Holiday Closet

I converted a closet into a Holiday Pantry area. I have a large 3 drawer plastic bin unit to hold Christmas ornaments; small to large plastic bins plus plastic shoe boxes to hold other fragile Christmas items. I have hooks on the back of the closet door to hold wreaths or other hanging Christmas decor.

I wrap Christmas wrapping paper in cut off panty hose legs to protect the paper; the Christmas wrapping paper is stood in the corner of the closet behind the plastic bins. The closet has to be packed in a certain manner in order to accommodate all the Christmas decorations. The artificial Christmas tree is boxed up in its original box and stood up against the wall in front of the 3 drawer plastic bin unit. The shelf in the closet is used to hold large nativity scenes, holiday lamps, etc.

There is another closet that accommodates the holiday candles, dishes, linens and also other seasonal/holiday items. The same method is used with the hooks on the back of the door, plastic bins and using the shelf in the closet. The coat rack rod holds gift bags on coat hangers; these gift bags hold folded outdoor flags, outdoor bows and other "overflow" items that will not fit into the bins.

The plastic bin drawers with the Christmas ornaments are classified organized. When I "undecorate" the Christmas tree, I group all the angel ornaments together, place them in a zip-loc bag; I use the same method for snowmen, musical instruments, glass ornaments, etc. The glass ball ornaments are stored in one drawer together to prevent breakage; they are placed in the divided boxes that the ornaments are purchased in; I compress the air out of the zip-loc bags and the glass ornament will fit into the divided compartment. The Christmas stockings are stored with the Christmas linens. The Christmas tree skirt is folded and placed in a large zip-lock bag and packed with the Christmas tree.

Zip-loc bags are convenient to store Christmas electrical cords (for Christmas houses, etc.); the bags with the electrical cords can be taped with a heavy tape to the back of the Christmas house and stored in plastic bins; the Christmas houses should be wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a large zip-loc bag. I also use my foodsaver vacuum sealer to seal Christmas serving pieces (pie servers, silverware, snack knives, etc.); these pieces are stored with the linens.

Every plastic bin has a label listing the contents of the bin that is affixed to the top and side of the bin. I hang a holiday ornament or wreath on the outside of the door to decorate the door.It is a handy location in my home to keep my holiday/seasonal items in one place.

By WandaJo from Tennessee