Organizing 2007 style

[Christy Carol]

So I guess with my spring cleaning this weekend also comes the cleaning of my Christmas closet. I have so much stuff in there I cannot honestly say that I know what I do and don't have. And there are still yard sales to hit Saturday morning before I ever start cleaning. :P

I normally use those large tubs and store stuff in bulk but I am thinking about getting some of those long, flat under the bed storage tubs for my smaller stuff and just keeping it inside. But where to start?

I was wondering when everyone starts to decorate, do you have a system as to how you put your stuff out? Do you do it room by room, theme, or do you just unpack and stick it somewhere? Do you put the same stuff in the same place each year? When it comes to the actual decorating some times I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants! So I would like to pack stuff up in the order I am gonna take it out but don't know where to start.

[Ervserver]

I store all my Christmas stuff in tubs, nearly 30. I haul up the tree first and set it up, then I haul the tubs upstairs one at a time and unpack . As I unpack a tub I pack it with living room stuff that I need to get out of the way for Christmas. Haul it downstairs and then haul up another tub.

[e_xander]

I'm not as organized. I do store my decorations in tubs, but I tend to mix things up when I take them down, so I usually bring all the totes down from our storage room and then go from there. I usually know where I want things (it doesn't change for us too much from year to year), so as I go through totes, I will put the tote in that area and then unpack. I also do what Erv does, put the stuff that the Christmas decorations are replacing in the tote that the decorations were in and then take them back upstairs.


Sean

[lightitup]

I have an elaborate system. I have index cards with numbers on them that correspond with the tub number. On the index card is everything in that tub and where the tub is(in the shed, attic,underbeds). I look at everything in the tubs through the index card and lay out a scaled plan as to where it will go this year. This coming Christmas is all about themes. The living room will be green and red. The theme will be toys and trains in the dining room. The theme in my den will be snowmen and blue and white themed. The theme in hubbies room will be what ever is left over.LOL
I have over 80 tubs for the inside and outside so it can get a bit confusing. I had five trees now six but I only need ornaments for four of them.

[e_xander]

WOW, LIU. You make me look like a slob.

Sean

[Ervserver]

The most important thing to me is store things so they don't get broken, don't care how organized things are. :?

[lightitup]

After last year I am now more determined than ever to keep it very simple to put it all out. I know my theme for this year so everything is packed to put away with putting it all out this year easier just in case I am sick and can't do it myself. I do have a lot of stuff too so it would be easy to get lost if I didn't organize it. I have 80 tubs in the shed and 20-30 in the attic. Besides the tubs all the outdoor decorations are in the shed all put together and I don't take them apart and box them because I don't want them to break taking them apart and putting them back together. My trees do go back in there boxes but the stands hang from the ceiling. My wreaths get covered with clear plastic and hang from the ceiling too. I hang my candy canes and suckers on the wall between the studs and my whirly gigs have a stand they go in. Every year I amaze my self how well I get everything back in the shed and the attic. This year I had to put some tubs under the guest bed because I am running out of room. I don't know how we are going to fit all of my finds this year in the shed and attic because I am looking for a lot more stuff. Hubby thinks we need to redo the garden shed to make room for all the tubs. That will probably need to be done soon but I won't hire the same people to build the new one because we ended up doing ourselves after a couple of months waiting on them. :lol:

[Ervserver]

Rubbermaid loves Lightitup :P

[lightitup]

AKRO-MILS loves lightitup. Rubbermaid breaks too easy cause I pile my tubs so high. I also use Quantum, rubbermaid and sterilite tubs. It is safe to say where ever the best buy is I am there.

[Ervserver]

I admit I buy the cheapos, whatever is on sale. I don't stack more than 3 high though.

[lightitup]

I can stack as many as six high but hubby doesn't like it. This year he put in some shelves and now I can only go five high. :? If he doesn't stay out of my Christmas shed I am going to start using his garage then I'll have plenty of room to buy more. :lol:

[Ervserver]

You may want to start shopping for a good used forklift :?

[number4son]

http://cgi.ebay.com/FORKLIFT-TOYOTA-TOW-MOTOR-EIGHT-SERIES-FORK-LIFT_W0QQitemZ280104175434QQihZ018QQcategoryZ97185 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Ervserver]

pocket change for Light :?

[whitney37354]

I have downsized the decorating since having child two years ago. No room for a big tree now that we have a rocker in the living room. I've started putting up two table-top trees. One is my daughter's tree with her "granddaughter" ornaments from her grandmothers and her ornaments from daycare & Sunday School. I use multi-color lights on her tree. The other tree has different "theme" depending on the year and how much work I want to put into it. This year I may get brave and get out my glass & crystal ornaments again. Last year the tree was decorated with cowboy boot mugs from Dixie Stampede and topped with a red cowboy hat. We've been going to Dixie Stampede for our anniversary (12/18) almost every year for 13 years. At 2 mugs a year, we've got quite a collection. I wanted them out of my kitchen cabinets, so I put them on the tree. After Christmas, they went into the plastic bins. I only have maybe 5 bins, so no big deal. I have a Precious Moments nativity that goes on the pie safe. I have a Clotheique (sp?) Santa collection, but haven't put it out in a couple of years. Since the trees are on the tables, there's no place for the Santas.

[Ervserver]

Table top trees can be very nice and festive, my neighbors thats all they put is a fiber optic table top tree.

