Another sign that we are in the heart of January, time to organize and put away the holiday decorations. And a Sunday morning in January is the perfect time to put Christmas away and get your it ready for next year.
Before I put away all the Christmas décor and ornaments, I go through each one to make sure that I’m only storing decorations that I’m going to use again. We all know our tastes change and trends come and go. So when organizing for next year I start with purging and donating.
Of course, if you visit my home during the holidays, you will immediately know that I have quite a few decorations to display. Holiday decorations add texture, joy and liveliness to my home during the Christmas season. If your house looks really inviting for Christmas, it feels like somebody cares. And for a creative, there are so many choices in style for the holidays: shabby chic, French country, traditional, eclectic. . .which means that each year purging is a key step in the process.
The next step in the process is storage. Who uses plastic tubs/bins for storage? I find they are affordable, waterproof, and are perfect for Christmas storage. Some of my ornaments can go directly into the bins and some are fragile and need tissue or paper towel. If I wrap an ornament or decoration, I place it in a sealable plastic bag. Then, when I take the ornaments out of the bag to decorate with each year, I put the tissue/paper towel back into that same sealable bag. Reuse and recycle!
You can also use divided ornament boxes. It’s relatively easy to get your hands on some divided ornament boxes. These are great if you have glass ornaments or vintage ornaments that are especially precious like the ones I collect.
Figurines and other baubles also go into the bins, some wrapped (if needed) and others unwrapped. Clear bins are handy because you can see what is inside the tub. Oh, and before I , a note on those sparkly, addictive battery operated LED lights that everyone is using: remove the batteries from the LED lights BEFORE putting them away. A hard lesson learned from personal experience.
Alright, I've procrastinated enough. I am signing off to actually go organize for another year. Wish me luck!
