Traditionally, the twelfth day after Christmas is time to take down your Christmas decorations. Often seen as such a shame, rather than procrastinate about putting away your decorations, embrace the process and make a day of it.
Instead of resenting the task, involve the whole family or simply pour yourself a glass of wine or a cocktail and enjoy yourself, taking your time to store all of your decorations away carefully. Not only does it serve to protect and preserve your cherished ornaments, imagine how good you’ll feel when you open up the same boxes at the end of this year to find everything neatly packed!
Where to start? Here are 5 tips to get the job done right.
1. Collect and coral
Arm yourself with a large bowl or open basin to collect decorations in as you move through the house, unloading to a central place to wrap and pack into boxes. Work from front to back, taking down lights, garlands and the wreath from the front of the house. Don’t risk tangling them by lumping them altogether as you collect them however - it’s important to keep each set separated as you pull them down, even if it means several trips inside and back out again. Whilst it’s sad enough taking everything down, the last thing you want to do is sit and untangle metres of fairy lights before you pack them away.
2. Pack Christmas decorations like you’re moving house
Packing away neatly is the secret to success for ease of rehanging decorations each year. Always keep the packaging that your new decorations arrive in or, if the original packaging can’t be salvaged, reuse small sturdy boxes from your Christmas shopping. With a whole year before you get them out again, the boxes may get jostled about in the attic or garage over time so allow plenty of space and padding.
3. Store like with like
Pop small baubles into egg cartons and wrap larger ones individually in tissue paper, nestling each one into a larger box. Keep all your lights together in one box, but store tree lights with other tree decorations. Start a seperate box for other Christmas decor, such as garlands, candles and any ornaments. Label boxes clearly and tape the lids down.
4. How to store Christmas lights
Find a sturdy piece of cardboard and snip notches every 2cm along each of the two longest sides. Wrap string lights around the card, tucking the strand into the notches so they don’t slide off. This keeps them in place and stops them tangling in the box. Tuck the power plug underneath and store together in a box or plastic tubs.
5. Christmas decoration storage hack
Save silica gel sachets from other purchases and tuck into your Christmas decorations box to absorb any moisture during the long months in storage. Remember to pop a few into your Christmas lights box - particularly for those hung outdoors.
Images from top | Luke Southern; Annie Spratt; Anastasiya Romanova; Serafima Lazarenko; Kevin Fitzgerald on Unsplash