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De-Clutter The Christmas Fun

Dec 27, 2012

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The cookies are eaten, the gifts are unwrapped and it’s time to de-clutter the Christmas fun in the home. That also means it’s time to “de-decorate” and get the house back in order after a fun-filled month of celebrations.

These tips will help you to begin the process:

To de-decorate:

Take photos of this year’s Christmas decorating – Do you set up those lighted porcelain houses? Did you create an arrangement this year that you like? Did you figure out where to display all those snowmen around your house this year? Take pictures, both inside and out, so you can easily decorate next year and avoid having to reinvent the wheel!
I really do this and it helps me each year when it comes time to decorate. I can easily recruit help from my children who can look at the pictures and know where each of our Christmas decorations should be displayed.
Enlist help – The entire family can help in the de-decorating process. Assign family members jobs that they are able to do. From removing ornaments from the tree, to placing the nativity back in boxes, your de-decorating will go quickly with the help of others.
Use labeled storage bins – Before you drag all of your boxes back to the garage or up to the attic, label and number them so you can easily find them next year. This will help you know if you have missing boxes of decorations next year when you begin decorating.

To de-clutter:

Pick-up – Move from room to room gathering items that need to be put away, like gifts received for Christmas. You know those piles that have accumulated during the Christmas celebrations? Assign your children different rooms or items to help pick-up.
Put-away – Return each of the picked up items to their usual place and find new homes for items received as gifts. The children can help put away all of their belongings and help determine new homes for things they receive for the holidays.
Speed clean – Now that things are picked up and put away you can speed clean.