How to Effectively Store Your Christmas Decorations

Although the holiday season is still upon us, in a blink of an eye it will all be over. The end of the holidays means its time to pack up the decorations and let them collect dust in your garage once again. This year, save yourself time, stress, and space when storing your decorations, and make next year’s holidays a breeze! Here are a few tips to effectively store your holiday decor!

Mo Decor, Mo Problems

We all have nutcrackers, ornaments, and tinsel that have lasted ages, but now can be found still stuck in the box when its time to fill your house with holiday cheer. Whether it’s a cracked tree ornament, a wreath that creates a bigger mess than it does joy or Christmas lights that don’t shine as bright as they used to, it may be time to hand these decorations off to someone else. If the decoration isn’t broken or it can easily be repaired, or if you just don’t like it anymore, there is no need to toss it out and create more waste. Consider donating to a friend, family member, local school, or thrift store. One person’s trash may be another person’s treasure.

Plastic Storage Bins > Cardboard Boxes

While cardboard boxes are often considered a packing essential, they don’t have the longevity to last year after year. Large plastic storage bins can be found at stores like Walmart for as low as $10 each! They also come with lids and won’t rip when your tree ornament collection gets a little too heavy. Choosing a color of bins only for holiday decor will also help organize your garage, attic, and any other storage area you have. Better yet, choose a collection of green or red storage bins as a clear indicator of what’s inside! Use duct tape to label what’s inside each bin. Don’t write directly on the bins incase the items inside change over time, this is a good way to continue using the bins over and over while keeping them in pristine condition. 

Unpack, Sanitize, Repeat

No one wants the magic of the holidays to be interrupted by the yuckiness of cold and flu season. You may not think anything of it, but decorations sitting in a cold and drafty garage or attic for 11  months out of the year may collect different germs. You also can never be sure a critter or two didn’t chew their way into the box. As you unpack grab some Clorox wipes or a sponge and some disinfecting spray, if you’re looking to be a little more eco-friendly, and wipe every Nutcracker, string of Garland, and porcelain Santa down. This may seem like a tedious and unnecessary task, but better safe than sorry during cold and flu season. 

Storage Hacks You Never Thought Of 

There is nothing more exciting than decorating your house for the holidays with a cup of hot cocoa and the scent of an evergreen candle filling the air. There is also nothing less exciting than opening your bin of decor to find string lights tangled up, ornaments shattered, and packing popcorn all over the floor. Optimizing the holiday spirit starts with how you pack the decorations. Here are a few unique ideas to store your decorations:

Tip #1: Solo Cups for Ornaments

If you plan on throwing a holiday party for all your friends and family, you may already have plastic solo cups lying around. These can be a great way to organize and keep ornaments from breaking. Start by cutting out a piece of cardboard that can easily slide into your storage bins. Take out your hot glue gun and start gluing the cups to the cardboard, as if they were on a tray. Each ornament gets its own cup (or combine them to save on space)! Make as many trays of cups as you need and stack them on top of each other to save on space!

Tip #2: Wrapping Lights Around Cardboard

There can be nothing more frustrating than having to start the holiday season by untangling string lights. Luckily, this very simple hack can save you the yearly-hassle. Just cut up pieces of cardboard that are the height and width of the storage bin the lights will be stored in. Each strand of lights gets its own piece of cardboard. This isn’t a groundbreaking hack, and often string lights are already sold this way, but if you aren’t storing your lights like this already, better start now rather than later. 

Tip #3: Making Single-Use Plastic Last Lifetime

Maybe you prefer the taste of Smartwater or Fiji bottled water. Maybe you just took up tennis and need to find good use for the tennis ball containers. Lucky for you this hack is both eco-friendly and can help store the peskiest Christmas decorations yet. Garland and tinsel are beautiful additions to any tree or mantel place, but they break easily and get twisted when they’re stored in bins. This year try using plastic and soda bottles, tennis ball containers, and any other single-use containers you have lying around and made packing tinsel and garland a breeze. Just put the garland and tinsel strings in these bottles, put the cap on, and voila! You have easy and space-efficient storage to make next years decorating so much easier.

Tip #4: Garment Bags Aren’t Just for Clothes Anymore

 You may be able to understand the excitement of going to TJ Maxx or Target and finding the PERFECT wrapping paper! Or you may have a collection of cute penguin, Santa, and candy cane covered wrapping paper that takes up so much space. Avoid ripping the paper or sacrificing too much storage space by using garment bags to store your paper. Garment bags can be found at most box and grocery stores, or maybe you already have them lying around. To make things easier, buy a clear garment bag so when you’re looking for a certain roll of wrapping paper you can easily see it and grab it. Hang the garment bag on a hook or in a closet for easy access. This hack keeps your wrapping paper in good condition and saves you space! 

The holidays should be spent enjoying time with loved ones, and decorating should be easy! Hopefully, these hacks help you during the holiday season and for many years to come!