Yvonne Glasgow
When the holiday season is over, and it’s time to take down your tree, nutcrackers, and Santa and all his reindeer, you might want to think of your future self. If you keep these tips in mind when packing away all your holiday cheer, it’ll make decorating next year much easier.
Pack Your Tree and Ornaments Together
Pack Decorations for Each Room in a Different Tote
Safely Store All Breakables
Pack Your Tree and Ornaments Together
Try to always keep your tree and ornaments together. They don’t have to be in the same bag or box, though. If you have delicate ornaments that might be broken by the harder parts of an artificial tree, you can pack the ornaments in one tote and the tree in a special bag. This set includes a 48-inch tree bag and a tote that will hold up to 64 ornaments.
Keep all your lights, extension cords, garland, and anything else you use to trim your tree together, as well. You can mark or label the boxes so you’ll know next year that they all contain stuff for your tree. No more digging through tons of boxes to find what you need when setting up your tree.
Pack Decorations for Each Room in a Different Tote
If you’re serious about the holidays, you might decorate multiple rooms, as well as outside. Instead of having to dig through different totes or boxes and drag them from room to room, try to pack your decorations by room.
For example, you could have one tote for the living room, one for the kitchen, and a set for your yard decorations. Be sure to clearly mark or label which room each tote is for, so you can just grab it and put it in the room where it belongs next year. Or, you can pack everything in clear totes, so you can see exactly what’s in each of them.
Pack everything that goes in each room into one tote, including lights and extension cords. Packing all of your lights and cords together can make for a confusing mess when it comes time to decorate again. Be sure to store your cords and lights neatly. You can store them wound up like a garden hose, or wrap them around empty paper towel rolls.
Safely Store All Breakables
Try to save the bubble wrap or tissue paper from any gifts you receive, so you can reuse it to wrap any fragile ornaments and other breakables. Pack all of those items together in one tote and label it “Fragile.” Be sure you store this tote away from, or on top of, all the other boxes and bins.
For figurines, like nutcrackers and snowmen, try a tote made specifically for them, like this option from ZOBER. It can hold eight statues up to 15-inches in height. Cardboard dividers also keep them separate from each other.
If you’re using cardboard boxes instead of plastic totes, just write “nothing on top” with a Sharpie on any that have breakables inside. There’s nothing more sickening than the sound of a crack when you forget and put something heavy on top of your vintage glass ornaments.
It can be really tempting when taking down holiday decorations to just toss them in bins and boxes willy-nilly. But you’ll regret it next year when you can’t find anything or discover your vintage Rudolph lost his red nose. Do your future self a favor—organize and pack it all away safely. After all, it’ll be Christmas again before you know it.
