10 Post-Christmas pack-up tips

Dec 18, 2013

It’s a job few people like doing but in the next few weeks many Australians will be packing away their Christmas decorations for another year.

Storing your decorations correctly from year to year will ensure their longevity and save you from replacing broken ornaments next year. That’s why, we here at Containaway, have put together a list of ten handy hints for packing decorations:

1. An easy way to store Christmas lights is to wind them around a sturdy sheet of cardboard or use the cardboard rolls from your wrapping paper. Wrap a single strand of lights around the cardboard, cutting slits at both ends to secure the plugs.
2. A hose reel is a great way to stop your lights from tangling when you have several metres.
3. Christmas ornaments should be stored with care. Wrap each in tissue paper or use bubble wrap for delicate ornaments.
4. Special ornaments most often benefit from being stored in the boxes that they came in, so don’t be so quick to throw them out.
5. Ornament divider boxes are great for packing glass balls. An alternative would be to keep the boxes that drinking glasses are sold in, or collect empty wine boxes from the liquor store.
6. Instead of throwing away empty egg cartons, use them to pack the small ornaments. Once full, the cartons can be closed and stacked inside larger boxes being put into storage.
7. When opening gifts on Christmas morning, keep the wrapping paper and tissue to use for wrapping and cushioning ornaments when packing them back into storage boxes.
8.  A DIY packing option for ornaments is to create your own ornament box. Hot glue plastic cups to cardboard sheets cut to fit inside a box or bin. Place individual ornaments into the cups and stack the trays into the box.
9. Pack non-fragile ornaments such as beaded chains, tinsel chains, plastic, card and paper ornaments can be stored in zip lock bags and stacked into a larger box.
10. Forget trying to fit your Christmas tree back in its original box. Use a commercially available Christmas tree bag or a sturdy garbage bag.

Once you have your decorations correctly packed, it’s time to find a place to store them for the next 11 months. Containaway can help with our mobile self storage solution. Our storage comes direct to your home. You simply pack it and we take it away to our warehouse for safe-keeping. Then we can return it straight to your door next November, ready for another festive season.