Last Thursday we had a nice day - not too cold and no rain or snow, so we took down our outside lights and stored them in the 2 plastic boxes we keep them in. Husband climbed up in the garage and put the boxes away. I also brought in our poinsettia and he stored them with the lights.
What poinsettia outside in the cold in winter - how can it survive? We have 3 holders in front of our house for flowers in pots. We had given up trying to grow or keep growing flowers in the garden in front of our house. We buy flowers in summer - we learned to buy geraniums as they last from the spring until they die from the cold as winter comes in. But in winter the pots were empty. We bought several fake poinsettia plants and put them in a set of 3 pots we bought for them. Husband filled the pots with insulation foam which comes in cans and expands to fill the space they are in - we added some fake, thin garland over the foam (which set itself permanently into the foam) and we have lovely “poinsettia” to put out for Christmas.
This year a number of houses still had their decorations up as of last weekend and we would not have rushed to shut off and take down the lights as long as others were lit, but figured that we would take them down while weather permitted. Based on this logic, our lighted wreath (artificial of course) between our doors is still up and lit - this is the first year we had this wreath and will store it in our basement with our other “in the house” decorations as opposed to the shed where our other outdoor decorations are stored. We have also left the battery operated candle lights in the windows for now.
Last Saturday we were to have “a trace to an inch of snow, which will not stick to paved surfaces”. We went to a shopping mall about a half hour away, just to walk around someplace different for a change. When we left a couple of hours later, there was at least an inch and it was sticking to paved surfaces except for main roads. We decided not to go out to dinner and movie, and brought in Chinese food. Afterwards I started taking down the ornaments from the main Christmas tree and the studio tree. (The ornaments for the studio tree are stored with those for the main tree as I switch which handmade ornaments go on the studio tree each year.) This was 2 days early, but husband is itching to start weaving on his loom again and we need to get rid of the tree to have enough room to set the loom threads up. I filled one box of 4. On Sunday evening I filled a second box. On Monday another. Tonight I filled the last box. Well, they are not really filled as there are assorted ornaments - as well as the angel on top and her two angel friends just below her (all stitched by us) to be stored away as the last items off the tree - which have to be put into ziploc type bags for storage. I have also been reminded that when I took out 2 bulbs from the tree lights (all of which still have to come off the tree) to plug in decorations, I dropped one. So I am missing a bulb. I put a white bag tie around the bulb holder so I can find it easily to deal with this as we put away the lights - spare bulbs and holders in the basement. The rest of the decorations can take a little longer as they won’t be in his way.
Some thoughts on storing Christmas decorations - Some items I keep in the original box - these include ornaments which are special and come with a special box which one wants to keep. The general fill in ball ornaments and such I also keep in their original box (or combined into original boxes as some have been lost over the years) as they keep better in same. The assorted odd ornaments we have bought are combined into small boxes. Each box has a list on the outside of which ornaments go into that box. Breakables are wrapped in paper in the box. The boxes vary from small gift boxes, tree light boxes, outer boxes that boxed ornaments came in, Christmas card boxes (the ones which have a cardboard box and cover), and so on. This gives extra protection to the ornaments. Some ornaments go into ziploc type plastic bags - fabric ornaments, some wooden ones (wrapped in paper) which husband turned on his lathe, a few odd ornaments (woven wheat, teasel animal...) . The boxes, loose ornaments and plastic bags go into the 4 large plastic boxes, with some of the soft ornaments going into the box the tree is kept in if they are bulky.
The ornament boxes are numbered 1 to 4 and contents are put on the tree in that order. By which, I mean the ornaments in box 1 are the ones I want to put on the tree first. They are the nicest ones. Box 1 also has the angel for the top of the tree and her two “friends” and the hooks for the ornaments. (I have green wire ones which are pliable, they work amazingly better than the traditional ones as they can be bent in a variety of shapes.) Box 4 has the “fill in the spaces” ornaments and the “icicles” to fill in empty spots also. Putting them away is done in any order. I have more of these large plastic boxes to hold the rest of the decorations.
Have you put away - or at least started to put away - your Christmas decorations yet? It is always so sad to “see them go”. I know some of my neighbors have Valentine decorations up already.
TODAY’S THOUGHT ON ORGANIZING -
Time is fixed - but it can be amazing how much more I find I can do in the same time when I have to. I try to use short periods of time - perhaps we will be going out for dinner and husband is still upstairs and I have 5 or 10 minutes - I try to find something to do or at least start doing, whether organizing related or not in the time I have. Small pieces of time can add up.
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