How I UnDecorate A Christmas Tree

Sometimes it can feel like a daunting task but it doesn’t have to be! Today I am sharing the process of how I undecorate my Christmas tree that is full of old vintage ornaments.

It is the best feeling. You know the one that I am talking about. That feeling that washes over you when you walk past your fully decorated Christmas tree. It is a feeling of joy and happiness and there really is no substitute for it … Seeing your magical Christmas tree twinkling with lights and filled with ornaments truly encompasses the Christmas spirit.

But, like all things, those magical Christmas tree moments must come to an end. Yup, eventually, your Christmas tree will have to come down and for me, that can be a lot of work! Especially my Christmas tree full of vintage ornaments. However, I have found that with a little planning, taking down my tree with vintage ornaments is very easy. Here is my process for how I undecorate a Christmas Tree.

Don’t Over Think It

I shared my process for decorating my tree with vintage ornaments this year over on Instagram. I was asked many times by many people this question: “How will you know which ornaments go back in which box?” The fact of the matter is that I can’t for sure get them all back in their correct boxes.

I have so, so many (especially the old solid colors) that are all so similar that it is next to impossible for me to get them all back in the exact same spot that I pulled them out of.

If I am being totally honest, the idea of NOT getting them back into their original boxes makes me so sad. And, this exact issue kept me from decorating with them for several years. I eventually realized that I’d rather see these beautiful ornaments on display for the the month rather than see them sitting in their boxes all stacked up in a tote.

However, I do still try really hard to get them all back into their original homes and there are a few tricks that I have learned over the years to help me when I undecorate a Christmas Tree. Here are a few tips that I hope will help you too!

Things I Do As I Am Decorating The Tree At The Beginning Of The Season

Take Photos

I will take a photograph on my phone of each box before taking the ornaments out so that I can reference that photo during clean up time. I also take pictures of the sides and cover of the box because I have similar boxes. I look for distinguishing marks on the boxes such as tears or tape marks. This helps me to better identify which box I need when I am loading the ornaments back up! In order to keep track of the boxes and photos (to help match them up when it is time to load them back up), I simply number the boxes (with a post it) in chronological order as I take the pictures!

Use A Post It

This idea probably was rooted in the fact that I have seen my dad take notes for almost every detail of his life. (For example, he has a detailed list of every vintage item that he buys, including where and how much he paid). I have found that jotting down just a few details of specific ornaments on a post it note helps too. I know that I just wrote an entire section on taking photos above, but honestly sometimes all of those pictures can be overwhelming and having a written description can be super helpful.

Leave One In The Box

This works well for ornament ‘collections’ that are unique. For example, I have a box of vintage grape ornaments and I simply leave one of the grape ornaments in the box (don’t hang it on the tree at all) and then when I pull the box back out I know exactly which go back in that box! This trick works well with boxes of ornaments that are all alike!

TIP: I am known to keep broken ornaments inside their original boxes to help me know which ones belong inside!

Things I Do As I UnDecorate The Tree At The End Of The Season

I will take my ornaments off the tree in two “waves.” During each wave, I use reference the tips above to help the undecorating move more quickly.

Hand Pick – Wave One

I always start this way! This is where I take a specific empty box that the ornaments came in and I hand pull each ornament that goes into that specific box. This works well with boxes or unique ornaments or ‘collections’ – (like I mentioned above).

Take Them All – Wave Two

Once I have done all that I can in wave one, I move onto wave two. Here, I literally take everything off of the tree and sort them into categories as best that I can. I literally just carefully place them in piles on the floor. These categories include:

• Indented vintage ornaments
• Diorama vintage ornaments
• Tear Drop vintage ornaments
• Solid Color vintage ornaments
• Mica vintage ornaments
• Uniquely shaped vintage ornaments
• And So On

TIP: I always begin removing ornaments from the bottom and work my way up. This way, if I drop an ornament it has less of a chance to hit another one on the way down! One broken ornament is better than two!

Once they are all in piles, I just fill the old vintage boxes up as best I can, using the pictures that I took and the notes that I wrote! This may seem like it would take a long time – but surprisingly, it doesn’t take long at all!

TIP: I do collect empty ornament boxes that I find at estate sales and such throughout the year. I inevitably will find several loose antique and vintage ornaments during my shopping trips and I like to tuck them away in the old sturdy boxes to help protect them. And, yes – I will always leave myself a note that these are not the original boxes so that I don’t get confused about that in the years to come!!!!

Wrap Up

I recognize that everyone does have a different process for un-decorating their Christmas Tree. I just wanted to share my process – especially the process that I use for un-decorating my vintage ornaments.

I have to be honest and say that with our family Christmas tree (yes, we have two), I don’t go to all the trouble of making sure the ornaments are in their original packaging. But for my vintage Christmas tree, there is just something really special to me about keeping these old pieces with their original packaging. I feel like I almost have a ‘responsibility” to keep them together. It is a pressure that I put on myself for sure.

But, when I really think about it, I realize that ‘just maybe” these really aren’t the original boxes for many of the ornaments. Maybe the people who owned these before me really were not that careful.

Also, I remember that these ornaments were made to be used and admired and were NOT made to stay in a box year after year. Oh – and yes, I have broken an ornament or two – but it is a small price to pay considering how much joy it gives me to see them all together on the tree throughout the month of December. So with that, if you have been worried about decorating with your old ornaments, I encourage you to just do it. You won’t be sorry. And even if you do not get them all back into their original boxes – it is ok! Just do the best you can – and hopefully a few of the tips above describing how I undecorate a Christmas tree will help!

If you enjoyed this post then you may want to check out a few of my tip on how I store my vintage collections. You can find them here.