Perfectly Practical #140 - Christmas Organization Tips

Ornaments that other folks gave us

Between random package toppers, gifts from others' travels, and day after Christmas sales at Dillards (that may be my own doing), I seem to collect Christmas stuff.

Which is fine, except you have to find a place for all of that gear >cough, the attic, cough< and a way to store it.

Here are some tips to corral the Christmas craziness, er, um, clutter:

The dividers that come in jam jar boxes are perfect for storing ornaments

• Try to keep Christmas ornaments in their original boxes as best you can.  If you don't have them, keep one of those deep shirt boxes that the annual ugly sweater from Dear Aunt Sally will come in, put some recycled tissue paper down in it, place a jelly jar divider in it and put the ornaments in each pocket.  Any other wayward ornaments can be wrapped in recycled tissue paper from Christmas gifts from years past. 

Cookie cutters & baskets - all the stuff for Christmas treat giving in a red & green tub even the obligatory Santa hat for delivery of goods

• Get red and green tubs to store Christmas effects.  That makes it very easy to identify at a glance where the Christmas paraphernalia is located.  We pick up a couple from Lowe's every year when they go on sale buy one get one.
• Keep like with like.  For instance, all of the books and household decorations go in one tub and all of the Christmas outside decorations go in tubs together.  It makes it easy when packing and unpacking those boxes to put the items away.  
• Avoid tangles at all costs.  We have a handy dandy light rack that looks a little like baby clothes hanger.  We wrap the tree lights around it and they are just as easy to unwind.  No big clumps of tangled lights.  For strings of beads, I took a piece of cardboard and cut small slits on each side.  I wrap the bead garland around the cardboard and the slits keep the beads in place.
• Ziptop baggies are awesome.  I keep all of my Christmas linens in one tub (along with silica packets and a cedar block).  Instead of rummaging through an entire tub trying to find the 8th napkin in a set, I put all matching napkins in one ziptop bag and write on the bag a description of what belongs in there as well as the quantity, "12 Red Snowflake Napkins" etc.  If I have a matching runner or tablecloth, I indicate that on the bag as well. 

Christmas bow box

• Bows and tags need a home.  All of our Christmas tags, ribbons, and bows stay in a sparkly red box.  I know when it comes time to wrap gifts, I have tape, a pen, ribbons, bows, and gift tags all in one spot.
• Ornament hangers stay out.  We always get at least one ornament given to us every year either as a present or as a gift topper.  Instead of trying to hang it helter-skelter on the tree, we keep our ornament hangers out so that we can hang those latest additions without fear that they will slip off a branch and break. 
• Put Everything Else Away.  As soon as my boxes are emptied of their contents, we shove them back up into the attic so they are out of the way.  

This is Day 11 of the Bloggy Moms Blog Dare.

Day 1 - My Holiday Wish
Day 2 - When Snow Begins to Fall
Day 3 - What We Tell (or Don't Tell) Our Children About Christmas
Day 4 - Acts of Kindness
Day 5 - What I Had Hoped to Accomplish With My Blog in 2012
Day 6 - I Don't Think You Understand
Day 7 - I Finally Gave In And...
Day 8 - The Look On Their Face Made It All Worth It
Day 9 - I Was Certain That I Would Disappoint
Day 10 - The Old Item of Clothing That I Just Can't Part With

This is part of Works for Me Wednesday.