When it comes to the holidays, it pays to plan – even 12 months ahead.
Careful packing and organization of your holiday decorations prevents damage and breakage, and ensures you can find everything next year. It is worth taking the extra time to organize and preserve your decorations for next year.
Yesterday we talked about how to properly pack delicate holiday decorations and lights. Today we’re talking about wrapping paper and other miscellaneous items.
Wrapping paper
- Hanging garment bags provides good storage for wrapping paper rolls. Use outside pockets for gift tags, cards and tissue paper.
- To protect used rolls of paper, cut an empty wrapping paper tube from end to end and slide it over the roll.
- Ribbons and bows can be saved and reused, pack loosely so they keep their shape.
Some Other Considerations
- Wrap holiday candles individually in cellophane and store in a cool place so they do not melt together.
- Pack an “open first” box. Place the decorations you use first in here with essentials such as extension cords.
- Use a “Wardrobe Box” to hang and store seasonal clothing that you only wear twice a year like that special snowman sweater from your mother-in-law or that flashing Christmas tie. This way you can find it, wear it, and store it away on a hanger easily.
- If you haven’t used a decoration in a few years donate it. If it is damaged, get rid of it.
- Take special care if you are storing your items in a damp area like your basement. Don’t store boxes near sources of heat and moisture.
- The most important tip is to label every box. The more detailed the description, the easier it will be to find things. Use different colors to distinguish different holidays. For example, use orange for Halloween, brown for Thanksgiving, and red or green for Christmas.
- Take a digital photo of special care items like snow globes or wreaths, print them off on regular paper and tape the photo to the outside of the box as an easy description of what’s inside.
All our TWO MEN AND A TRUCK branches offer a variety of storage boxes and packing supplies suitable to store all your decorative treasures.
photo credit: nostri-imago via flickr