Some people think that all the Christmas Ornament Storage advice that has been printed and the many products produced are for others, who collect expensive, delicate or antique Christmas Ornaments. That is just not true. I don't collect Ornaments but I do have several that my children have made in school over the years. Like the paper Snowmen decorated in cotton balls, a cut out Santa and sleigh covered in glitter and the many snowflakes and angels decorated with lace and other fabric trims. Like many of you, these are my treasures. I look forward to the time when I can turn them over to my children so they can display them for their children.



These are some of the things I've come up with that have helped.

Ornaments made of construction paper and decorated with cotton balls and fabric trims I store separately. They are carefully wrapped in acid free paper and then stored in an empty filing drawer where nothing can rest on top to smash the cotton balls and other decorations.

I also have some glass balls and a few other traditional type ornaments I've picked up along the way. When I'm buying an ornament I always ask if they can put it in a box, then I keep the box. This is especially good for glass balls. It is so much easier to store them back in the box than to try to find one and risk breaking some because you had to stack them on top of each other to fit them all in.

Use Acid Free Tissue Paper to wrap single glass balls, crystal and other types of ornaments. The Acid Free Tissue keeps the paint from fading. Do not use newspaper the ink can rub off onto your ornaments.

Put all your ornaments in a sturdy, Acid Free Ornament Storage box. Put Acid Free Tissue Paper, crumpled up, in the bottom of the Ornament Storage box and on the top before you close the box. This will keep the ornaments from being jostled too much when you move the box.

Put some type of label on the box, that way you can see at a glance what is inside each box.

It is not a good idea to store glass ornaments with the ornament hangers still attached. The hanger could scratch the paint off the ornament.

You can use the small plastic or paper cups to store your Ornament Hangers.

Store your boxes in the most climate controlled area of your home. This probably will not be your attic or garage. Most of our nicest ornaments cannot take the changes in temperature and humidity.

Why Acid Free Paper?

Acid Free Paper is best for delicate antique glass ornaments. The ones handed down to you from Grandma or that you have been collecting for years. Regular papers can cause the paint to fade. It has even been found that if you wrap your ornaments in Acid Free paper and then store them in regular cardboard the acid in the cardboard can penetrate the acid free paper and cause the paint to fade.

There are many products on the market today for preserving our family records, photos, handmade Christmas Ornaments and other treasured items for years, possibly even decades.