Christmas Ornament Storage

All too soon now the tree will be coming down and the ornaments will get put away. I know it can be tedious, but please take the time to store them carefully; so many lovely ornaments are also fragile.

Basic Techniques

FamilyTime has these suggestions:

- Pack glass balls in their original packaging, if possible. Individually wrap breakable ornaments in tissue paper.

- Replace old cardboard boxes with plastic tubs with tight-fitting lids. Fill the tubs with shredded newspaper and nestle ornaments in the paper. The shredded paper will prevent the ornaments from shifting too much if the tub is moved.

And over at Christmas Rants, there's a reminder and a suggestion:

- Make sure you wrap each Christmas ornament delicately in tissue paper. Avoid newsprint since the ink can rub off on elegant Christmas ornaments.

- If you have any old pieces of furniture, such as a dresser that you planned to get rid of, you can possibly convert it to a neat storage center for your Christmas ornaments.

But the most complete advice comes from Your Home Improvement Catalog; here are just two samples.

- Place bubble wrap or crumpled paper towels in the bottom of the Christmas ornament storage container before you put any wrapped decorations in it. If the box doesn't include sections, use extra tissue between decorations to provide more protection. Add a last layer on top of the ornaments before fastening the lid.

- Place some silica gel desiccant in every container to remove dampness. You can buy it at craft stores.


Specialty Products



1. You can find both plastic and cardboard ornament storage boxes and chests all over the place, from Amazon.com to organizing stores such as The Container Store and Stacks and Stacks. Some of these even have archival-quality storage, such as this box from The Container Store. Some stores that specialize in archival products, such as Gaylord, also have ornament boxes.




2. But there are some products you won't find all over, such as these ornament boxes which hold from 82-164 ornaments.




3. Sterling Pear sells some fancy ornament chests.




4. ZipBin has this collapsible ornament bin. That seasonal picture isn't quite what Christmas looks like for some of us, though. Update on January 8, 2012: ZipBin doesn't seem to make this product any more.




5. The ornament safe is a very different way of storing ornaments.


[Italian clown ornaments; handpainted, mouthblown glass; via Gumps]