If you are procrastinating the idea of putting away all of your holiday decorations, you are not alone! Sunday’s Austin American-Statesman featured my tips on how to get this done with the least amount of pain and trouble. You can read the full article on our In the News page, and here are a few of the highlights:
- You don’t have to start putting everything away right now, but give yourself a deadline for taking down decorations, Marrero says. If you don’t, it’s all too easy to let the job fall off your radar as everyone goes back to work or school.
- Look for sales on containers. You might be able to find discounts on those red-and-green bins for your holiday stuff, Marrero says. The color theme isn’t just festive. It can help you find your decorations more easily when you’re looking for them in the garage or attic next year.
- Don’t try to store an artificial tree in the package it came in. "Most of the time packaging is designed for shipping and selling that product, and not really for storing it," Marrero says. "Christmas trees hardly ever fit back in their box." She recommends a zippered bag with handles that’s specifically designed for storing an artificial tree. It’s available at the Container Store and Organize.com.
There are SEVEN MORE tips when you read the full article. Our deadline for putting away our stuff is after January 6th, which is "Three Kings Day" in Puerto Rico, where my husband’s family lives. It’s almost as big of a celebration as Christmas Day there… so we figure we will keep the Christmas feeling around until then and put everything away after that. What is YOUR "undecorating" deadline?
This is some great advice. Thanks again!
Besides the tree, most of my directions are “seasonal;” i.e., snowmen and panda bears. That way, I can still keep some stuff up after the Holiday season is over. Besides, I’m a skiier, and having “snow” related items around the house, during ski season, just seems apprpriate to me.