Holidays

As much as I LOVE putting up our Christmas decorations… I also love taking them down again.

Yes, it takes the better part of an afternoon to gather them all into my storage bins and bring them downstairs; but after I’m finished, the house feels so open, light, and un-cluttered. 

I packed our holiday decorations up this past weekend and just left some greenery and pine cones out — but those will stay up all winter long. Everything else is now stored away in the basement until next year.

Here are a Few Tips for Packing Up Christmas Decor

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1. Do it all at one time.

Yes, I left some of my greenery out for the rest of the winter, but everything else gets packed up in one afternoon. I don’t like to drag things out so I just do it all at one time… make a big mess… and then clean it up.

I know people who do one room each day for a week — but then they have storage bins sitting out all week long. Also, if you do it all at one time, you can remind yourself of everything you have… which will help you with #2 and #3 below.

2. Declutter as You Pack.

Whenever I put my decorations away, I always end up purging at least a few things. The other day I shared how I declutter with clothes baskets… and I definitely put a few Christmas things in our clothes baskets this year!

3. Store Like Items Together.

I use 4 large clear tubs to store all our Christmas decorations {everything but the trees}. One bin is for all the greenery, one is for ornaments and tree decor, one is for Christmas linens/dishes, and the last one is just for everything else.

My bins are all the same size so they stack easily; and since they are labeled, I can quickly and easily find exactly what I need within minutes.

4. Clean While You Pack. 

Whenever I take my decorations down, I take a few extra minutes to dust or wipe down each surface. Then, after I put the bins back downstairs, I vacuum and sweep the floors.  It’s just part of the process for me and makes the house feel that much cleaner and un-cluttered when I’m finished!

5.  Stock up for Next Year. 

I had my eye on a few Christmas decor items in the stores this year — but I always wait until after Christmas to buy them at a ridiculously reduced price. I also stock up on Christmas napkins, paper plates, cups, etc. after Christmas and store them in the “linens/dishes” tub.

My house is now “back to normal” for another year… and I’m glad to have that project behind me!

When do you pack up your Christmas decorations?

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I already showed you a few pictures of our Christmas decorations, but I thought it might be fun to show you a few other fabulously decorated homes from around the web — not to make you feel horrible because you don’t have a perfectly decorated home {if this is you, just read yesterday’s post} but instead to get you in the holiday spirit and be inspired by other people’s gorgeous homes.

I’m always amazed by how creative other people get with their decorations — especially since I mainly decorate with trees, garland, pine cones, and other natural items. Below are a few of my favorite rooms – and no, I don’t think they are necessarily simple OR practical… just beautiful!

Wouldn’t you just love to have a grand staircase like this one from the Martha Stewart website? I LOVE the look of dark stair treads and white risers.

Or what about this fabulously color-coordinated room from Modcodesign.com!

I have a soft spot in my heart for the color red, so even though I’d never dare to spend money on a somewhat impractical red couch, I just love how it fits so well in this room!

Of course this entryway is probably not doable for the normal home… but talk about making an entrance! Someday I’d love to have our entire front porch completely decorated for Christmas with lights, garland, lanterns, trees, etc… someday!

I love a good “green and white” decorating theme too — so this rustic room from Country Living Magazine immediately caught my attention. Wouldn’t it be fun to decorate a log cabin like this!

I appreciate the simplicity of this white-on-white fireplace. Now all I need is a fireplace and I can probably pull off the same look

Here’s another white room — this is how I would decorate my cottage for Christmas… if I had a cottage!

These are just a FEW of the many holiday decorations that caught my attention while surfing the web this past month. And like I said earlier, I don’t think they are “simple” but I’ve sure had fun dreaming about what it would be like to live in such lovely rooms.

However, I assume most of these rooms were “staged” for the photo!

What are your favorite types of holiday decorations?

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I know it’s still the day before Thanksgiving — but since I’m over nine months pregnant and since I wasn’t able to put up many decorations last year — I decided to get a head start on holiday decorating this year.

And I’m SO glad I did!!

We’ve been enjoying the twinkling lights of Christmas trees and garland in every room since November 16 — I love it so much I may have have to change my tradition of setting up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving… we’ll see!

Here is a mini tour of our Christmas decorations so far.

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This is the new tree I got just last week. It’s a 7.5 food slimline tree that would have cost over $300… but I got it from a local thrift store for $40 and it was already set up with all the branches perfectly spaced out!  It even came with the box for easy storage after Christmas!

This tree is in our office and is in the direct line of sight for anyone who walks through the front door.

Since we don’t have a fire place {I have plans to make one though}, I hung some old knitted stockings on the barnwood shelves. I actually really like the look!

Since that tree is our “main tree” this year; that is the tree I put all of Dave and my childhood ornaments on. We’ve each gotten at least one ornament every year of our entire lives, and we also have a bunch of ornaments we made as kids too.

We currently have over 80 of these ornaments, but for some reason, the ones above are a few of my favorites. I got the Cabbage Patch doll ornament in 1988 when I got my first Cabbage Patch doll; the sparkly Christmas tree was one I made in preschool; and the wooden bell was given to us on our first Christmas as a married couple.

One of the main ways I like to decorate during the holiday season is with natural items like pine cones, berries, greenery… and candy canes! OK, so candy canes aren’t really natural, but I have a bunch of HUGE fake candy canes that I use to decorate various places around our house.

