Advice on storing your Christmas decorations the right way

Holiday decorating is fun and exciting, but putting decorations away each year is an arduous task. If you've always wanted to organize your holiday decorations but feel overwhelmed by the idea, here are some tips to make the task easier.

Strands of lights often get tangled and broken in storage. If the idea of sorting through hundreds of lights next Christmas gets you down, take steps now to wrap them up securely.

First, coil the light sets around your arm as you remove them from display. Hold one end of the coil with your hand as you wrap the strand around your elbow and back up, making a circular shape. You can also purchase plastic organizers, which are designed to store cords and lights neatly. Even a sturdy piece of cardboard works well in a pinch.

Next, secure the light strands together with zip ties or Velcro straps.

Finally, label each set with tape for next year. You can organize the sets by location (Christmas tree, front porch, etc.) or type (white lights or coloured lights) and add any other reminder you may need in a year (indoor only, missing bulbs or other notes).

The first step to organizing ornaments is separating them into piles. If you have more than one tree each year, you should put ornaments for each one together. You can also group sets of ornaments together and separate breakable ones from unbreakable ones.

The unbreakable plastic and cloth ornaments can go into boxes or bins, but glass ones should be wrapped first. To further protect these ornaments, consider using a special dividing system. You can purchase one from many locations, including home supply stores or hardware stores.

There are many other items you should pack away neatly for the next Christmas season. Knickknacks should be wrapped carefully and stored in plastic bins. Make sure you store candles carefully by wrapping them in bubble wrap to protect the glass jars. Store them away from extreme heat to keep them from melting.

Spare ornament hooks and light bulbs can be placed in baggies and kept with your other decorations for easy access when needed. You may want to store extra tie wraps and extension cords with your Christmas items; otherwise, you may be searching for spare ones when you put up the tree next year.

Though it may take you a bit longer to pack away Christmas decorations this year, you'll be grateful you took the time to organize them come next season. It's much easier to keep the holidays stress-free when you decorate quickly and enjoy the process.