Wrapping up 2009!!

Wowsers!  2009 is over?  Where did it go?  I guess it's time to wrap up all those Christmas decorations still floating around the homestead!

I  know, I know!  I am probably one of the last ones to do it!  I actually had full intentions of doing it right around New Years weekend, and sharing the goods with all of you fabulous readers, however, some amazing guest entertaining and then a bout of illness, put packing away the Christmas decor on the back burner.

I had previously posted some of the ways we glam up our home and now, here is how we pack it all back up!

As I always seem to be saying, "better late than never!"  And although my über organized fan base is probably already putting out their Valentine decor and has long forgotten about the Christmas stuff, hopefully some of this information will be helpful for the next Christmas season!  Or, could pertain to any holiday storage really!!

This year I read a great tip in my Better Homes & Gardens magazine, which sums up my Christmas storage perfectly:

"When putting away your holiday decorations, keep only items that are an absolute joy to uncover each year.  Donate the rest for someone else to appreciate.  Then, store your favorites right.  Pack complete displays together in labeled bins, wrapped in tissue paper or bubble wrap as needed.  Take inventory so you know what you need for next year, then hit post-holiday sales for good deals.  Specialty storage items are often on sale right after the holidays too!"

- Meryl Starr, author of The Home Organizing Workbook

Here are some of the great storage container ideas to look for when shopping for post holiday sales:

You may have noticed some wrapping storage in the pics above.  I will touch on storing wrapping supplies in an upcoming office edition!

All of my Holiday storage life savers come in the form of every day around the house storage.  Yes, a huge thank you to Ziplock and Gladware!

Here, you can see this Gladware container is PERFECT for housing all of our spare ornament hooks and all those extra Christmas bulbs for the strands of twinkling lights!

 

And these Ziplock storage bags, big and small, are perfect for keeping together different Christmas decor accessories, such as sparkly snowflakes and rolled up Christmas tree ribbons!

I like re-purpose this decorative star box as instant bulb storage.  Inside, the mini bulbs that I use as vase fillers, fit perfectly and stay separate to be used again next year!

 

I also re-purposed a gift box to corral all my many strands of silver tree beads.

The few glass items get wrapped up and put inside a box for extra security! (of course, this photo is just showing what's in the box, I do a MUCH better job wrapping them up!) 

Once ALL of my Christmas decor is separated in their respective bags, boxes, Gladware, etc... then they all get placed into a Jumbo sized storage bin...

Notice the ornaments?  Those ones are fantastic "shatter proof" ornaments, which require a lot less care than the typical glass bulb.  So, they stay in their original packaging when not in use.

The rest of the ornaments?  They are a lot more fragile so they get to live in special canvas ornament bins, which have nice dividers to keep the bulbs from crashing and smashing!

I also keep a special bin just for Christmas light strands, which I wind up and band.  Another bin is dedicated solely to Christmas linens, such as stockings and tree skirts.

Once everything is in it's place, the bins get stacked up and ready to be put away in our storage room until the next joyful holiday.

Here is a little glimpse of the handy labels on the bins, this makes for quick and easy identification:

 And that's a wrap!  {Lame, I know, but I just couldn't resist!}