• Home
    • Who Am I?
    • Our Story
    • Contact
  • Life
    • Tom’s Corner
    • Travels & Day Trips
  • Cottage Life
  • Policies
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • Testimonials
  • Home & Garden Ideas
    • Your Garden
  • Giveaways
    • Giveaway Rules
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Raise Your Garden

Musings on the Seedier Side

  • Composting
  • Easy Garden DIY
  • Garden Tips
  • Lawn & Landscaping
  • Must have plants
  • Pest Control

January 2, 2020 in Easy Garden DIY· Garden How To· Garden Tips

10 ways to simplify cleaning up Christmas decor

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I'll make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Picture

 

 
If you’re anything like us, you have a whole section of plastic bins in your attic, basement or garage labelled “Christmas decor.”

 

But how much do you actually use each year?

10% 50% 90%?

In our household, space is tight despite having a good sized basement because we turned half of it into a playroom. No regrets.

Still, we have eight Christmas bins stuffed to the brim. There’s also lots of outdoor decor that we tend to store in the original boxes stacked high in the basement.

Over the years, I’ve found it’s better to be mindful of the way Christmas decor is stored because it makes life so much easier the following year.

I always regret rushing and then being frustrated when I can’t find what I want in early December. Since I’ve gotten my act together, this year I quickly located my Christmas cookie cutters ~ that’s a first!

These are my tips for putting your Christmas decor away for the New Year!

1.) Only store what you’re actually using

The time to sort and purge Christmas decor is right after the season when all your bins and boxes are out. It’s time to evaluate what you have, need or no longer want.

 

Those gnome elves that you haven’t displayed in five years? It may be time to donate them. The Santa outfit? Out it goes. Space is valuable.

Why store “stuff” you don’t use year after year. Aim for using 90% or more of your Christmas items that you store to keep you accountable.

​Oh, and the outdoor lighted deer that no longer works….it’s time to throw it out.

2.) Real tree…out it goes

Picture

 

 
I’m not here to get all “bah humbug” on you about your real tree. I love live trees! Just dislike the needles they shed when their time is done.

 

Live trees have a shelf life of approximately 4-6 weeks at the very most. So if you’re the type who puts their tree up the day after Thanksgiving, you’ll probably want to take it down very soon after Christmas.

​Otherwise, you’ll be finding prickly needles in your socks still come July! Not to mention it can become a fire hazard! 

3.) Use those shoe boxes for cheap & creative storage

Picture

I save shoe boxes year-round to get a better handle on my ornaments. Each box has a theme such as teal ornaments, fishing ornaments, sports ornaments, very fragile ornaments, bird ornaments, snowman ornaments, snowflake ornaments…you get the drift!

 

I use a Sharpie marker on the lid of the box to list the precise ornaments that belong in each box. This makes cleaning up a breeze and ensures that I’ll have room to store each and every ornament in each box and in the bins.

So the same ornaments go in the same box in the same bin year after year.  It works well!

​If you prefer plastic shoe box bins, those are great, too. I also have a 50/50 ornament rule that goes as follows: only 50% of my ornaments can be glass and will be hung high on the tree.

But the other 50% must be non-breakables that can go low on the tree so they don’t get broken by kids and pets.


4.) Vow to have a better system for storing your ornaments & bins

Picture

 

 
Label your “better” Christmas bins with masking tape with “favorite ornaments” or something similar so you can quickly locate them the following year.

 

Color coded bins are also extremely helpful. I put my best ornaments in red bins and my less favorite ones in green bins and label each as such.

So on busy years, I just pull out the red bins and forget about the green entirely. But years I have the time to dote on decorating, I get them all out for extra pizzazz!

​Life also becomes much simpler if you choose one corner of your basement, garage or attic to store all the Christmas items instead of allowing them to sprawl all over the place.

5.) Save tissue paper, bubble wrap and shoe boxes year-round

Picture

 

 
I like to wrap the fragile ornaments in tissue paper or bubble wrap prior to storing in my shoe boxes. And I save these items year-round from events like Birthday parties and other celebrations.

 

People think I’m insane when I whisk away tissue paper from the family party but I’ll argue, it’s better to use it on my ornaments than just throwing it out!

​I always save a little space at the top of my bins so when I acquire more tissue paper from the latest party, I can just run down in the basement and throw it on top mid-year.

6.) The lighting dilemma

Picture

 

 
If your Christmas lights are like mine they seem to work fine right after they are taken off the tree but mysteriously get broken when placed in a bin.