I’m also a big fan of the tall, skinny Alpine trees — and have at least 5 of them floating around different rooms of our home. I often just put white lights on them and call it good, but I decided to string some cranberries and big gold bells on this one.

The book case is in the corner of our living room and just needed a few splashes of red, green, and gold to look really festive!

Told you I love these big candy canes! 

The girls are loving the lighted garland and candy canes that I used throughout the upstairs and down the banister. They started taking pictures immediately when they got home from school!

I have so many more decorations to share… but I think I’ll wait util AFTER Thanksgiving to post more pictures! For now, I’m just thrilled that I was able to get all the decorations up before our baby girl arrives.

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Today is the day…

…the day when I pack up my Christmas decorations.

I still leave some greenery and snowmen up for the rest of the winter, but the Christmas trees and any other “Christmasy” decorations must come down!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE decorating my home for Christmas {even though I didn’t do much of it this year} but when Christmas is over, I’m ready to reclaim my house and get things back to “normal”.

And every year, I follow 2 simple steps to assure my decorations will be ready, waiting, and organized when it’s time to decorate next year.

1. I Group my Holiday Items:

Personally, I group my decor by “type” — all my greenery in one bin, my Christmas tree decor in another, Christmas dishes in another, etc. etc. But you could also group it by room, by material {all breakables together}, by family member, by color, or any other method that works for you.

By grouping your decorations together, it will be easier to know what you have next year!

{No, these aren’t ALL Christmas decorations. Just the 4 bins on the left!}

2. I Use LOTS of Tubs and Other Appropriate Storage Containers:

I LOVE clear plastic storage containers…which I then label with masking tape or other non-fancy labels. This allows me to know what I have where with a quick glance.

Pssst — if you’re looking for great ornament storage , check out these great products!!

A few more tips…

• Keep all your Christmas wrapping supplies together — but separate them from your every-day wrapping supplies.
• Take pictures of your rooms before you pack everything up. Then store the pictures with your decorations so you’ll remember what to do next year.
• Purchase holiday candles, ornaments, cards, etc. NOW {when they are 75% off} and store them with your Christmas decorations for next year. You’ll save a bunch of money and be way ahead of the game next year!
• Remember, you don’t have to do it all in one day!

And please, PLEASE, don’t pack up any decorations that are broken, that you don’t love, or that you won’t use anymore. You’re just wasting valuable storage space…and believe me, it IS valuable!

As you pack up your holiday decorations, keep these tips in mind to assure a clutter-free holiday sesaon next year!

When do you pack up Christmas??

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving — a.k.a. Black Friday.

Normally, I would spend this day shopping for great bargains or putting up Christmas decorations — often times I’d do both.

However, this year, I told myself I would do NEITHER.

Since we’re moving in just a few weeks, I figured there was absolutely no point in putting up my holiday decor or buying anything else {even if it was an excellent deal} …after all, I’m just being practical right?

While I did NOT venture out to even one store today, I did break down and put up just a few pieces of my Christmas decor.

I just couldn’t resist!

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Don’t these trees just look adorable on my bright red hutch? {Notice the lack of dishes inside — yup, they’re all packed away.}

So now my kitchen has a little bit of Christmas cheer. And since my office is right off the kitchen, I can see the little trees all day long — perfect!

Now, for those of you who aren’t moving or boycotting your holiday decor…

…here are a few tips to keep things simple and organized:

1. Get it all out:

One of the easiest ways for me to stay organized is to see everything I have, all in one place.

If possible, lay out all your holiday decor in your basement, living room, or garage {if it’s not too cold}. If you have too much to lay out — make sure you read #3 below!

2. Display the things you LOVE:

I always start with the living room, family room, and dinning room since those are the areas most people see. I put up the tree and tree trimmings and then move around the room deciding where I want to put everything else.

After the main areas are full of Christmas cheer, I move onto bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. I don’t do a lot in these spaces — but I like a little something in every room!

3. Donate or trash anything you don’t use:

Now that all your rooms are decorated the way you want, what’s left over? Anything?

If so, I challenge you to get rid of EVERY item you know you won’t use, and anything that has overstayed it’s welcome. I say “challenge” because I know this will be difficult for many of you. But just think for a moment, is it really worth storing all the stuff you aren’t using for an entire year just to see if you might use it next year?

Probably not!

Plus, if you donate it now, someone else might have time to snatch it up and use it in their home this year.

4. Take pictures:

You’ll save lots of time next year by snapping a few photos of your holiday decor this year.

I learned this trick from my mom — she used to take several pictures of each room so she could remember how she decorated each year. Then she would store the pictures with her Christmas decor so the following year wouldn’t be as time-consuming.

Now that pictures are digital, I just store them on my computer and then each year, I can refer back to how I’ve done it in the past. I usually change things up a bit every year, but I still find it helpful to have these pictures.

5. Use large tubs and labels:

I store all my holiday decor in clear plastic tubs with tight-fitting lids. I bought a bunch when they went on sale at Target, so they all look uniform!

Then I use labels on the front of each tub to record the contents. I store my decorations by type {tree-trimmings, greenery/berries, home decor, Christmas dishes} but you could also store them by room.

In my opinion, tubs are the best, most organized, way to store holiday decor. Plus, the labels make it so easy to find exactly what I need when it’s time to put up {or pack up} my decor each year.

Now, if you’re honest with yourself…and follow these steps {especially #3} your holiday decorating process should be quite simple and organized this year {or at least next year!!}

What about you?

What tips do you have to simplify and organize your holiday decor?

Christmas is only 30 days away!

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