Especially if you resolved to get more organized in the new year, why not get started with your ornaments, decorations, and keepsakes that require more attention for stowing away? Doing so will greatly help you stay organized and protect your belongings if you have a move in your future, too! From superior store-bought solutions to do-it-yourself storage ideas, here are some of our favorite tips about how to pack away fragile belongings and keep them safe.

How to pack small round ornaments using egg cartons. We’d recommend stacking these in a box with packing paper beneath, between, and on top of the cartons for maximum padding. The cartons will add just the right amount of organization and proper containment for these smaller ornaments.

Using plastic cups for ornaments, too. Especially for larger ornaments or just for another idea at how to store and organize them, try plastic cups, hot glue, and card board. You might even reuse some that tissue paper from gift boxes and bags to do a little wrap around ornaments that go in these.

Repurposing plastic bottles for beaded garland that is stored neatly and tangle-free. We’ve seen a few ways people have stored beaded garland, but this one seems to be a great method if you are wondering how to pack it away: it’s contained, it’s tangle free, and it’s protected from most items that could damage it.

Photo Credit: Tip Junkie

Storage that prevents wreaths from getting crushed and damaged. Boxes like this one provide a helpful solution to wreaths that can be susceptible to crushing weight and friction from other items stored in the same container. They can also prevent other items from getting hooked on the wreath or mixed in with it. When this box is put in another container with other wreaths or ornaments, it adds another layer of protection through double-boxing and adding rigid structure — a common practice in the packing and fulfillment industry so goods arrive intact.

String lights without tangles and without broken bulbs by using a clothing hanger. It’s hard to pinpoint sometimes where a string of lights go bad. When lights don’t work right, it’s sometimes the bulb, sometimes a wire that has undergone some stress, and sometimes it’s that little fuse that is so easy to forget about. In any case, it’s great to think that at the start of the next holiday season, you can get your decorative lights back out again with less hassle just by getting some new ideas about how to pack them away. This season, try stringing them around plastic clothing hangers and packing protective packing paper or bubble wrap around them in a box used just for lights or items that have less weight or protrusions (both paper and bubble wrap may be readily available from some of your gift packaging, too). Or, if you want to a storage solution that is already manufactured for this purpose, you may want to try something like a Christmas Light Reel.

For More Information About How to Pack

Have more tips to share? Let us know your favorite packing and home storage tips for the holiday season by visiting us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about how to pack and how to organize yourself so you are better prepared for a move, visit the packing tips section of our website by clicking here.