For the past glorious month your home has been twinkling and green, but now it's time for the lights, candles, and garlands to come down.
Yes, even the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, storing your Christmas decorations isn't as simple as heaping it all in a garbage bag and forgetting about it—there are delicate glass orbs to be coddled, bulbs you don't want to break, even ornaments you made when you were a child that you threaten to give away every holiday season.
So how to deal? We went to the internet, that great source of answers for everything, to suss out the craftiest way to store your Christmas decorations till this time next year.
Ornaments and Breakable Tchotchkes
Do not dump fragile ornaments in a bin and cross your fingers. Instead, line up rows of plastic cocktail cups on sheets of cardboard, gently set an ornament in each one, and repeat in layers inside a bin. If you've got leftover egg cartons and drink carriers, use those to keep smaller ornaments secure. Plastic clamshell containers, such as those used at salad bars, can house larger breakables. Wrap each item in tissue paper and gently clamp the container around it. For anything else, tuck coffee filters down into DIY-ed cardboard dividers to give them a gentle landing.
Lights and Garlands
Ignore your inner Clark Griswold and wrap twinkly lights around a rectangle of cardboard (or a plastic hanger) when you take them off the tree, to keep them from knotting between now and next year. You'll really, really love yourself for this one. With garlands, your concern is less knotting and more protective measures: Perishable ones should of course be tossed or composted, but other garlands can be threaded right into a two-litre bottle for safekeeping.
Faux Greenery
Real greenery can be recycled. Fake greenery, not so much—so buy a quality item and take care of it in the off-season. To seal up a fake Christmas tree before storing, employ the use of plastic wrap, or even stretch wrap, and wrap the branches up like a loaf of bread you're putting in the freezer. It will take up as little space as possible and stay snug as a bug. If you're the type who has a wreath on every door and window, get a set of oversize S-hooks so you can hang them up in a coat closet like this. That way, they won't get totally crushed in a bag you toss on the attic floor.
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