Storing Christmas Tree Ornaments
These come in all shapes and sizes, Reusing the box or packaging they came in is an excellent start to storing these bits and bobs. However these things can be ripped or thrown out with no second thought.
You can get a big far or reuse any container around your house to store the ornaments. A cheap way to do this is by storing them in egg cartons. For ornaments that you don’t consider fragile any plastic or tin box will do.
Fragile Decorations
When storing fragile items you need to take precautions. Take each item you deem fragile and wrap it in bubble wrap, wrapping paper, tissue paper or even get a teatowel for more over-sized items.
Make sure each item is wrapped separately, all placed into a secure plastic box or container. Another way for fragile ornaments is to keep them on a muffin tray inside a hard box.
Storing Lights
It is easy to want to throw Holiday lights into a box or bag, not thinking about them till next year rolls around. However, next season comes and you have to spend a great deal od frustrating time untangling those lights.
Easy fix? Grab a hanger, an empty wrapping paper cardboard roll, or any trash item that may be long or wide. Take the string lights and start wrapping it around your chosen item. Simply tape down the ends to secure, now you can store them in a shoebox or any other strong container you have at home.
Christmas Tree
This is perhaps your largest item, aside from any garden decorations you might have. It is good to keep the Christmas tree box, but those, like any cardboard box, can break down over time and leave your tree exposed.
Below there are 3 DIY Christmas Tree storage ideas you might want to try:
- Flatten your artificial tree as much as you can and then use belts to tie the tree
- Another way to shrink the Christmas tree is by wrapping it with cling film
- Wrap the tree with a rubbish bag or break it down and place it in a big shopping bag (Ikea style)
Getting a plastic storage box or a bag that is designed for Christmas tree storage is a good solution also.
Bows and Ribbons
Bows and ribbons dress up any gift, tree, or even front porches for the larger variety.
Storing gift ribbons is quite easy as they typically come wrapped around their inner cardboard that they are pulled off of.
Some creative ways to organise the bows and ribbons are:
a) Use a hanger. The centres of the cardboard have holes, so they can be slid on a hanger for easy storage during Christmas use and after.
Hang the hangers from a rod for easy storage.
b) Use String. Gift bows can be strung with ribbon as well to keep them contained. Running a ribbon or string through the centre of no more than 4 or 5 spools of ribbon can be tied nicely together!
c) Use a flat storage box. Bigger bows like the ones found on front doors or porches fit perfectly in flat storage boxes. There aren’t as deep as other plastic storage bins, however they tend to be wider. Bows can be layered nicely in a row in these types or bins without getting tangled among other decorations
Christmas Stockings
Stockings are not only home décor items, but they’re also a big part of Christmas morning! They usually get hung by the fireplace for Santa to fill with treats.
But what happens to them after Christmas?
Storing stockings isn’t difficult, however, keeping them in good condition is important! They should ideally be kept in airtight containers and be kept wrinkle-free.
Flat storage bins can be used for Stockings as well, if possible iron the stockings before putting them away. Fold them neatly, this might seem unnecessary but it keeps them organised in the long run. Fold them in half after ironing them (if possible) and layering them between the newspaper or tissue paper will keep them in great condition!
Wrapping Supplies
A recommendation in storing your wrapping supplies, keep it separate from the rest of your decorations. The paper, scissors, tape, bows, whatever else you might have.
Before storing these away, secure your wrapping paper! Tape the ends and make sure it is placed in a way that it wont rip while stored. If you’re avoiding a secured box, make sure it is in an area away from potential water damage or pet finding it.
An easy way to organise is to use an over the door organiser. To store cardboard tubes or wrapping paper cut through the inside pockets, leaving the bottom one intact. Use the smaller pockets to keep the rest of your gift wrapping supplies. Place it over a door if possible or hang it from hooks.
Through the upcoming year, birthdays will pop up, and other holidays will come up. You may find yourself looking for some of these items. Instead of looking through all your decorations, you can keep a separate box labelled “gift wrapping supplies”
If you simply don’t have the room to store your Holiday decorations, why not consider hiring a self-storage locker to store these for the rest of the year. It is a good idea to store your garden furniture over winter, so why not alternate seasons and store your holiday decorations in the winter. Click here for tips on storing your garden furniture for winter.