Tips for Packing Away Your Christmas Decorations

I love the days between Christmas and New Years, and spend them relaxing, playing games, and working lots of jigsaw puzzles! I usually wait until after New Years to take our Christmas decorations down, but I’m always reading to clean up and freshen our space after the holidays pass.

In case you’re getting started with the packing process this week, here are some tips for you as you put your decorations away.

1. Before you start packing away, take pictures of all of your decorations.

This is one of my most important tips for packing away your Christmas decorations! Take pictures of every vignette, arrangement, centerpiece, and room layout. Snap shots of your mantel, fireplace, banister, coffee table, dining room table and buffet, breakfast table, kitchen countertops and cabinets, foyer table — ANYTHING that you decorated this year. It will be so much easier to remember next Christmas when it’s time to decorate again. Even if you like to change things up year to year (as I do!), you’ll appreciate having the photos as a reference to look back to!

2. Designate separate storage containers for each area of your home.

Separate items by rooms as much as you can. I like to un-decorate one area at a time and store each area’s items away as I go. The mantel garland and decor gets its own separate box, as does the banister/handrail garland. Make sure you label each container with the appropriate room or items. Keeping items separated by room and area will make next year’s decorating much easier, particularly if you want to decorate a little bit at a time, or area by area.

3. Separate Christmas tree balls, pics, and ornaments by color and type.

My tree decor changes from year to year. I like to sort my ball ornaments by color and keep the special ornaments in a separate container. Make sure to use plenty of tissue paper to protect delicate ornaments. I use smaller clear containers to sort the Christmas balls and then store all of them together in one very large container.

If you add greenery or floral pics to your tree, sort them and store them separately as well. I keep the frosty white pics for my tree topper in their own special bag to find easily next year.

4. Label everything with a note of how you used it this year.

Use masking tape and Post-it notes to label how you used an item this year. If you use a particular type of berries or greenery in a vase, label it and store it together. You can wrap in tissue paper or keep in plastic bags. Next year, when you look back at the previous years decoration photos, you’ll know what you used to create the arrangements.

5. Store wreaths by hanging on nails in the basement.

Having an unfinished area in your basement really comes in handy for wreath storage. Hammer nails into exposed boards and hang your wreaths to help them maintain their shape. Cover with plastic bags to keep dust off.

6. Wrap Christmas light strands around cardboard to keep from getting tangled.

You’ll appreciate this extra step next year when the lights unroll easily and untangled!

7. Throw out what’s broken and donate what you haven’t used.

While, some years you may be more inspired to use certain decor items than others, if you haven’t used an item in a couple of years it’s time to pass it along. Don’t feel like you have to use an item every year when you’ve grown tired of it or don’t enjoy it anymore.

8. Make a list of items you’ll need to purchase for next year.

Did your landscape grow and you need more exterior lights? Do you need more lights for your Christmas trees? More wrapping paper or ribbon? You can watch for clearance sales now, or refer back to your note next year so you can be prepared before starting your decorating.

9. Keep some evergreens and natural elements out for the winter months.

Not everything has to be packed away. Pretty cedar, boxwood, and magnolia looks great and adds a little “life” to your decor throughout the winter months. Keep pinecones and natural pods on hand for winter arrangements.

Do, however, remember to throw away any real greenery you added to faux arrangements, wreaths, or garland. Otherwise, you’ll have some crispy garland and wreaths next year.

Hopefully, you’re now motivated to get your Christmas “un-decorating” started with these tips for packing away your Christmas decorations! Do you start taking it all down the day after Christmas?? Let us know in the comments.