If you are like me, when Christmas is done, it is done! Not that I don't love it all, but after all the decorations are up for one month, I am just done. I guess that is the pitfall of decorating after Thanksgiving, it is so fun at the time, but as the weeks stretch by in December, I just don't want to do Christmas anymore after Christmas Day.
Then the clean up begins. I have heard of people not putting their Christmas decorations away for weeks even months, and of course that just blows my mind! There are probably homes out there that never put the stuff away! I guess it is like all those household tasks that no one wants to do, so they just get put off. But there is no time like the present to get something done, and you will be glad later.
Now we are not talking a huge amount of time here. Well not in my mind. It probably took me 3 hours to put everything away, including the lights outside. If you set aside some time one afternoon or evening, it really is not that bad. As you slowly pack everything up, you will feel minute by minute lighter and see a very clean house starting to emerge again as you remove the Christmas clutter, er..decorations! (but after a few weeks it really does seem to be like clutter to me :) )
Okay, so where to start...
Bins, one of my favorite things (could be added to the song Julie Andrews sings :)--I just happen to be in a :) face mood this am!)
You will need bins, don't start the process if you don't have them. I wish I had all color coordinated ones for Christmas, but I started back when I did not think to that detail.
I keep all my bins in the garage, so I bring them all in to the entry way.
Collect all the decorations you have around the house. For many of us, this requires going into just about every room of the house--collecting stockings, and platters, and Santa Hats, and all the way down to the Christmas tissue boxes! Bring everything to one location--for me it works great to put it all on the dining room table. Be careful if you have anything that will scratch, put down a cloth.
Now that you have all decorations in one spot and all your bins, and hopefully are next to your Christmas tree, the easy work really begins. There is no fast way to undecorate a tree. If your tree is like mine, mine is all glass ornaments, so that does take time. I have kept all the boxes the glass ornaments (the balls) have come in, so that makes it a bit easier to pack them up. But none the less, taking apart the tree is time consuming. Once you get all the ornaments off, then you can take off any garlands or beads or pearls or lights. My tree if fake, I recommend them. They look great these days, last for YEARS, and are really 1,2,3 easy to take down! It comes apart in 3 pieces, and stores nicely in a big storage bag. No pine needles dropping all over the place, no worn out dried up tree to recycle (I just think real trees are a waste.)
Now the rest of the decorations can be put into bins. Depending on what you have, some is quite easy to pack up. Try to have some semblance of order--IE it is great to put all nutcrackers in one box, all stockings together, my daughter has her own little tree and ornaments and other gizmos, so that is all stored together.
And as I pack up each article, and each bin becomes filled once again, and my dining room and living room take on a deconstructed holiday look, I swear I begin to feel lighter and peaceful. It was all great fun, but now we are done. All the bins go back into the garage, where they all reside all year long on shelves.
The lights were the last thing to come down outside. If they are wet, try to dry them off as much as possible and carefully wind them up. You don't want to open up a box next holiday season with lights thrown all over and tangled. Store the lights with extension cords and the clips for hanging them on the outside of the house. Again, if you keep everything organized, it is always easier, always!
And then you are done. Depending on how much you have, it might take 20 minutes or a few hours, but please clean it up and get ready for the new year. Not much going on in January, a nice time to take a deep sigh. For January, I do like the snow theme--hand cut snowflakes, especially done by children, are a nice touch on a large window or two.
Of course February is right around the corner, so if you are itching for your next holiday decorating, before you know it you can start putting up little hearts!
Then the clean up begins. I have heard of people not putting their Christmas decorations away for weeks even months, and of course that just blows my mind! There are probably homes out there that never put the stuff away! I guess it is like all those household tasks that no one wants to do, so they just get put off. But there is no time like the present to get something done, and you will be glad later.
Now we are not talking a huge amount of time here. Well not in my mind. It probably took me 3 hours to put everything away, including the lights outside. If you set aside some time one afternoon or evening, it really is not that bad. As you slowly pack everything up, you will feel minute by minute lighter and see a very clean house starting to emerge again as you remove the Christmas clutter, er..decorations! (but after a few weeks it really does seem to be like clutter to me :) )
Okay, so where to start...
Bins, one of my favorite things (could be added to the song Julie Andrews sings :)--I just happen to be in a :) face mood this am!)
You will need bins, don't start the process if you don't have them. I wish I had all color coordinated ones for Christmas, but I started back when I did not think to that detail.
I keep all my bins in the garage, so I bring them all in to the entry way.
Collect all the decorations you have around the house. For many of us, this requires going into just about every room of the house--collecting stockings, and platters, and Santa Hats, and all the way down to the Christmas tissue boxes! Bring everything to one location--for me it works great to put it all on the dining room table. Be careful if you have anything that will scratch, put down a cloth.
Now that you have all decorations in one spot and all your bins, and hopefully are next to your Christmas tree, the easy work really begins. There is no fast way to undecorate a tree. If your tree is like mine, mine is all glass ornaments, so that does take time. I have kept all the boxes the glass ornaments (the balls) have come in, so that makes it a bit easier to pack them up. But none the less, taking apart the tree is time consuming. Once you get all the ornaments off, then you can take off any garlands or beads or pearls or lights. My tree if fake, I recommend them. They look great these days, last for YEARS, and are really 1,2,3 easy to take down! It comes apart in 3 pieces, and stores nicely in a big storage bag. No pine needles dropping all over the place, no worn out dried up tree to recycle (I just think real trees are a waste.)
Now the rest of the decorations can be put into bins. Depending on what you have, some is quite easy to pack up. Try to have some semblance of order--IE it is great to put all nutcrackers in one box, all stockings together, my daughter has her own little tree and ornaments and other gizmos, so that is all stored together.
And as I pack up each article, and each bin becomes filled once again, and my dining room and living room take on a deconstructed holiday look, I swear I begin to feel lighter and peaceful. It was all great fun, but now we are done. All the bins go back into the garage, where they all reside all year long on shelves.
The lights were the last thing to come down outside. If they are wet, try to dry them off as much as possible and carefully wind them up. You don't want to open up a box next holiday season with lights thrown all over and tangled. Store the lights with extension cords and the clips for hanging them on the outside of the house. Again, if you keep everything organized, it is always easier, always!
And then you are done. Depending on how much you have, it might take 20 minutes or a few hours, but please clean it up and get ready for the new year. Not much going on in January, a nice time to take a deep sigh. For January, I do like the snow theme--hand cut snowflakes, especially done by children, are a nice touch on a large window or two.
Of course February is right around the corner, so if you are itching for your next holiday decorating, before you know it you can start putting up little hearts!
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