These Christmas ornament storage tips will help you ensure your favorite ornaments and decorations last a lifetime!
And so it goes, with one more Christmas behind us, we’ve reached the end of yet another lovely holiday season!
Although this time of year always makes me feel a bit wistful, taking down decorations and packing Christmas ornaments gives me a chance to take one more look at all of the amazing times I shared with my friends and family. Memories I want to last forever, just like my Christmas ornaments!
I like to think there’s an art to packing and storing your Christmas ornaments and decorations. If done properly, they’ll last for years and years, allowing you to keep them in your family for generations. Best of all, putting a bit of thought into how you pack your ornaments will make decorating next year a breeze.
If you follow these Christmas ornament storage tips, not only will your ornaments and decorations last longer – decorating next year will be easy as pie!
Keep similar ornaments and decorations grouped together!
When packing ornaments and decorations for storage, do your future self a favor by keeping similar items grouped together.
Ornaments of like size, shape, and color can be organized as you put them away, making it easier to decorate again next year. If it helps, use labels to mark pieces that go together or decorations that are part of a set.
Likewise, if you stow your ornament hooks separately from your ornaments, keep them together in a separate Ziploc bag and – if possible – pack them with their respective ornaments, this way you won’t have to count ornament hooks again next year!
If you have specific displays you set up annually around the holidays, try packing these items together as well. You’ll be thanking yourself 10 months later, when you don’t have to hunt for a missing stocking or the second piece of a two-piece set!
Reuse the original packaging!
In most cases, the original packaging is the absolute best way to safely store your ornaments and decorations.
Of course, if the packaging is damaged, missing, or unavailable, try small cardboard boxes, shoe boxes, and even gift boxes.
Likewise, you’ll want to make sure you wrap them individually using soft paper towels or tissue paper, this way they’re extra protected!
Avoid storing ornaments in attics, garages, sheds, and basements!
Although places like attics, garages, sheds, and basements are convenient and out of the way, they’re not the friendliest of environments when it comes to delicate Christmas ornaments and fragile decorations.
Extreme changes in the air, temperature, and humidity can be incredibly harmful for certain ornaments, causing them to warp, crack, fade, or break beyond repair. Instead, opt to store your ornaments and decorations in a seldom-used closet or underneath a tall bed.
Regular household items double as excellent ornament storage containers!
Need something to store your smaller, more delicate ornaments? Use an empty egg carton!
What about those super-fragile ornaments that don’t have their own box? Wrap them in tissue paper, and then seal them in a plastic, Ziploc bag with lots of air trapped inside! The air will help protect the ornament from outside dangers, while the tissue paper will keep it from bouncing around during transit.
Be careful when storing vintage ornaments!
Vintage ornaments can be very sensitive to moisture. That’s why you want to be careful when storing them in plastic containers, which can trap moisture that may be harmful to your vintage ornaments’ health!
Instead, look to archival storage boxes, which feature acid-free dividers and UV protection to guard against sun damage and fading.
Do you have Christmas ornament storage tips of your own? Let us know in the comments!
