Holiday Storage

I use a similar system with plastic bins. I put up three trees so I try to keep the ornaments for each in their own labeled bins. I do keep the original boxes for some of the more delicate and special ornaments. The tree we put in our basement is Disney themed so it contains all of the ornaments that we have collected on our trips to Disney World. Some of those ornaments come in their own perfect "storybook" storage so those go into a larger box to keep them protected.

I just bought a replacement for one of my artificial trees so I will be putting the old one out for the veterans collection tomorrow. If time permits, I would love to add some decorations to that because I know there are some that I consistently set aside each year and don't know what to do with them.

I enjoyed reading the entry and all of the comments. Fun topic!

One thing I started the year my oldest child was born..and we started buying (and receiving) ornaments for him was to get a small spiral notebook. In it, for each year, I write the ornament, what its significance was (assuming it had! LOL!) and where it came from... The kids (now 10 and 12) love looking back at the notebook to remember who gave the ornaments or where we bought them (i.e. on a family vacation) or what the significance was (sports hobby that year, etc)... The spiral book stays in the child's ornament box..

I keep all my Xmas stuff together, and label every box with the contents. Each box is either a similar type of decoration (eg, lights, ornaments, tabletop decorations) or it's a theme (eg, Swedish decorations). I switch themes from year to year, so this makes it easy only to pull out boxes I really need, and not unpack everything. I also keep things in plastic bags to protect them from mildew, and I label all the bags, or little boxes, I store them in so I know where to put it back when I'm putting it all away.

I can't wait to see how everything that is stored in those containers look in your new place!

I've got an entire Liberty Falls Christmas village set that I used to put out every year (and added to every year) until I got married. I don't think it has seen the light of day since (11 years) and there are so many pieces/parts it didn't make the donation box last year. I just couldn't do it. So it sat on the floor in the garage for this ENTIRE year between the fridge and the trashcans. I guess that means it should be the first thing I
put in the car to donate... I think the kids would love it but it is such a hassle with all of the individual boxes and trees and mini figures and accessories that I don't even look forward to opening the box much less setting it up.

Okay- I just put the entire uber-heavy box in the back of my car and it will be dropped off today. Just typing this comment helped to make up my mind. Thanks!

Oh-do you wrap all of your ornaments (especially the ones in the kid's boxes) with tissue paper or just set them in the divided sections? Just wondering. Those padded boxes look really nice.

I use this exact same system and love it. The only thing that I can add is that I have a separate small tote for all of the non-breakable decorations. Each year when the tubs come out my kids are so excited to start rummaging through their ornaments...so...I've found that having all of them in their own container allows me to open that one right up without the fear of anything being broken. By the time they have emptied that I have everything else organized.

Last year I took the time when putting out all the Christmas stuff to donate, trash and recycle lots of stuff. I now have 2 boys so as I put things away they each got their own box for ornaments. As I packed things up I donated or tossed anything else I didn't love. I made of a list of things that I really wished I had (kept an eye out all year at the resale shops and garage sales). I started a new box for misc items I had somehow forgotten to pack and anything new I added. As I unpack this year I will re evaluate again!

Let me start by saying that's I have been blessed, because I currently have about 20 large bins of Christmas Decorations and that does not include the boxes that house our trees (1 12', 2 7'and 4 4'). I love a fully decorated home and after 21 years of marriage I have assemble so many decorations that I can open my own store :) Happy Holidays Everyone!

I have one small tub that holds the things I need right away: Advent calendars, story books, holiday card address book, cookie recipies. That's stored right at the front of our Christmas area, so I can grab it right after Thanksgiving and get the holiday started. Then at some point in the month the other two tubs of Christmas items (and the tree) come out as we have time. Works for us, but took me several years to come up with a system that does.

I'm pulling out all my decorations today and boy do I have way too much. I have most of it in bins and I bought a couple of those plastic ornament boxes last year. This past year I inherited a ton of decorations that my Great Grandparents had. I'm so overwhelmed because it's a lot, and I'm having a hard time parting with any of my grandparents decorations. There are a lot of vintage looking ornaments, but they just aren't "me". I found that my tastes have changed in the last 8 years I've been married, so I have a huge box set out to put any of my own decorations in that I don't want anymore. I'm ready to enjoy the things I love instead of shuffling around things that I don't.

I have used this same "system" for almost 30 years - yep, it works as well today as it did 30 years ago.
5 years ago, I was able to give my daughter her "box".... last weekend, I gave my son his "box". Life goes on, a little lighter the tree is a little bare, but I feel good knowing that I did a great job being the keeper of their memories...
~Jill