The 10 Best Hacks for Storing Christmas Decorations

Decorating for the holidays is one of the best — and worst — things about winter. While it’s nostalgic and exciting to break out all your favorite Christmas ornaments, ribbons, and wreaths, putting all your decor back in storage is the last thing you want to do on New Year’s Day. Not only is it sad to see the twinkly lights and sentimental ornaments go back into storage, but it’s also a hassle to store everything properly without it taking up space, becoming a big mess, or accidentally breaking. 

The good news is, there are tons of projects you can employ to make storing and organizing your holiday decorations a little bit easier. From ornaments and wreaths to lights and candles, here are some storage ideas that can help you out this holiday season.

Small, curved ornaments are a perfect fit for cardboard or Styrofoam egg cartons. And while you’re on your third coffee run of the day, remember to stockpile the cupholders the barista sends you off with — sandwiched together, they’re perfect for storing bigger baubles.

One Good Thing by Jillee has a super-easy tutorial for ornament storage that uses just four things you likely already have on hand: a large plastic storage bin, plastic cups, cardboard, and a hot glue gun. Simply glue the cups to the cardboard (these layers can easily be stacked inside the bin) and fill the cups with your ornaments. If they need a little extra protection, add tissue paper or bubble wrap.

Save scratched nonstick from the landfill! Sandwich holiday ornaments between two retired muffin tins and your ornaments will be safely tucked into perfect-size cubbies. Secure the tins with extra large rubber bands or packing tape. 

Those fabric bags meant for storing sheets also make excellent holiday decor containers. They’re breathable, roomy, and easy to label, making them ideal for ornaments, tree toppers, or delicate garlands that need protection without being packed too tightly. 

Apple boxes are the perfect size for large ornaments, and they’re stackable, too! If you needed another excuse to stock up on flats of fruit, here it is. 

Small gift boxes lined with cardboard dividers or folded paperboard make excellent ornament containers.

Looking for an easy way to store your holiday wreaths that won’t result in them becoming misshapen over the next 11 months? Don’t toss the hanger and bag from your preholiday dry-cleaning run just yet. You can bend the bottom of the wire hanger around your Christmas wreaths, then hang them up in a closet or garment rack to keep their shape. And you can even use the plastic dry-cleaning garment bag to protect it from dust.

Sure, you could completely take apart your artificial tree and put it back in the box, but that can be a big challenge to take on. Instead, you can take a cue from this tutorial from Epbot and shrink-wrap your tree. The benefits? It won’t take up much vertical space, you don’t have to take it apart, and you can leave the lights on it. That means next year, you can just cut open the shrink-wrap and fluff the branches back into places — no more assembly and light stringing required.

String lights always seem to be the most challenging thing to store each year, because it’s not just about finding space for them — you need to make sure cords don’t get tangled and bulbs don’t get broken, too. But with a few household items, light storage can be easy and painless. Just cut a slit in the plastic lid of a washed coffee can and push the plug end of one of your strings of lights through. Wrap the rest of the lights around the outside of the can and — voilà! — no more tangles.

Make candle storage easy by simply wrapping up pairs of long taper candles in tissue paper, and slip them into cardboard paper towel tubes to keep them safe and organized. Make sure you store all your candles in a place where they won’t be exposed to too much heat to prevent melting.