I just have a large tupperware they go in. Plastic/non-breakable ones intermixed with glass. The glass get wrapped in tissue (just save pieces from opened gifts and packaging materials.) This has worked for years without incident, and I can fit a lot more in less space than the compartmentalized ones.

I only have about a dozen glass balls and they're still stored in the original cardboard boxes from Restoration Hardware. The rest of my ornaments are various shapes and each gets wrapped in tissue paper then placed in Ziploc bags before being placed in the plastic storage bins.

"I just have a large tupperware they go in.... This has worked for years without incident, and I can fit a lot more in less space than the compartmentalized ones."

Same here... except I use an 18 gallon Rubbermaid bin, not tupperware.

i only have a few of the typical balls, most are more like figures or different materials. At one time I had a theme going, but then the kids started making things in preschool and now there is lots of glitter and foam shapes and popsicle sticks but I can't bring myself to throw them out!

I can fit all of them in two large shirt boxes, some I wrap in a bit of tissue or put in snack sized baggies inside the boxes, and then the two boxes fit in a large rubbermaid container with some light strands and the tree skirt, etc.

Each purchased ornament is in it's own box, and those are all placed in large plastic storage bins with locking lids. The ones that didn't come in boxes, such as those that the kids made in school or in Scouts, are put into small boxes, and again put into the bins.

I buy christmas decorative gift boxes and store all ornaments in them. Some of my collectables I put back into their original boxes and then put those into the decorative boxes. Fragile ones, without an orginal box, I wrap in tissue paper first. After decorating my tree I leave all the storage boxes around the tree to look like gifts and only have to stow away the large rubber maid bin that all the boxes can fit into in the attic.

You can put several small ornaments in one of the slots.

I got lazy last Christmas and lo and behold, it worked! I have a large bin with dividers like your's.

When we built-on we added a large closet in the back of the living room. One section houses the tree with shelves above it, the height from the floor to the bottom shelf was measured for my tub of ornaments. I got smart at the last minute when they were building the closet! lol

I was being really lazy last year taking down ornaments, plus I ended up having more ornaments than before. Instead of wrapping the good one's and putting them in the cardboard slots, I took all the cardboard out and gently stacked the ornaments, unwrapped, on top of each other. The large ornaments go in the bottom.

All were in perfect condition. But it was because the box was never moved all year long.

Tomorrow the tree comes down. I'm gonna miss it!

I have a a large rubbermaid tub (or two or three!) for the glass bulbs. No special treatment; they just go in one on top of the other and get stored away until the next year. I will admit that a couple get broken every year, but I don't have room (or patience) for all of those individual boxes. And, glass bulbs are pretty cheap. Good ornaments are individually wrapped in tissue paper and put into their own rubbermaid tub and marked "fragile". I put a bath towel on the bottom of this tub before I put any ornaments in to further cushion them. The lights have a rubbermaid tub. Doo-dahs have a rubbermaid tub. Etc, etc. You get the picture.

Just a wee warning about storing kids school-made ornaments. One year my DD made a spray-painted macaroni ornament and some sort of dough figures. I put them in a box in the basement with the rest of the ornaments. When I hauled them out the next year they had been totally eaten by mice. In the dim basement light, I thought the bottom of the box was full of old pine needles and spent a minute trying to figure out how they got there. They weren't pine needles and now we have a cat.

Just this year, I saved off my Costco plastic containers the apples came in. Not all my round ornaments would fit but definately the vast majority.

They weren't pine needles and now we have a cat.

(smile)

The ones that came in boxes, still in boxes and those in larger cardboard boxes. The individual ones, wrapped in tissue paper and packed in boxes. My mother still has my grandmother's ornaments layered in cotton batting but that snags some.

I nixed reboxing ornaments years ago to much work. I use plastic shoe boxes with locking lids for glass ones and all others. Then those boxes are just stacked in the Christmas closet.

I have four large rubbermaid storage boxes, two are half full of styrofoam peanuts. All the ornaments go in these two bins, unwrapped. I give each bin a gentle shake before securing the lid. Lights, candles, greenery, bows, do dads and other Christmas decorations are put in the other bins - and then all are stored in our garage attic. Fortunately no breakage and no mice, and surprisingly, even the candles keep their shape from year to year, which is remarkable, because that attic must be 120 degrees during summer temps!

We use a combination of original packaging and tissue wrapping and stacking ornaments in decorative tins (like those large popcorn or cookie tines). All of those go into large rubbermaid tubs.

I have been packing mine up today. I'm trying to clear some of my Christmas out of a bedroom closet (guest bedroom, not used, but still - I am going to re-organize that closet!!).

I keep all ornaments and decs other than trees, outdoor wreaths, etc. in the house - not the attic or basement. I was using several plastic bins - stacked. I bought one of those rolling plastic bins for under-the-bed. They are big! Looks like most of my ornaments and a few other dec pieces will go in there. Glass ball ornaments are kept in the box they came in and stacked on a closet shelf. Old World glass ornaments are kept in their individual boxes and go in the plastic bin.

tina

I kept the boxes the round ones came in and reuse those each year, all are then stacked into rubbermaid tubs. I've started collecting vintage ornaments at yard sales, you know the old glass ones. I try to pick up ornament boxes at yard sales and reuse them, but if I can't, I wrap them in tissue and pack carefully into a plastic shoe box, which in turn, goes into the large tub. Same with odd shaped ones. And the ones the kids made, I store those in an old cookie tin, that way I don't need to worry about rodents. Even though everything goes into rubbermade bins, there is always that chance.