 

Only half of my lights are in working order when I examine what strands will be used in season. So don’t bother replacing lights prior to putting the strands away for the year.

Too frustrating! Instead, buy several packs of replacement bulbs at that 75% off sale and replace right after you string them up.

If you really want to pat yourself on the back next year, separate each stand of lights into those plastic grocery store bags.

This means winding up each string carefully and placing the set of lights in their own bag. There is no way they can get tangled with another string of lights if they are in a separate bag…right!

Then all the bags get placed into a “lights only” bin. 

7.) Speaking of th0se 75% off Christmas sales…

Picture

 

 
Only you can answer this question honestly. If you buy Christmas cards and wrapping paper highly discounted, will you even be able to locate these items to use the following year?

 

Or will they get lost in the shuffle and you’ll end up buying more right before the season anyhow?

​If you won’t be able to locate the ten rolls of wrapping paper until it’s too late to use them, then don’t bother storing them the whole year. It’s not worth the wasted space!

8.) A word on plastic wreath storage containers & plastic storage containers for wrapping paper

Picture

 

 
It took me ten years to splurge on a plastic wrapping paper storage unit. Best decision ever! That $8 has saved rolls of just partly used wrapping paper from molding in the basement.

 

Personally, I don’t like to give or receive gifts in moldy wrapping paper that smells like “icky” basement. So I would throw out rolls that were opened and got damp.

​Out goes the 75% off savings because I didn’t end up using it. Even worse, I stored all those smelly rolls for no good reason.

Picture

 

 

9. Placement is paramount when bin & item storing

It’s just obvious that you want to keep your heavier bins on the bottom and your lighter bins on top when storing. But I like to keep similar items in each bin.

 

It’s also convenient and smart to put things like Christmas hand towels, cards and Christmas cookie cutters on the top of the bin for easy access.

​We may not even decorate our tree until a few weeks before Christmas, but I’ll be looking for my Christmas kitchen towels and my gingerbread cookie cutter the day after Thanksgiving!

​Make it easy on yourself.

10.) The extra, empty Christmas bin theory…

If you really want to be nice to yourself, have one empty bin in the basement labelled “Christmas.”

 

​Those clear, see-through bins are even better!

An extra bin makes it easy when you find a snowflake ornament in June that never got put away or score some cute Christmas decor at a yard sale.

 

What tips do you have for me?

Secret code: cat

69 Comments

Previous Post: « Anise Cut-Out Cookies – Kris Kringle Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Next Post: Growing upwards with the ECOFLEX® Vertical Gardening Wall Giveaway from New Age Garden® (ARV $180!!) »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Bridges says

    December 11, 2020 at 1:22 am

    Great tips! I need to do some of these this year so I don’t end up with a mess in the closet like last year, haha.

    Reply
  2. Terry Poage says

    December 11, 2020 at 1:43 am

    These are great tips. I hate cleaning up after the holidays.

    Reply
  3. John Dickson says

    December 11, 2020 at 1:58 am

    Love this.

    Reply
  4. Gabrielle R says

    December 11, 2020 at 2:05 am

    What great Christmas cleanup hacks! I will definitely be using some!

    Reply
  5. April B says

    December 11, 2020 at 2:22 am

    Good practical organizing advice. thanks

    Reply
  6. Hana Harman says

    December 11, 2020 at 2:32 am

    Thank you for great tips

    Reply
  7. john kennedy says

    December 11, 2020 at 2:53 am

    Great time saving tips for me..thanks

    Reply
  8. Janis says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:07 am

    Thanks for sharing these pointers.

    Reply
  9. Betsy Pauzauskie says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:53 am

    You are organized! I was too at one time & am now differently organized. When my children were grown, & began having their own children, I bought them storage containers for gift wrap/ribbon/bows, ornaments & wreaths. I downsized our artificial tree (several times) and gave our 3 daughters’ families Christmas ornaments they cherished which we’d collected over the years from Hallmark, Enesco, etc. that had hung on our larger tree(s). We’re now down to a small artificial tree that I decorate with Hallmark miniature ornaments. We hang a wreath on the front door too. Both are very easy to set up and to store. I hope it’s fine to share your great tips with our daughters, as I’m sure they’ll find them helpful and pertinent to their stages of life. I can’t think of a single tip, except that life is full of changes as you live it. You will adapt nicely, I can tell.

    Reply
  10. cindy quisenberry says

    December 11, 2020 at 5:32 am

    great tips! Opened the ornaments this year and the plastic holder they were in had turned to crispy plastic. So now I know how to put them away so they last until next year.