[lightitup]

pocket change for Light :?
Do you know how many yard decorations I could buy with that 27,000.00
I don't need a forklift I need a cherry picker to haul my rear up in the trees to put the lights on them. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Whitney you need a bigger house so you can put those santa's out. Santa doesn't like being hidden in a closet. Let him out. :lol: :lol: :lol: :grin:

[whitney37354]

Need a bigger house----so my parents keep telling me. I think they are just embarrased that my house is older and in need or some repairs. My sister and her "can do no wrong" husband are starting to build a big, nice, new house and she wants me to have one too.

I've tried to explain to her that even if we sold the house as is and used it and the inheritance I got when my grandmother died, we'd still be paying about $1,500/mo. for the kind of house we'd want, and there would be maybe 1/2 acre of land, in a subdivision. Now we live on about 4 1/2 acres of land in the country and love it. We've lived in town, in a not-so-nice neighborhood and never went outside, unless we had to mow or go to the mailbox. Neighbors not so nice. We have great neighbors and peace and quite. We couldn't afford the mortgage payment on the kind of house we'd want.

So, we are presenting a united front, making repairs and renovations to our house, and telling her that in 6 or 7 years, when this house is paid for, that we might move.

She also is insisting that I put up the big tree this year. Should I hang it from the ceiling in the stairwell?? Or put it on the front porch???

[Ervserver]

I would like to not hang the icicle lights, I don't like ladders. Maybe as it gets close to decorating time I can talk Kim into more yard decorations and less roof decorations

[lightitup]

whitney sounds like me. My mom kept insisting we needed a bigger house and we insisted the kids would move out one day and we would have all the room we needed. That day has come and we did a room addition so I could have more to clean up. :lol:
Put the big tree in the yard and get the santa's out of the closet. put them on the kitchen table and eat in the living room. Just a thought. it sounded good to me.
Erv Why would you want to give up hanging your icicle lights? There would be a big black hole if you didnt' light up the house. I think you need more lights on the roof. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Ervserver]

:roll:

[whitney37354]

I could put a tree on the dining room table, since we hardly use the table for eating. We could eat our Hamburger Helper sitting on the couch! However, we have a chandelier over the table, so even a tabletop tree would probably be too tall. I think I'm going to move Deanna's little table & chairs and put the big tree up in the corner of the dining room. I can put up her little tree on the sewing machine in the living room. I have a few months to ponder it!

[lightitup]

Let us know what you decide to do Whitney. I would love to put a tree on my dining room table but hubby would have a fit. I am doing a poinsettia tree next to the fire place this year and if hubby sells his fish tanks this year I will have room for another tree and a large village. I hope he sells them. :)

[Ervserver]

remove the chandelier over the dining room table and suspend a small platform over the table with a tree on it

[whitney37354]

I don't think I'll be removing the chandelier, though I would like to lengthen the chain on it. Maybe that would be a way to get DH to do it for me! We actually did put a table top tree on the dining room table the year we were selling our first house. The big tree was in storage and we had moved out all things non-essential. We didn't even have presents under the tree. The gifts were wrapped and put in a closet in the back bedroom. I didn't want everything out when people were coming to look at the house. That Christmas was kind of pitiful as I recall. I don't even remember having stockings that year. Maybe I need to get out the scrapbook and see what we did Christmas 2000.

I've just about convinced myself that I can get two trees put up this year. The big tree in the dining room & Deanna's tree on the sewing machine. I think I'm going to take a risk (having a two year old child and all) and put the glass and acrylic ornaments on the big tree. They haven't been out of storage for the past two Christmases. Since the tree will be in a corner it won't take as many ornaments anyway.

[e_xander]

I think I'm going to take a risk (having a two year old child and all) and put the glass and acrylic ornaments on the big tree. They haven't been out of storage for the past two Christmases. Since the tree will be in a corner it won't take as many ornaments anyway.

We actually got lucky with our children and none of them really did too much with the trees. We had them help and told them they couldn't touch and they really obeyed it. Even the children in my wife's daycare are good.

Sean

[Ervserver]

wow, how did you manage this..... duct tape?

[HollowMarkeD]

I always manage to insist on a plastic sheet underneath my xmas trees, although it can still be a little unsightly, I actually think fake trees may well be worth the effort. :-D

I have three shops to decorate so I try alternating the decorations from each to keep it all fresh for the customers, it seems to work well (apart from the ones who saw the same decorations 4 years ago :smile:

[number4son]

Need a bigger house----so my parents keep telling me.
You stick to your guns. You'll never be happy in a house that was bought to please someone else.

[lightitup]

Need a bigger house----so my parents keep telling me.
You stick to your guns. You'll never be happy in a house that was bought to please someone else.
Very true Number4. Maybe more land would be better then you could just put the tree outside and decorate it. buy out the neighbors and demolish there house. hehehehe

[whitney37354]

Having enough land isn't a problem. We have 4 1/2 acres!!!

[luvinh]

for ages when kids were little i use to make a big fuss they got older did not matter much i even lost interest now little grandie is 3 since he was 1 and was showing interest he will be 4 20th dec,i have gone all out,collecting chrissie stuff all year round be surprised what thrift shops have,so tubs and tubs are all out in the shipping container best part very low prices,so i will start 1st dec,then it is pack away stuff,put out chrissie things a mixture of handmade and bought as usual xmas gift list is done and finished,hidden away. :)

[lightitup]

I wish I could say mine is all done. Doesn't look like I will be making much this year. I better go shopping.

[Ervserver]

Make the fruitcakes now so they will be nice n hard by Christmas