Admit it: You love how your home looks when it’s decked out for the holidays, but you dread putting away the decorations. To make the job easier, we combed the Internet and found nine crafty ways to store your holiday decorations.
Water Bottles
Tip Junkie offers this tip for storing bead garland: Stick two strands into a leftover plastic water bottle, put on the cap and store them with the rest of your holiday decorations. “Next year, pour it out for instant decorating without detangling nightmares,” the website says.
Photo: Tip Junkie
Tubes
Tired of trying to figure out what to do with your artificial tree once the holidays are over? The Family Handyman recommends storing it in what are known as concrete form tubes. Use two 8-inch-diameter tubes, wrap each layer of the tree in twine, and put half the tree layers in one tube and half in the other. “Mark the layer numbers on each tube,” the website says, “and stow the tubes in your garage rafters.”
Photo: The Family Handyman
Egg Cartons
Once you’ve scrambled all of those eggs, keep the carton and turn it into a storage container for small ornaments.
Photo: The Upcycle Blog
Cardboard
Don’t want your holiday lights to be a jumbled mess? Wrap the lights around pieces of cardboard, and then store those pieces in a cardboard box.
Not the crafty type? Don’t worry, we store bought recommendations for your Christmas decoration storage needs.
Photo: A Real-Life Housewife
Attic Shelves
AtticMaxx says its shelving system “creates terrific storage space for holiday decorations in typically unused space between attic trusses.”
Photo: AtticMaxx
Coffee Filters
Blogger Rita May converts unused coffee filters into padding for stashed-away holiday decorations.
Photo: May Days
Paper Cups
Leave it to Martha Stewart to devise a clever cardboard-and-cup system for ornament storage. Here are the steps:
- Cut a piece of corrugated cardboard to line the bottom of a plastic storage bin.
- Use a hot-glue gun to attach paper cups to the cardboard.
- Wrap the ornaments in tissue paper and place them in the cups.
- Stack the cardboard-and-cup flats inside the bin.
Photo: Martha Stewart
Ceiling Totes
When you’re looking for space in your garage to store holiday decorations, look up. The Family Handyman developed a storage system with reinforced plastic totes that hang from carriages made from 2x4s and plywood strips. The system turns all that unused space along your garage ceiling into out-of-the-way storage for decorations.
Photo: DIY and Crafts
Tennis Ball Canisters
Blogger Rita May transforms old tennis ball canisters into see-through storage containers for various holiday ornaments.
Photo: May Days
Top photo courtesy of AristoCraft Girls