Cleaning Up After the Holidays

Ready to clean up your Christmas tree? It's not the most fun job in the world, is it? In fact, for many years I found it to be pretty darn depressing. There's always tons of help in setting up the tree and decorating the house; but, for some reason, when it's time to take the tree down there's no one around to help out!

Chances are you aren't nearly as busy now as you were back in early December, so now is a good time to get your decorations organized for next year. Sure, you can go out and buy all kinds of cute plastic containers, but they aren't necessary. Here's what you need:

Supplies

- A few boxes from the liquor store with the little partitions in them
- One or two rolls of paper towels (or left-over tissue paper from this year's gifts)
- Time
- Music you enjoy
- A separate place to pile unwanted stuff

Getting Started

Did you see any great photos of decorated trees you really loved this year? Thinking about changing your color scheme, perhaps? Or just simplifying your decorating? Keep that in mind as you put things away.

Here We Go!

1. First things first: Take off the tree skirt or whatever you used this year, and ask yourself some hard questions. Do you like it? Do you want to use it again? If not, start a pile in another room (we'll get to that later). If you do like your tree skirt, now is a good time to make sure it is clean and in good condition for next year. If you don't like it, now is a good time to look for another as there are tremendous sales on tree skirts. You might also consider making your own or using something different like an Indian Sari.

2. The ornaments will take the longest. As you remove them from the tree, ask yourself the questions above. If they don't fit your criteria, add them to the pile of non-keepers. You'll need the partitioned wine boxes and paper towels for this task, wrapping each ornament and putting them in the partitions. The partitions are the perfect size for most ornaments. You might want to separate them by color now if that's something you're considering for future decorating. One big tip: Make sure all of your ornaments have hangers now. That will save time and prevent frustration in setting up the tree next year.

3. The tree topper (if you have one) should come off next. Again, ask yourself if this is a keeper. If it isn't, start looking now for a new one or think of ways to make what you want.

4. Unwind the lights next. If any are burned out, throw them away. A lot of people recommend wrapping lights around paper towel tubes. I just use my hand and they never get tangled. Either option is fine. Again, this is a great time to stock up on lights for next year.

5. Take the tree out of the stand (if it's real) and remove.

6. Now, take a look at all the items in your pile (assuming you've created one). What would other people appreciate more than you do? Consider selling these items on eBay, taking them to a thrift store, or giving them away.

And Finally...

Label your boxes with the contents inside. Depending on how you organized your ornaments, you might put "Blue and Green ornaments" on the outiside of the box or "Disney ornaments". I have my boxes marked with a large photo on the side of each box, so I can see the contents without taking the boxes off the shelves.

Sweep up the floor and relax! You will be so relieved when you open these boxes next Christmas.