How to Put Christmas Decorations Away

Christmas everyone’s favorite time of the year. All of the lights, the tree, the packages, and the colorful decorations that fill people’s homes through the season spread lots of cheer. However, it is never a cheery day when the broken lights, enormous tree, empty packages, and used decorations have to go away. Now you may be asking how a 17 year old girl knows anything about putting Christmas Decorations. Well I will tell you this, I know because of my family. From helping to put lights away to wrapping knickknacks in old dish towels to keep them safe, I know about to go about this, and exactly what to avoid.
First things first, the more organized you are the better off you are. Instead of using the cheap half falling apart cardboard boxes that you have used for the past ten years, switch it up. Go to Lowes and by some plastic bins. Always buy one more than you think you need! It is very likely that you do not know how many decorations you have. The kind of bin that works the best is the ones about two feet by a foot and a half deep. This way they are light enough for one person to carry up into the attic or wherever you may store your decorations by themselves. In my house we use the ones that look like you can fix a human in. I do not have enough fingers and toes to tell you how many times the bins have almost fallen and either broken someone’s toes or broken the decorations. Next, when you are at Lowes make sure you pick up a good sharpy marker. This is will be very helpful later. So, now you have your bins and your sharpy. When you get home find a pretty open area, either the kitchen or a living room, and call it “base camp”. This is where you bring all of the decorations you have collected around the house. (DO NOT BRING OUTSIDE DECORATIONS HERE) Can you guess what comes next? Go around the house and collect all of your decorations. Start in one room, it is best if you start and finish an entire room rather than pick and choose. Start in one corner of the room collect things and work your way out, to insure you do not forget anything. When you have finished all of the rooms, go back and do a walkthrough of each, while looking for any forgotten decorations. Next take any of the larger items that are not breakable and place them in the bin first. Go from largest to smallest. If you have any breakable decorations do not put them in the bin without being wrapped; they will break. Wrap those decorations in packing wrap. If you do not have any, the snow that is used in the kicknaccks around the house is very good packing wrap. This also saves you time because you would have to put that away anyway. Also, do not over flow the bins, the lid must go on properly! If it does not next year you may not have any Christmas decorations because they will have fallen out of the bin on the way into the attic and be broken. On the front of each bin label what is in it. For example, if the decorations mostly go downstairs in your house label the bin “Christmas Downstairs” this will help when you are decorating next year. Now the last step, you must select a place that is easy to access but out of your everyday way, so you do not have to see them. Closets usually do not work. Try the basement or the attic or even a crawl space. Very neatly with the words facing out this way you can read what you wrote stack the bins in the room of your choice. Close the door and say see you next year!
Now, as far as the outside decorations and the tree. A key with them is neatness! If you have any boxes that lawn ornaments came in try to put them back in those boxes. This makes for the easiest storage of large items. Try to avoid just throwing them in the shed. Usually a cord gets tangled in a something and next year it will not work. When you have the item back in the original box, try storing it some place outside, like a shed, under a deck, or even the garage. The lights are probably the biggest one to tackle. First, take your lights off the house and bushes. Take each strand in your hand, and wrap them up. You can either do it in a circle or in bunches. (Bunches works the best) If you do it in bunches you take one light in your left hand, and use your right hand to bring up the night light therefore keeping all the light bulbs facing up, the same direction. Then wrap the remaining cord around the lights securing it so it will not break out of the bunch or tangle with any other bunch. When that is finished will each set of lights, you want to place them in another bin, label it “Christmas Outside Lights”. This technique of taking lights off will also be used for the tree. Store the outside lights in a secure place such as a shed, under a deck, or garage.
Finally, it is time to take down the tree. Start by taking any large beads or garland off the tree. Next remove the ornaments. The best way to store ornaments is in ornament organizers. They sell them at Lowes also. Place each ornament in its own compartment to insure it does not break. When you are finished taking all of the ornaments off the tree it is time to tackle the lights. Start on the bottom, with the last strand of lights, and work your way up the tree, collecting the lights in the manner previously explained. Store these lights in their own bin, away from the outside lights, this way next year you do not have to determine which lights are indoor or outdoor lights. Since the tree is in the house, you should store its lights, and ornaments inside wherever you prefer. It is probably best to store them with the other decorations this way you know where they are the following year. To take the tree out of your house. Be prepared with a vacuum, you are going to need one to pick up all of the dead needles. Select the biggest door in your house, either a slider or the front door. Have one person lift from each end, and pray it fits. If it does not, do not use a kitchen knife or anything of that sort to try and cut the branches off. The tree will win, and you will end up with stitches.
I hope this essay was helpful. Be careful and good luck!

P.S. It is not a good idea to play Christmas music and put the decorations away, unless you want a new radio that you did not get for Christmas.