Declutter Xmas

It's early March, time to finally get to that stack of Xmas decorations and accoutrements lingering in the garage.

 Before: three bins and two Xerox boxes hold the assortment.  I had sent the excess ornaments to daughter #1, who finally returned them last month. 

I love before-and-after pictures!

After: two bins.  One bin holds ornaments and decorations, the other holds lights.  That's it!

The "go away" pile consists mainly of holiday stuffed animals (I am through decorating this way); holiday linens that I never use (the concept of a finger towel has never really taken hold in my home); and ornaments that need to be claimed by my adult children.


One "keep" box of Xmas stuff:  really, I'm no grinch when it comes to decorating for the holidays.  But I realized that these items do not give me joy and I don't even usually put them out.  I paw through them, feeling guilty because "so-and-so gave them to me" or "I've had this since my first Xmas after college".  Not reasons to hang onto things: let them go to bless other homes.

The hardest things to part with were the construction paper, tissue paper, glitter, and cotton ball creations of my children when they were in preschool.  I kept one from each child--something that I thought I might actually display (like the hand-print/footprint moose in a frame seen in the top photo; that frame makes all the difference in display-ability).

It turned out well that I waited to declutter Xmas.  I had none of the holiday-induced guilt or misplaced sentimentality that I feel during December.