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Tucking Away the Holidays

It was inevitable ... all visual reminders of Christmas and the holidays are now tucked away.  We enjoyed our decorations a bit longer than we have in years past and earlier this week we put away our large living room tree.  Today I bagged and tagged the smaller trees, garland and exterior wreaths for storage.



While our home does seem so bare and we really miss the glow of little lights each evening, it's nice to have a brand new year ahead of us!



To help accomplish the task of storing away the holidays, we're fond of the red canvas storage bags with zippers and handles.  


http://www.lowes.com/pd_76574-88998-SB-10196_1z13eb3__?productId=50086562&pl=1
Very easy to carry and store.  Most have sewn in label holders that are awesome for quick identification of the contents.  They come in various sizes and shapes and you can usually find them after the holidays on clearance.  All of our trees, wreaths and garland are stored in this type of container in our attic.  We like that they're versatile and can be stored upright (great for trees in urns) or horizontally.

The round ones are perfect for wreaths and garland and I've found we can get multiple wreaths in each bag - up to 4 exterior window wreaths fit nicely in each one.  


http://www.kohls.com/product/prd-1901684/whitmor-holiday-garland-wreath-storage-bag.jsp?color=Red


For storing and organizing tree ornaments, stacking drawer units are my choice.   The ones I'm using are 3-drawer units and ornaments for each tree fit safely in separate drawers which I've labeled with my handy dandy label maker.  Ornaments for our larger living room tree are in multiple drawers.  The advantage to using these is that there's no fear of ornament breakage from lid collapse. 




And, for those miscellaneous decorations that do not have to be climate controlled (summers and attics get really hot here), we use heavy duty lidded storage containers (black with yellow lids).  


http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-17-Gal-Storage-Tote-in-Black-6-Pack-HDX17GONLINE-6/206122970?cm_mmc=SEM|THD|G|0|G-PLA-BT3-HDX-D59-Decor|&gclid=CMCX2821mMoCFZWCaQodRowCfg&gclsrc=aw.ds


With our hot temps, the clear containers with thin white lids don't hold up well to hot attics, causing the lids to collapse if the bins are stacked.  We've discovered that the clear containers have also become brittle and cracked over time. 

These heavy duty ones have held up super well so far after a few years' use  - they stack well and no collapsing lids.   They're a little more costly than the typical ones, but well worth the investment (in our opinion).  

I number them as C1, C2, etc. (C = Christmas).  Pretty ingenious, right?   Then, create an index of contents for each box and tuck them away in the attic.  




 
Do you make New Year's resolutions?  I don't, but do have a long list of projects to tackle this year ... some involving holiday decor ... after all, Christmas is only 352 days away!!!
 




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3 comments:

  1. Love your ideas for storage containers. The stackable drawers..[excellent idea]
    I have put my Christmas decor all away..[and I too, miss the twinkling lights...]
    Now.. I need to start planning my organizing and spring cleaning goals. And as you reminded me, Christmas 2016 will be here before we know it.ha
    Have a blessed week.

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  2. You're so right about those clear containers not holding up very well. I don't think most people understand the severity of our summer heat. :) You've got some great organizing tips here!

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  3. Love the stacking drawers storage idea! I have 2 sets of drawer stacks, but they hold various other items. The holiday stuff is mostly in bins in the garage. I have some heavy duty bins, but a couple of the thinner clear plastic ones, too (and yes, they do crack in our 100F+ summer heat!)

    I just finished putting away most of the holiday decorations, today. The last bit (Winter Village) will be put away, tomorrow (I got tired and stopped).

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