Cleaning up time!

CEBU, Philippines - Cleaning up after the holidays is really not the best thing to do in the world. Yes, we put up Christmas decors with much excitement and gusto, but taking them down and cleaning up is just the exact opposite. This is probably the reason why in some homes, you will still see some leftover Christmas décor in June!

But we do not want this right? We want to take down the Christmas decors and tuck them away safely so we do not have to buy new decors come December.

Here are a few tips to get you started on your post-holidays-clean-up:

1. Putting up decors is a family thing. Taking them down will probably be a job that you, ONLY YOU, have to do because the children are back in school. This does not mean that you cannot have fun. Turn up the music or do anything that will keep you energized while doing THE job.

2. Prepare boxes or plastic containers where you can store your holiday decors. If you want to keep some or most of your decorations, you must store them in containers that will keep their shape, color and design. It is best to label your containers if the ones inside are breakable. You do not want your decors to be crushed to pieces!

3. Organize! Make sure to store tree ornaments, lights and other decors together so you will not have a hard time looking for them when you decorate again come December. Organizing your holiday decors now will save you time and effort when you will be using them again.

4. So there are busted bulbs in your tree lights. Make the replacements now since you are no longer that busy! If you wait till next December to change the busted bulbs, for sure, you will be VERY busy by then and will not have the time. So if there are replacements or repairs that have to be made in your holiday decors, DO THEM NOW!

5. While there are decors that can still be saved for the next holidays, it is a fact that there are also some that are beyond saving. Decide now which ones will stay and which ones have to go. Doing so, will save you storage space and effort.

See, cleaning up after the holidays is not such a hard thing to do. Remember that the job of cleaning up is already a preparation for the coming holidays, so cheer up! (FREEMAN)