It is that time of the year when you can expect the
neighbors to look at you sideways if you haven’t started taking down your
Christmas decorations.
And we all
know that taking down and packing up all of your decorations is not the least
bit fun and usually ends with someone vowing to never decorate for the holidays
again.
Today I had the pleasure of sharing some of my simple tips to make your Christmas cleanup, and decorating next year, a little easier with
Page Crawford on WNCN Today.
•
Preserving
Memories.
o Christmas Card Keeper. One of the best parts of the holiday
season is receiving adorable holiday cards in the mail. These days many people are sending out
the most beautiful photo cards and it is a shame to throw them away, but
keeping them can be a pain. Here
is a simple way to keep all of your favorite holiday cards organized so that
you can display them for years to come.
Christmas Card Flip Book
Tools:
Single Hole Punch
Metal Ring(s) found at any craft or office supply store
Cardstock
Instructions:
1.
Use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top left
corner of your cardstock, being sure to make the hole ~1/2 inch from the top
left corner. Note: If you prefer a book type binding,
punch an additional hole 3 inches below the first hole.
2.
Use your cardstock as a template to punch holes
in each of your holiday cards, being sure to position them the way you would
like to see them as you flip through the cards.
3.
Once you have punched holes in each of your
holiday cards, use the metal ring(s) to string them together. Be sure that your ring is large enough
to allow you to easily flip through the cards.
Use your family’s holiday card as
the cover of your card flipbook so that each year you can look back on the
changes and major events in your life over the years.
•
Organizing
Small Ornaments.
o DIY Egg Carton Storage. It can be tough to store your small
ornaments, especially those that are delicate, and ornament storage systems can
be quite expensive. The solution –
an egg carton. Simply stockpile a
few clean empty egg cartons throughout the year and when it is time to pack up
your small ornaments you have the perfect container. This is also a great way to keep your themed ornaments
organized (like my awesome Starbucks ornament collection started by my hubby when we first met). TIP: When it is time to
decorate the tree next year, use the egg cartons to divvy up ornaments between
your little ones, it is much safer and efficient than handing them one ornament
at a time.
•
Grab’n’go
Storage Ideas.
o A Bag for Everything and Everything in a Bag. Your Christmas decorating and holiday
party setup is made much easier if you strategically pack like items.
This way you don’t have to go digging
for the holiday plates you KNOW you packed after you’ve already found your
napkins.
One of the easiest ways
to make cleanup, storage and setup easier is by using a
ZizzyBee Bag.
These bags are much sturdier than a zip
top bag and still give you the ability to see all of the contents.
Plus, once filled, the bags are very
easy to stack inside your storage container.
So take a little extra time to pack away your Christmas
decorations, you’ll be glad you did when it is time to put up the decorations
next year! And if you don't mind the sideways looks, I say keep up your decorations until Valentine's Day ;-)
Until next time,
aka Chick #1
p.s. Thanks
ZizzyBee for the cool samples for our shoot!
