Friday, December 31, 2010

Safe Ornament Storage

I have an idea that most of us who haven't already done it will be taking down the Christmas decorations this weekend.  Up until now, I have always stored my Christmas ornaments in their original boxes, inside a Rubbermaid bin.  However, every year it was getting progressively less organized and the original boxes more banged up.  I know they sell ornament storage boxes, but I got looking online and found an interesting project from Martha Stewart.

She suggests making your own ornament storage box with cups. Since I already had the bins, I decided to give this a try.  Notice how Martha's is perfectly square and fits perfectly in the box, and is even color-coordinated.  Well, I'm not Martha.


I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom of my bin, and hot glued cups to it.  Super easy, although the cups I used did not allow for a perfect fit, and I had to stagger them.  These are 16oz cups, and they had smaller ones, so maybe either just the smaller ones or a combination of the two would fit more snugly.  My bin allowed for a second layer of cups-on-cardboard.


Then I started wrapping my ornaments in tissue paper, and setting them in the cups.


Even though these pine cones were just 2/$1 at Dollar Tree, I really like them and would hate for them to get broken.  I think they are pretty secure in their little individual nests.






I was able to get a few extra cups on the top layer since the bin widens a bit at the top.  In total, there are 39 cups.  There's still some head room, so I will put in another piece of cardboard and store things on top of that.  Another Martha suggestion is to use egg cartons for smaller ornaments, and they would easily fit.

I think I will be pleasantly surprised when I get out the ornaments next year and find them so well organized!


10 comments:

Paula@SweetPea said...

I don't remember that Martha tip. I wouldn't have thought to hot glue the cups to the cardboard. That was smart!

I have 50 million bubblewrap small bags that calculators came in at school that I use for our ornaments. Some still go in their original boxes, but the majority go in the bags. It's not a neat system like your new one, but it works.

Hoosier at Heart said...

Oh Holly, I put mine away a few days ago and they are all crammed in a box. What a great idea! You will be so happy when you get them out next year. I will not be too happy with myself. Can you post this again next year on December 26th just as a reminder for me? Or you can just come over and re-do mine now.

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Those ornament storage boxes are one of my favorite things to buy after Christmas. (Already brought one home!) What an awesome, frugal take on it! :) I love tips like this.

Unknown said...

Good idea. My ornament storage boxes have seen better days, so I need to be thinking of replacing them. This is a good alternative.

Unknown said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

SplendidlyImperfect said...

That is genius!

Melinda said...

Great idea and I'm not Martha either. :)

Happy New Year!

Melinda

Shine said...

So smart! Thanks for the tip. Before I start packing things aways tomorrow, must first find cardboard and plastic cups!:) Blessings~~Shine

Anonymous said...

I have been postponing taking down my tree for two reasons: I do not want to put the ornaments back in their original boxes, and I am too frugal (cheap) to buy totes. Thanks for posting this tip.

MamaSlu said...

I did this today!! Mine is fancy with leftover red solo cups in a green tote. more happy accident than anything! I liked the staggered cup action that I had to do on mine because I could tuck some flatter, larger ornaments in the gaps created on the sides. WORKED GREAT! Thanks so much for the tip!! I was so proud of myself today with this project! :)