With another Christmas come and gone, it’s time to think about packing your holiday decorations up again. We gathered the best storage solutions and organizational tips for christmas lights and ornaments. Spend a little extra time to pack these away with care after the holidays and next year you’ll have much less untangling, repairs, and headaches.
Storage Tips for Christmas Lights
- Check bulbs before packing away
- Use a spool to wrap strands around
- DIY Fix: Use empty wrapping paper tube as a spool
- Label strands for indoor or outdoor use
It’s incredibly annoying to open up a storage box and find a mess of tangled cables and lights. It’s even worse to to sort through all of it only to find that half the bulbs are not in working order. It’s easy to replace Christmas lights each holiday, but you could instead head to a home goods store and invest in a spool and case to store them.
The best way to keep your lights untangled and operational for years to come is to find a spool and reel to wrap them around. This doesn’t necessarily have to be designed for holiday lights; a spool intended for other uses (such as garden hose or speaker wire storage) will work perfectly fine. Alternatively, you can find a DIY solution around your home to use as a spool. An empty wrapping paper tube or metal coffee can are some examples of a quick fix.
Make sure to wrap each strand securely around the spool to prevent bulb breakage and place it in an insulated, zippered bag. When finished, remember to label each strand with the length and whether it is designated for indoor or outdoor use.
Another way to save stress is to actually check your lights before you pack them up rather than when unpacking next year. Pick up a small repair kit to fix any broken bulbs. If quite a few bulbs are broken, or you most likely won’t have the time to do repairs (this year or next) consider tossing the strand. You don’t want to waste storage space on lights that will probably end up being unusable anyway.
Storage Tips for Christmas Ornaments
- Pack in original containers when possible
- Purchase ornament container for round bulbs
- Wrap oddly shaped ornaments in tissue paper or foam
- DIY Fix: Use empty egg carton to store small ornaments
Christmas tree ornaments are not just red and round; they now come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They can be handmade, customized or store bought, but very often hold special memories or commemorative moments.
It’s best to keep the original packaging to store your ornaments if you can. For a quick DIY storage fix, you can use an empty egg carton to store smaller ornaments.
Glass bulb ornaments are especially fragile and should be stored in some type of container designed for their shape. It’s best to purchase an ornament storage container if you do not have the original packaging because these will break very easily if stored without protection.
Ornaments other than the traditional bulb can be wrapped in tissue paper or other packaging material and placed in a regular storage container.