I have 15 large bins, all numbered and with items sorted into them by category. They get stored in the attic and DH HATES me when I ask him to get them down from the attic. I know just how many bins I have (they're numbered) and he knows he must get them all in the order I ask for them, because some aren't needed till later in the season and some are needed before we get the tree up.

Tina, the other day when I was taking down the house decor (not Christmas tree) I decided to really organize the closet, unlike last Christmas when I just threw everything in. lol.

Guess what I found? An Old World ornament from Poland that I bought after Christmas, in it's box, and forgot all about it! It gets all of 2 days on the tree. :)

Another good reason not to box the ornaments. At least the container never moves so I don't have to worry about breakage.

I too started to clear out a closet a bit, (SO I don't have to put so much up in the attic) and now I am up to my ears in mess. My son's baseball card collections, geodes, trophies, old computer parts. He now has two sons and I still have this junk! I need to do lesson plans for tomorrow but can't get into my office. That, plus the fact that a charity truck is coming to pick up stuff this week, has me diggin stuff out. I want my house to be organized! My hubby will at least be glad to see I have put the tree away and boxes are all packed and ready for the attic. It is a two man job. oh, the original question, I just pile most of mine in popcorn tins with a little tissue paper here and there, and the unbreakables go into shoe boxes, then all into plastic totes. I love those things.

I store all of mine in a few of the large Rubbermaid ornament storage boxes with the cardboard separators. Each ornament gets wrapped in tissue and I can fit a few of the smaller ornaments in one slot.

I do have some larger ornaments that won't fit in the smaller slots so I usually just leave one separator off of each layer and they easily fit into the longer 3 slots. With all of the tissue paper I never have any broken ornaments and this is a great way to recycle the tissue wrapping paper left over after Christmas.

The only ornaments that are stored in their original boxes are my Disney Storybook ornament sets. There are 6 or 7 different sets and all of these go into their original boxes and then into one large Rubbermaid container.

I have many, many collectable ornaments, and wanted to keep the boxes in good condition. (It seems the condition of the box is important for collectors.) The boxes were starting to show some wear after years of taking them in and out. So I packed up the boxes, and just keep them stored. Then I "layer" the ornaments in totes with bubble wrap between each layer. I've been doing this for several years, and it makes decorating/undecorating the tree alot easier.

I use the same system as others--have a large plastic ornament box with cardboard dividers and most of my standard/inexpensive ornaments go in there. As juddgirl says you can easily customize by removing divider strips if you want larger cubbies.

My special and fragile ornaments go into a separate plastic bin and most of them are in their own boxes if the ornaments are glass or really delicate. If not boxed, I wrap in tissue paper.

And pesky, I knew there is a reason I like ya! When you wrote this:

"I have 15 large bins, all numbered and with items sorted into them by category. They get stored in the attic and DH HATES me when I ask him to get them down from the attic. I know just how many bins I have (they're numbered) and he knows he must get them all in the order I ask for them, because some aren't needed till later in the season and some are needed before we get the tree up."

...I figured it is safe to confess my own neatnik/freakishly organized secrets about holiday storage and procedures.

I also keep all my holiday supplies in our loft; all are in containers with red/green color themes so it's obvious they are holiday related. I also have each box numbered; I put the same number (printed on labels) on each end of the box and on top so it's easy to see no matter how the box is stored.

And then, I go one step further and keep a master list of what is in each box. I print that out using MS Word tables, so I end up with a single sheet of paper on which is listed, by box number, exactly what is in each storage box. I make 2 copies and place one in a plastic protective sleeve in the loft next to the boxes. The other stays on my desk. When it's time to start decorating it is incredibly easy! I just get my master list and ask my husband to bring down boxes by number. So, for example, when it's time to trim the tree I may only need boxes 1, 2 (ornaments), 3 and 4 (lights). Once I start wrapping gifts I'll get 5 and 6 (bows and boxes). To decorate the house 7 and 8 (knick-knacks, linens) come down. I keep my wreath in a special wreath box and gift wrap is stored in a gift wrap upright container. Gift labels, ribbon, tape, scissors and extra fine point sharpies for writing names are in one of those stackable storage box set ups. All are kept in the loft, together, and with the master list handy in its plastic sleeve right there with them.

Aside from the ornaments, I also have my holiday cards organized: all cards are stored in a particular cabinet in my LR, to keep them inside an air conditioned environment so as not to ruin envelopes or get moldy which would happen in the loft. On my computer I have a file of mailing labels which I created years ago using an Avery formatting online tool. So the labels are pre-formatted and only need to be printed onto holiday labels, which I buy and keep in my office in my desk organizer. When I'm ready to do holiday cards I only need to buy holiday stamps, print out my labels, get my return address labels, and sit down for a card session. Makes sending cards a breeze.

And since I'm confessing, I also keep a master Excel spreadsheet of gifts. I have columns set up with the recipient's name, the gift(s) I either am planning to give or have given, the price of the gift and who it is 'from' so in the case of someone who gets several gifts like my niece they come from different people, even though I'm the one doing the gifting process.

I do this each year. I can easily track how much I'm spending and it lets me see quickly what I have gotten and still need to buy. I have my lists from past years in a folder on my computer at home so I can also review quickly to be sure I'm not giving the same gift I gave the year before for example.

Hmmm, I better move on over to the neatnik topic now!

Ann

Thanks for the ideas. The main reason that I asked is because I always dread putting everything away. The only thing that makes it more "fun" is if I try out a new method and imagine how much easier it will be to decorate the tree the next year.
I downsized the tree a few years ago from about an 8 foot live tree to a 7 foot slim artificial tree, that takes a lot fewer ornaments. But I still have to get all of the ornaments out to pick and choose which ones go on the tree.