Christmas Clean-Up Tips and Tricks

There are two types of people when it comes to cleaning up after Christmas: you either look forward to getting back to normal and tackle it like a champ, or you’re the type to be hauling your brown Christmas tree to the dump in March. Either way, you could probably use some Christmas storage life hacks, couldn’t you? No one likes it when they pull out their Christmas gear and see half their ornaments are broken or the tree skirt is all mildewy.

Save yourself time and money next Christmas and use some money saving life hacks for packing it all away this year.

1. Store Ornaments Properly

Use a box with dividers to store your ornaments. You usually get this sort of box when you buy a case of wine, or a new set of tumblers. The inside of the box has a grid of cardboard so each individual item is protected from all the others. This will save your beautiful Christmas ornaments for many years to come.

2. Inventory Everything

Write an inventory of each box on the outside of the box. Make sure when you store the boxes, you face the inventory list out. That way, you know which box to grab when it’s time to go back and decorate again.

3. Keep Mildew Away

Throw some of those silicon packets you find in beef jerky or shoe boxes into your decoration boxes. They will absorb any moisture and keep that gross mildew smell away.

4. Use Coat Hangers

Wrap your strings of light and your garlands around coat hangers. This will prevent the National Lampoon-esque ball of tangled lights next year.

5. Grab Some Disposable Cups

If you aren’t able to find a divided box to store your ornaments in, use disposable plastic cups to store individual ornaments instead! Just pop an ornament in a cup, and put the cups in a box.

6. Egg Cartons Aren't Just For Eggs

For smaller ornaments or baubles, use an egg carton for storage.

7. Keep Those Toilet Paper Rolls

Use empty toilet paper rolls to keep your wrapping paper under control. Just cut the toilet paper roll open, and wrap it around your wrapping paper. Seal with a bit of tape!

8. Plastic Containers

Store your beaded garlands in a clean yogurt/sour cream/cottage cheese container. These things have a way of getting themselves all tangled up with everything else, so pop them in a little plastic tub, and put a lid on it!

9. Wrap It Up

Make use of your used wrapping paper, by using it as packing filler or protective wrapping around your more delicate decorations.

10. Use Those Candy Canes

Don’t store candy canes! If even just a tiny amount of moisture gets in there, you’re going to have a sticky, gummy mess that smells like stale peppermint. Instead, give them away on New Year’s Eve, or grind them down in your food processor for a great addition to hot cocoa, or sprinkle on top of cheesecakes, brownies, etc.

Hopefully these Christmas storage hacks will make your clean-up a little bit more organized this year, and decorating next year a cinch!

What are some of your Christmas storage hacks? Let us know in the comments!