Okay so the gifts are opened the holiday guest have left the house, now what? Well you gotta clean it all up. You could stuff it all in old boxes left from Christmas and say I’ll organize next year. Not a good idea. Take a few steps now and next year will be a breeze.
After 30 years of marriage and 2 kids I had a lot of Christmas decorations. I decided this year I’m gonna down size. I decorated my home with what meant the most to me. The rest was left in the closet untouched this holiday season. Now I could just pack up what I used and call it a night but I’m gonna take those steps to down size.
Plastic tubs with lids are an investment but makes it all pack away so easy. I always pack away all of my holiday dishes in 3 containers that have sealed lids. This helps with protecting them. I use my holiday linens, tables runners and holiday oven mitts to wrap the dishes. Putting your holiday dishes in your kitchen cabinets only clutter them up with things you don’t use but once a year. I have a basket that stays on a shelf in my kitchen that I put all my Christmas paper goods in. It sits there all year and no one knows what it is. When the holidays roll around I’m ready to just reach and grab what I need. It’s a great place to store what you find on clearance this year for next.
I gather up all my greenery that I use for my table tops and it all fits in one tub. I don’t really have a need to have extra greenery. If something tears up or doesn’t look good anymore I’ll buy a replacement and toss the old out then.
All the snowmen fit into 3 tubs as well. I made a promise to myself last year that if a new snowman came in one had to go out. This is keeping me in check on getting a snowman hoarding started. I’m careful to not place glass ones next to each other using the cloth snowmen as packing. This speeds the process of packing and serves as a space saver.
The ornaments on my tree are very special to me and I have found a great way to pack them away. I went to the Container Store and bought 2 boxes that are for packing glasses to ship or for moving. It’s great the sleeves for the glasses holds many ornaments and they don’t move around. I have used these boxes for 11 years. They still sale them at the Container Store.
I have to large containers that all my front porch decorations go in. I don’t like to mix them with the inside things because they have been outside with dust and leaves. I have a door mat that I only use at Christmas. At the end of each season I use a pant hanger with clips to hang it in the closet over the tubs of decorations. It’s perfect, it doesn’t get bent or fold marks and is perfect for the next season.
As you can see everything is packed together in groups. Even my tree has a special bag that zips and sits up. My stockings are all packed away in a small tub and I line the bottom with dryer sheets to give them a fresh smell. All of these time savers will help your next holiday fold out with grace and ease. I love organization it makes me very Blue Happy. I hope these ideas will help you have a Blue Happy holiday clean up. God Bless you all in the New Year.
