January 2025-Holiday Season Highs and Lows
My Holiday Season—and How I Finally Conquered the Post-Party Fallout
November-
Every November, right after Thanksgiving, I dive headfirst into what has become my annual solo decorating marathon. By Day 8, my house looks like a holiday magazine come to life:
Mini Trees for the Kids- Both Gigi and Trent got a small tree this year, picked a theme, and we went shopping for ornaments. You can read more about that adventure here.
“Big Mama” trees- The great-room tree gets ribbon, oversize baubles, and soft gold lights. In the foyer, we set up a mini tree trio… Then in the formal living area, I shortened my old, fat, flocked tree and decked it out in shades of blues this year.
By the second week of December, I’ve switched gears—assembling “Bake Books” for my Festive Flamingo party, ordering drink mixes and food for the party, packing teacher gifts and gift cards. Then the rest of the time is spent at holiday parties, cookie exchanges, children’s holiday performances, and getting cozy in the great room, admiring the big tree.
We don’t do elf on the shelf. My son thought it was weird, probably because I bought the Temu version of the elf from Big Lots. To be fair, the elf I bought looked like a mix of Chucky and the real elf.
January 2nd: The Slump Arrives
Cue the post-holiday blues. My husband’s off on business, the decorations still twinkle, and I’m the only one who can pack it all away. I already suffer from seasonal affective disorder and use the happy light glasses all throughout the year, but man, January 2nd just kind of sucks.
Reinventing My Storage Ritual
After too many frantic searches for mismatched décor and impulse buys because I “cannot for the life of me” find the xyz item I am looking for at that moment…and then later finding that item, plus two more I bought some where else in a random box in February, I realized I needed a bulletproof system. Here’s the plan that’s finally stuck:
1. Uniform Bins, Uniform Bliss
I ordered a set of identical black storage tubs with bright yellow lids—same size, same look. No more hunting through a rainbow of tubs to find my gold-leaf poinsettias. I am not going to lie, I watch a lot of storage “hacks” on social media and feel like if I only had matching bins, my life would be better. So I tried it out and guess what, my life literally felt better when I looked at the finished project.
2. Photo Inventory on the Front
Before anything goes in a bin, I lay it all out, snap a quick phone shot of the contents, and tape a tiny collage to the front. Ornaments? Check. Ribbon spools? Check. Now, at a glance, I know exactly which bin holds my peppermint garlands or Victorian-style baubles.
3. Shelf Zoning by Season
Rack One, Two, Three are all Halloween interior items and escape room props. It would be amazing if I could say this was “all” my halloween items. Ha. Nope. I have a “Shed for the Dead” packed with animatronics, more skeletons under the deck than a serial killer, and more items stashed haphazardly in my garage.
Rack 4- Miscellaneous floral arrangements, easter, valentines day, and summer items
Rack 5, 6 - All Christmas (except the big tree is storage in their original boxes in the garage)Rack 7- Oddly shaped items, signs, trees, etc.
Purge Before Packing
If an item didn’t make it onto the tree because I do not plan on using it in the next two years—or if it’s missing its mate—it doesn’t go back in the bin. January is when I donate unloved pieces or toss broken bits, so next year starts fresh.
A New January Tradition
Now, when January 2nd rolls around, I think I am still going to feel like I am in a slump, almost resentful that I have to put it all away, but guess what? My bins will match. That’s right. #winning
