I own about 200 ornaments, all in two big storage boxes. I now put up only a small tree (three feet) with a few cheap ornaments from our locall 99 cent store. Took me about ten minutes this year. I'm keeping all my ornaments to give to my two daughters after they marry. Or move out. After that, I'd try donating them to our church.

I never did collect anything in particular--other than my annual Wallace Silver Jingle Bell. So when we were getting ready to move all the stuff, it was not that difficult to go through things and reduce the amounts.

I'd first offer the excess to family and friends who might enjoy them (and remember, sometimes the cheapest, tackiest ornaments are the ones they remember fondly from bygone years). Then the rest might either go out on a yard sale or be donated to a local nursery school, charity or church.

when we made the move here I decided I was not moving all that Christmas stuff that was packed in the attic, I picked out enough to put in one plastic bin and got rid of all the rest. I had a few friends that wanted some so they took their picks first, the rest I donated to Goodwill and Salvation Army but the man that came in the truck(for one of them) told me they usually just throw away Christmas decorations. So you might check with where ever you are thinking of donating to so they can actually get distributed.

Also freecycle is a good place to offer free stuff in your area.
The Freecycle Network

Donating them to the teachers at local schools is also a good idea since many teachers pay out of their own pockets for those kinds of supplies.

I am trying to do the same thing make it easy to decorate and not so much trouble to drag it all out. I have collected TONS of Boyds bears over the years they look great on the tree~~I am weeding out my decos to just what I really love to fill out the rest of the tree.

With the leftovers I am having DD's and DGD come over and pick out what they want. With the remaining stuff I will let DS's GF come and go through it~~~~my Older DD has a sister in law that I will pack some up for her or let her go through it. By then it should almost all be gone WHEW!!!

OMG!!! I can soooooo relate! I got hooked into the Hallmark ornaments 30 years ago when first child was born. Fast forward 30 years----3 kids later, all have collections through the years.

Here is what I would do---check ebay for their true value---some really are worth more $$. There are also books out there that will tell you what they are worth. They are worth more if you have the box with them.

Next, I would catalog them all on a spreadsheet by year, original cost, current value, etc. (yeah, right. Ask me if I have done that with the HUNDREDS of ornaments I have! It is in the plans though)

All that being said, I must tell you I feel your pain. I can't wait for mine to leave home and take them with them! LOL

Give me the plain ole glass bulbs anyday! But.....I created the monster! As soon as the series that they are collecting end, I SWEAR to G0D I will NEVER buy another Hallmark ornament!! Well, at least until I have grandkids! LOL

I know this probably doesn't help you much, just wanted you to know that I am in the same boat!! (sinking) lol

I have ornaments that I buy on my trips. No way am I giving them up at this time. I think, my girls will have to deal with them one day. :)

Moni

I am getting ready to have granddaughter go thru mine, mostly Hallmark ones. She does not have many. There is a book by Hallmark that list all of them ( I think) not sure if it list prices. But like some stated the thrift shops take very few and charge too much and toss the rest. Maybe someone on the base can use them especially the younger families. Or if an organization ask for raffle gifts, you can donate to that, (even year around) ask the Domestic Violence groups, or others that haven't much.

Some of the Hallmark ones are valuable... especially the first ones in a collection. Check eBay's completed listings to see what they are selling for.

Almost all of my ornaments are gifts from friends, ones I bought on vacation or ones that have special meaning. I don't always put all of them on the tree though because I do have a lot. I do have some Christmas decor I'd like to thin out though.

To second several people -- check their worth. It
is surprising how much some of those ornaments
are worth?

I just checked on "Mary's Angels" myself, and some
of them are worth quite a bit.

I'm doing the same thing. In the last two weeks, Ive gone down from 7 large boxes to 2. I donated the good stuff to the local Cancer Society Discovery Shop, and I'll take a tax deduction for the collectible ones. The ordinary things I gave to Goodwill.

I dropped off things at the Discovery shop on Saturday, and when I looked thru there on Monday, they were already all gone!

I think it was two years ago I got rid of most of my Christmas and other holiday collections my kids didn't want any and I went thru them and just kept things that had real sentimental meaning for me. I called it a Christmas in July Yard sale.
I still hav some boxes but this year I'm not even putting up a tree.
I see I still have 4 boxe of Easterthings to go thru

"OMG!!! I can soooooo relate! I got hooked into the Hallmark ornaments 30 years ago when first child was born. Fast forward 30 years----3 kids later, all have collections through the years."

Mee, too! I started collecting in '77, and have amassed a ton of them.

Caroline, I wish I lived near you; I'd love to see what you have. (I can't help it; I've tried to stop collecting, but it's too ingrained in me.)

Never got into collecting any special ornaments.

I only put up a small artificial, lighted tree now.

On my buffet I have a brass ornament holder. The only ones I put on that are the ones I've kept from the first tree my DH and I had. That would have been in 1946, when we got our own apartment. Ornaments then were very delicate glass, in beautiful colors. I will never give those up. The others that go on the holder are the ones my DD gave us each year when she was older and married and buying very special (with meaning) ornaments for our tree each Christmas.

All the odds and ends went to a yard sale sometime ago.

Sue

I would donate them to a women's shelter. Those women are starting over with nothing and I'm sure they would appreciate having some decorations for their new lives.

Maybe you could package them up in groups of 10 with a string of lights and some tinsel- just add a tree and voila! A festive tree for someone with nothing.

Do you know any newlyweds? Decorating our first tree together was a financial hit during a time when when we didn't have a lot of money.

My dear sweet husband "lost" mine when we moved. If he'd put them in the house when I asked him to the third time.....never mind. But it made me so sick when I didn't have them after our move. I thought I'd just replace the ones I could remember, but soon found out older ones are worth more than I could afford. Please think about keeping them. I would do anything to have mine back.

I have always been a big Christmas decorator but with DH so sick i decided this year not to do it anymore. Have a huge walk in attic clear full. Told our daughters and granddaughters to come get what they wanted ( which was a lot) then a couple of there friends came and picked through. What was left went to good will. So this year i spread a lot of Christmas Joy.

I loved the suggestion to donate them to a women's shelter. No doubt, your ornaments will find a happy home somewhere.

Please make sure you offer them to family members first. When my sister got older, she decided not to put up a big tree anymore and gave me lots of her ornaments. Many were from when she was first married, in the '40's. She has passed away now and I am so grateful to have those ornaments and I think of her fondly as I "dress" my tree each year!

A little P.S. here.

Tree lights were hard to find back then, 1946. My DM was so determined that the first tree my DH and I had would have lights, she looked everywhere she could and finally found a string of all clear lights. She "painted" each bulb with food color! We had them that year and many years after until the colors began to fade and flake off.

Sweet memory.

Sue