Holiday Tidy-ings

The holidays are filled with traditions, but there’s one you’d probably rather skip: the holiday cleanup. Consider these tips to make the daunting holiday purge seem as fleeting as the season.

Wondering what to do with all those leftover holiday catalogs? Rip ’em up and use the shredded pages to pack away delicate ornaments and other holiday decorations safely and securely. If the tissue paper from all those gifts is too wrinkled to reuse, line boxes with it to keep your most precious items intact until next year.

Use clear plastic cases to store decorations, while the backsides of old greeting cards make good labels to identify what’s in each box.

And what about storing all those extension cords and strings of lights? Wrap them around a gift wrap or paper towel roll to prevent tangling; bag and label with their corresponding extension cords so you know exactly what light goes where.

Do the same for garlands. Consider you avoid stuffing boxes with unrelated holiday knick-knacks. And last, invest in a tree bag to keep pine needles from spilling onto your living room rug or foyer floor. Before taking the tree out of its stand, remove excess water with a turkey baster to ensure that the floor stays dry.