When you take the time to put away decorations in an orderly fashion, they’ll be all the easier to put back up again next season—and in the same pristine shape.
LIGHTS: Test string lights, then loop each strand into a neat bundle, wrapping ends around each one (or a cardboard rectangle) to secure. Place each strand in a resealable plastic bag, leaving air inside to act as a cushion; place bags in a bin.
ORNAMENTS: Store ornaments in a segmented cardboard box made for this purpose (sold at home organization stores), or reuse a box from a wine store. First wrap fragile ornaments individually in acid-free tissue paper. Clear plastic storage bins are also convenient and let you see the contents; keep tissue-wrapped ornaments and delicate bows in zippered plastic bags with some air trapped inside for extra padding. Store decorations where humidity and temperature don’t fluctuate throughout the year.
Celebrate
Recycle the Christmas Tree
Take your tree outside: Lay a drop cloth or old sheet on the floor next to the tree, wrap the trunk in a towel, and then wrap the whole tree in the cloth, enclosing all branches. Carry the tree trunk-first through your door to keep branches from catching on the frame and breaking off.
Use it as winter mulch: Rather than leaving your tree curbside, remove its branches with a handsaw, then crisscross them over perennial beds to a thickness of several inches to protect plants from snow and frost; remove in the spring. If you don’t need the mulch in your own yard, ask your local sanitation or environmental department if it has a program to supply mulch to local residents.
Martha Must
I like to give money plants (Pilea peperomioides) on New Year’s Day and as birthday gifts, because they are believed to bring prosperity. Since they are easy to care for and readily produce new “babies,” they make lovely first plants for children.
