Box For Santa - Do You Store Garbage/Recycling in Your Attic?

Better than paper towels!!

Do you hold on to the boxes that your Christmas decor arrives in? I do not.

I remove Santa and recycle the packaging. When I store Santa after the holidays I wrap him in bubble wrap, use peanuts, or under pads to store in a green and red bin. Preferably a clear bin with a red and or green lid. No newspaper, paper towels, or grocery shopping sacks needed!

If you adopt this practice, you will be amazed at the amount of recycling/garbage you can reduce and increase storage in your attic each year.  ~Amy

How do you store your Christmas wreath?

Is that a wreath in the attic?

If you have an attic, most likely you are storing some sort of Christmas decor. Artificial wreaths should always be stored in something to prevent mice from chewing on those cute sprigs of berries. Are your items too big for a tote?

Are you using black trash bags? Re-purpose those black bags for trash collection or for a collection of items for Goodwill this year. Go and purchase clear bags for storage instead.

One of the primary steps of organization is to know what you have. Clear, clear, clear! This is allows you to see what you have especially if you have a dark attic. ~ Amy

To keep or not to keep - Heirlooms?

Over and over again, I meet people that tell me they are saving boxes of items for their children. My first question is "Are you saving it for them, or for YOU?" Get your children involved in this process!

My daughter is 11 and ready to shelf her American girl doll. I asked her when will be the next time she will use it. She's not sure. When she has children? Specifically a girl? I'm thinking that better be at least 15 years away!!!

The idea of passing on heirloom items is overly fantasized. In general, we all have too much stuff that we hold onto that will never be considered an heirloom.

My best advice is to enjoy what you have today and give it away rather than storing it for 20 years in hopes of using it in the future. Give it to a friend or post it on FB. Give it to Goodwill and give someone a job.

What did we do with my daughter's American Girl doll? We postponed that decision one more year. We gave away accessories pictured below to a friend and passed on a smile TODAY!

Amy

American Girl accessories 

You can recycle those tangled lights!

Home Depot announced a recycling program for Christmas lights.

http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2011/11/03/the-home-depot-announces-fourth-annual-eco-options-christmas-light-trade-in-event/

 According to the article, "Beginning November 3rd through 13th, customers can bring in their old working or non-working Christmas light strings to be recycled and receive a coupon for up to $5.00 off the purchase of energy efficient seasonal light-emitting diodes (LED) string lights."

What's in your freezer?

How long has that been in your freezer?

Take a moment to prowl through your freezer with a pad and pen on the counter next to you.  

Start at the top and go to the bottom or left to right. Write down everything in there except what you throw out in this process.  

Tape your freezer list next to your grocery list on the refrigerator.  The next grocery trip will be time to shop and plan meals around what you HAVE and what needs to be used in the freezer.  If you buy something that goes into the freezer be sure and add it to your list.  

Keep in mind, most anything bought from the freezer section is intended to be used within 3 months or less depending on the product.  Anything you freeze yourself, should follow this guideline as well.  Check the expiration dates on packages as you're cleaning out the freezer.  Although bacteria may not kill you, the freezer burn may taste like the box it is in or worse.

~ Gretchen