    Reply
  11. Sandra McFadden says

    December 11, 2020 at 8:09 am

    Thank you for sharing your helpful tips been doing many of them for years. Merry Christmas.

    Reply
  12. Liz Kilcher says

    December 11, 2020 at 10:44 am

    cleaning up is easier than putting it up

    Reply
  13. Donna Evans says

    December 11, 2020 at 11:26 am

    We use designation storage boxes for all out decorations.

    Reply
  14. Richard Schott says

    December 11, 2020 at 12:10 pm

    It’s time to sort out my decorations and dispose some of them.

    Reply
  15. Diane Warstler says

    December 11, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    Some really great ideas! The plastic storage tub for wrapping paper and bows is an absolute must!

    Reply
  16. Susan L Craig says

    December 11, 2020 at 1:19 pm

    I learned a thing or two – thanks for the post.

    Reply
  17. Audrey says

    December 11, 2020 at 1:56 pm

    A lot of great tips!

    Reply
  18. Jeffrey Smead says

    December 11, 2020 at 2:04 pm

    def. will come in handy

    Reply
  19. Sheila gagnon says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:03 pm

    Fabulous tips. I was surprised to learn a few tricks. Thank you

    Reply
  20. Rena T Walter says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:13 pm

    Less is more is our motto, it works for me.

    Reply
  21. Chad Boyd says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:33 pm

    These are all great tips! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  22. Kelly Dixon says

    December 11, 2020 at 3:35 pm

    I love this product.

    Reply
  23. DeeAnn S says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    I’ve been using most of these tips for a number of years. I do have more than I use because I change my tree to different colors/themes every year. Hope you have a great holiday.

    Reply
  24. Brittany Gilley says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:04 pm

    thanks for all the useful tips

    Reply
  25. dennis case says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:05 pm

    great ideas

    Reply
  26. Michelle Proper says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    I’m going through all this at the moment! So much stuff and time for stuff to get donated or thrown out!

    Reply
  27. Sam says

    December 11, 2020 at 4:52 pm

    I really like the clear bins, they make stacking and storing easier and you can see too what is inside for the most part

    Reply
  28. Alice Morris says

    December 11, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    Just use common sense

    Reply
  29. Anita Kennett says

    December 11, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    Very helpful,thanks

    Reply
  30. Melinda Barlow says

    December 11, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    Great ideas, since I Ted to do some theme trees and do a Halloween tree and harvest tree I sort my ornaments by color in clear flat storage bins. Special holiday ones are sorted and marked for holiday. Keepsake ornaments etc are kept in special bin. People look at all bins and think I am crazy but it saves so much time and energy when you can put your hands on what you need when you need it. Loved your suggestion about keeping an empty bin for those yard sale finds and the inevitable found item.

    Reply
  31. Cat Delgado says

    December 11, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    I love the tip for storing the tree lights!

    Reply
  32. Deb says

    December 11, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    I start with the same method, but by the time I’m through, it’s chaos. Great ideas.

    Reply
  33. Debbie Welchert says

    December 11, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    Thanks for all the great tips I know I need to organize a little better.

    Reply
  34. Jennifer Phillips says

    December 11, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    Some great tips, but too many of mine I am overly attached to, Especially the glass ornaments that were my mom’s or grandmas. I won’t use them because I’m scared they will be broken but I will not let them go and I don’t have a way to show they off so packed carefully away is where they are. Kind of sad, but one day they will be brought out again. Probably within the next couple of years since I am now becoming an empty nester.

    Reply
  35. Ken Ohl says

    December 11, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    Love the pointers Decorating is such a big job for sure

    Reply
  36. Cynthia says

    December 11, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    I’m very organized person.

    Reply
  37. Peggy Rydzewski says

    December 11, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    I like the idea of repurposing items.

    Reply
  38. Lisa Cress says

    December 11, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    Thanks for the great ideas! Best to your family!

    Reply
  39. Karen Jaras says

    December 12, 2020 at 1:40 am

    I usually clean as I decorate and one final clean when it is done. The depressing part is that in a few weeks I have to pack it back up again and clean up again.

    Reply
  40. Kathy Pierce says

    December 12, 2020 at 2:54 am

    Neat ideas!!!

    Reply
  41. paula burnham says

    December 12, 2020 at 3:05 am

    Great tips and Merry Christmas

    Reply
  42. Michael Villani says

    December 12, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    always great ideas

    Reply