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No Comments [ Add Comment ]Resolve to organize
By BECKY CAIRNSA white Christmas may quickly morph into a blue Christmas come time to put the holiday decorations away.
Quick, stash the stockings in a sack and throw those strands of lights in a box. Hurry, hurry -- get rid of those holly garlands and get cleaned up for the new year.
We may be tempted to hustle through the un-decorating but waiting until next Christmas to wash that cranberry-stained place mat will carry a price, say home organizing experts.
"You'll probably regret it next year," says Becky Edwards of Syracuse, who runs a part-time organizing business.
A few storage smarts now will save plenty of headaches next December when -- in festive spirits -- you haul out lights and bows to deck the halls. So we asked some organizing gurus to share their best tips for putting the holiday under wraps.
Wreaths and bows
A clear plastic garbage sack works just as well to keep away dust as a specially designed plastic wreath box, Edwards says.
Hang wreaths on hooks or nails on the wall or from the rafters, Edwards suggests. The greenery won't get smashed and it isn't taking up space on a shelf.
An ordinary clothes hanger is a wrinkle-free way to store the large bows Kay Hardy likes to use for decorating mirrors or wreaths. The Ogden resident, whose house has been featured in several holiday home tours, ties about 10 bows on one hanger.
Tree ornaments
Layer the ornaments in boxes, such as shoe boxes, says Linda Mortensen, chairwoman of this year's Brigham City Holiday Home Tour. Cover the bottom of the box, add a layer of tissue paper, make another layer of ornaments, and so on.
Leave the hangers on the ornaments, for future decorating ease. Hardy says, "Anything you can do to expedite the next year is a good idea."
Charolette Thurgood, of Willard, groups ornaments by colors in the drawers of her plastic ornament boxes -- all the red ones in one drawer, the green in another. The boxes have separate holes for each ornament.
Keep original containers, says Joan Kimber, another house tour decorator. The Brigham City resident collects tree ornaments on her travels and stores them in their boxes, marked with the dates and places she bought them.
Organize ornaments by family members. This makes it easy for the kids to put their ornaments on the tree, says Kelly Pratt, a Sandy organizer. Later, when they grow up and leave home, they can take their own boxes.
Lights
Wrap each strand of lights around an empty cardboard wrapping-paper tube, suggests Mortensen. "All you've got to do is unroll that and they're not tangled up," she says. Each tube can be cut in half so it holds two sets of lights.
Label indoor lights according to where they go, be it on the banister or on the door wreath, Edwards says. Otherwise, "Every year I'd have to figure out what goes where."
Store outdoor and indoor lights separately, so you can quickly find what you want, Thurgood says. Also, keep any spare bulbs or hangers with the lights.
Kitchen items
Those red reindeer plates shouldn't take up prime storage space in your kitchen all year long, says Teresa Hunsaker at the Utah State University Extension Service in Weber County. Tuck dishes away with other holiday decorations, but be sure they're easy to find when you want them Dec. 1.
Christmas cookie cutters can be included in a holiday baking box or craft box, says Pratt, a "Studio 5" contributor.
Linens
To reduce wrinkles, roll tablecloths or other linens with tissue paper onto empty wrapping-paper rolls, recommends Hardy. Store several rolls in a large flat box, like a dress box.
Wash items before putting them away, even if they were only lightly used. "It's amazing how difficult it is to get a stain out a year later," Hunsaker says, plus food remnants can attract bugs.
Place dryer sheets in with the linens, so the items smell nice next year, Pratt says.
House decorations
Take photos of the entryway or family room to refer to next year, so you remember what you did, Hunsaker says. Keep the pictures in a box with the corresponding decorations.
Make your own divided boxes by using liquor boxes with cardboard panels to separate bottles, says Kimber. Wrap individual items in Bubble Wrap or old grocery sacks and tuck each one in a cubbyhole.
Village houses or nativity sets store best in their original boxes, complete with necessary foam padding. Hardy, who has more than 200 village houses, then puts individual boxes in larger containers, grouped by themes such as "Santa's Village" or "Christmas in the City."
Garlands, candles
Use sticky notes to label which piece of garland goes where, as well as where each end goes, such as "stair end" or "den end," Hardy says. And leave the wires on the greenery so it's ready to go next year.
Candles keep best stored indoors, Mortensen says; "You get the summer heat in a garage (or shed) and they'll change their shape a little bit."
To prevent candles from getting scratched or chipped, wrap them in old socks or pantyhose, suggest the experts at www.christmastreesstoragebag.net.
Wrapping supplies
Go "green" and pick up decorated gift boxes at post-holiday sales, Edwards says. Rather than using rolls of paper every year, these boxes can be reused for several seasons. "We don't even tape them shut," to minimize damage to the boxes, she says, and sticky notes work well instead of tape-on tags.
Rolls of paper can be stored in a flat box that slides under the bed, or in a tall wastebasket where they stand on end, Pratt says. Supplies like scissors, tape and ribbon can be kept in plastic zip bags in the same container or in a separate box.
12 TIPS FOR DE-HOLIDAYING
Tired of hunting through grinning pumpkins or summer shorts to find the Christmas decorations? Get organized with these tips from the pros.
1. Create a storage zone. Whether it's under the stairs or in the garage, find one spot to store the Christmas decorations, suggests Teresa Hunsaker, family and consumer science educator for Weber County's Utah State University Extension office.
2. Choose containers. Some opt for matching red and green plastic totes; others prefer plain cardboard boxes. Whatever works is fine, Hunsaker says, as long as your items are protected against moisture, insects and mice.
3. Size it up. If you want to invest in new containers, get a handle on what you have by sorting it into cardboard banker's boxes, says Kelly Pratt, a Sandy organizer. The inexpensive boxes, available at office supply stores, can be temporary storage while you purchase new bins, or can become your permanent containers.
4. Categorize. One option is to store items by rooms -- all the family room stuff in one box, the dining room things in another. Or try grouping like items together, such as all of the nutcrackers, all of the garland, etc. Or sort things by colors: red items, gold items, green items.
5. Label, label, label. Go beyond "Christmas decorations" and list the contents of each box on the outside. A magic marker works, or type the contents on a piece of paper and tape it to the box. Be sure the labels are readable on the boxes when they are stacked.
6. Pare down. After the holiday is the perfect time to sort and get rid of items that are broken or that you no longer use, says Becky Edwards, a Syracuse home organizer. "If you haven't used it in a few years, you're probably never going to use it again," she says.
7. Save memories. If it's hard to part with something, take a photo to keep the memory -- then discard the item, Edwards says. Or if it's something sentimental, like a picture your child drew, put it with your treasures instead of storing it with Christmas decorations, Hunsaker says.
8. Stay manageable. Use boxes that are a size you can easily move and lift; don't overstuff the containers so they are too heavy to handle.
9. Stick to your space. The amount of storage space can be a guide for how many decorations you can accumulate. Edwards says if her Christmas things don't fit in their spot under the stairs, then she doesn't need that many.
10. Create a "First Box of Christmas." Pack items you need at the beginning of the holiday season in their own box, including the advent calendar, the Christmas card list or the wreath hanger, says Pratt. Make sure this box is easily accessible.
11. Think ahead. Hunsaker uses a system for stacking her plastic totes, according to how she needs things next year. The outdoor lights, for example, need to be handy to get out early: "I don't want it to be the last box to be pulled out from under everything. I want it to be the first box out."
12. Party on. Many dread the un-decorating and the coming winter blahs, but why not go out in style? "Keep on the Christmas music," Pratt says, "and bid a fond farewell to the past year."
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