Getting down the Christmas boxes

Photo: David Zellaby via Flickr

Well, today was the day. The day to take down the Christmas boxes from the 'attic' (well, it is not really an attic but it is a space above our garage where all our storage goes) and start thinking about decorating for Christmas.

Boxes after I rummaged through them to get started on decorating!

Each year after Christmas I box up the decorations in clear plastic boxes. I know that a lot of people prefer not to see inside the boxes - it is neater looking I suppose but I like to see inside the boxes for easy identification. I label each box and although I don't list every item inside the box, I do list some of the more important items.

I also number the boxes so that I know how many to take down the following Christmas. If I have 6 boxes total, I will label my boxes, 1 of 6, 2 of 6, 3 of 6 and so on. That way when I go to get the boxes I know how many I am looking for. I also put the following year on the label rather than the year I am boxing up and putting away. I have found that it is confusing to have the previous year's date on the boxes when I am looking for them.

I had to laugh at this label - 7 of 5? At least it had the right date on it!

I also label the ornament boxes that I did not use. Some years I will use certain ornaments and other years I won't. For example, last year I only used white and silver with a few turquoise ornaments. All the browns and golds and oranges and reds were labeled - "Did not use in 2009." That way I know that if I want to replicate what I did the previous year I will not need that box.

I was planning showing you exactly how I packed my ornaments away but when I was taking everything down I was looking at my system with new 'blogger' eyes and realized that I could do it much better! So here are a few tips for you as you plan for packing away for next year ... and I will share my more blog worthy storage with you when Christmas is over!

1. Store like things together. I try to keep my colors together and the type of ornament as much as possible. 

2. Keep the original boxes to re-pack them in later. 

3. Keep the tissue paper from your gifts to wrap your fragile ornaments in. 

Tip of the day: When you are unpacking your Christmas decorations and come upon things that you have not used for a while, take them to a donation center or share with someone else right away. Someone can enjoy them now and you will have less to store next year!