- Nov 15, 2022

Storing for the holidays?

Managers and Store Decorations

As we all know our managers are the ones taking care of the decorations and putting them up for each season, so these are some few tips and tricks to help out the managers store the seasonal decorations and better preserve them for the following year. Which is why I am sharing storage ideas for your holiday decorations! I am breaking it down by type of holiday decoration since a lot of the same tips can apply to multiple holidays, along with ways to store.

Thanksgiving and Halloween Things like leafy branches, autumnal flowers, and gourds make excellent indoor and outdoor thanksgiving decorations (they work well for Halloween, too!). Other stuff, such as candles or wood decorations, should be carefully stored in boxes with plenty of cushioning to assure they won't break and that they will last till next year!

Garland You may have a holiday garland for every holiday but unwinding that garland can be so tricky. Which is why we use cardboard and wrap the garland around the piece of cardboard. Then you can clip it in place using a binder clip.

Holiday Lights Another area that can get tangled up is the holiday lights. We have some small lights that we put in jars and outdoor lights, both stay organized by wrapping them, but we use different things to do that. The small twinkle lights get wrapped in cardboard and stored in plastic bags. The outdoor lights get wrapped around a small traffic cone and stored in a clear bin.

Wreaths Adding wreaths to your holiday decor is an easy way to add some holiday spirit and storing them isn’t that tricky. If you don’t have the space, try using wreath organizers. They can stack on top of each other and protect the wreath from the elements.

Ribbons There are a few ways you can store ribbons, so they don't get unraveled from the spool. One way is to get a bin with holes, pull the end of the ribbon through the hole with the spool standing up. Repeat for all your ribbon so the spools are lined up in a row and your ribbon can be pulled through the holes in the bins. You can also use a tension rod and place the ribbons on the tension rod in a drawer, this way all the ribbons won’t fall since they are on the tension rod. There are also ribbon holders that look like paper towel holders, these work well if you don’t have a lot of ribbons.

Ornaments Storing ornaments can be easy if you get creative! You can use many easy ways to store ornaments in egg crates, solo cups, and shoe boxes or bags.

Candles Get an empty paper towel roll and wrap 3 candles together in tissue paper, then put the candles inside the empty paper towel roll. Now you don’t have to worry about them breaking in the middle!

Wrapping Paper Since most of our storage facilities are making a wrapping station every year there will be lots of paper to store for the next year! The best way to store wrapping paper is with a large bin or wrapping paper holder. All the other hacks do not work.

Gift Bags Store all your gift bags in magazine holders. You can get different magazine holders for each type of holiday bag, or just use a large one for both. The holders make it so easy to grab the bag quickly. This way you aren’t pulling everything out to find the bag you want to use.

Storage Room Make sure everything is labeled in your storage unit or storage room, this way you can find what you are looking for when you need it.

Christmas For fragile stuff like ornaments, and other decorations, take your time to wrap each item up before putting it away. We suggest storing it in boxes with contents based on indoor or outdoor. Finally, wrap up the lights, keep them tangle-free, and store them all in one place. Don’t put extra weight on them, as this can break the bulbs.

Judith Abraham, MBA/ MS Harvard University

Development Guidance Director