If you regularly have a battle with a wadded up ball of holiday lights, or a memorial service for the delicate ornaments that have broken, it’s time to learn some pro tips for storing your holiday decorations. By taking the time now to stow the decorations properly after the holiday season has passed, it will make unpacking them easier next year. Here are some easy ways to detangle, declutter, condense, and protect your holiday décor.
Problem: Every year you forget what decorations you have stored and always end up over purchasing.
Solution: Start an inventory sheet of the items you have. As you are putting decorations into storage boxes, label each box with a few bullet points of its content.
Problem: You have finally decorated your house the way you love it, down to exact sizes and locations.
Solution: Use masking tape and marker to label each string of light, strip of garland or hanging mistletoe with the location it should be placed.
Problem: Excess wrapping paper and other packaging materials including bubble wrap, peanuts, etc.
Solution: Repurpose the paper and packing supplies as filler when boxing holiday decorations. Cut cardboard wrapping paper tubes into smaller sections to use as a spool to wrap holiday lights to prevent a tangled mess next holiday season.
Problem: You lost the original packaging for delicate ornaments.
Solution: Protect delicate ornaments in resealable sandwich bags and then place them in a sturdy box, preferably a container with sturdy slots to store multiple ornaments in one box. Egg cartons can be used to store small ornamental pieces. Be sure to keep the more fragile ornaments on top of the box to be safely lifted out first when unpacking.
Problem: Macaroni crafts, dough ornaments, and other artsy projects made from food products either fall apart or attract pests.
Solution: Seal food-based products in a resealable sandwich bag to protect them from humidity. Place all the baggies in a dry, clean cookie tin to repel pests from getting to them.
With just a few simple measures you can pack and unpack for the holidays like a pro while extending the life of your decorations.
