Easy Ornament Storage Ideas

This post was originally published on DIY Network’s blog Made + Remade in December 2014.

Quick quick – Deck the Halls! Quick quick – take it all down! It’s hard to believe how fast the holiday season passes by. With as much anticipation as you had for getting the holiday decor up, some of you are probably already excited to get it down and stored away for another year.

Ornament storage requires special care and attention, which is why I’m here to share with you a few ideas to keep your treasures safe and orderly until next year rolls around.

For small ornaments, save those egg cartons:

For larger ornaments, it’s easy to reuse holiday gift packaging and make segmented boxes so that everything is neatly stored away.

The best part about these methods? They’re free!

For more tips on organizing your holiday decor, I think you’ll like these posts:

• Easy Holiday Decor Storage
• Tips, Tricks, And Gadgets for Storing Christmas Decorations
• Tips for Organizing Holiday Decorations
• 11 Holiday Organizing Essentials

To learn how to make your own FREE cardboard storage boxes for ornaments, keep reading:

Step 1

Save boxes, sheets of cardboard, and tissue paper to make your own ornament storage boxes. These are potentially free, and a great way to make use of something that would have otherwise been thrown out or recycled. They are completely adaptable to fit your needs, and stack away neatly with your holiday storage.

Step 2

Trim pieces of cardboard to serve as ornament dividers in your box. My box is 12″ wide and 5″ high, so I made three cardboard dividers to break up the space.

Step 3

Then, create dividers sized to fit the opposite box length. My box is also 12″ wide in that direction, so my three dividers are 12″ wide x 5″ high.

Step 4

Allow your dividers to fit together like a puzzle by trimming halfway through the width of each divider, at every 3″ interval. For the cardboard pieces that sit on the bottom of the box, trim from the top downwards. For the cardboard pieces that will fit on top of these pieces, trim from the bottom upwards.

Step 5

Fit the cross-sections of the dividers together.

Step 6

Your segmented cardboard box should look like this when all the dividers are in place.

Step 7

Each ornament will have its own compartment in your customized box. Use tissue paper in each compartment to further protect your fragile ornaments. Wish them well, and you’ll be happy that you were so orderly when it is time to unpack them next winter!