How to store Christmas decorations

 

I only started packing away our Christmas decor today. I'm a little late, I know, but I wanted to hold on to the holidays a little longer. To my dismay, our housekeeper went ahead and shoved the tree in its box earlier this week, without my go signal. How depressing. In my head, when we take down the tree and the baubles, it was going to be a festive event, just like how we put the tree up last month. That probably sounds a little silly. But that's one of the traditions we were supposed to do as a family. Oh well. We'll do that next year.

But what upset me the most was how all the ornaments were jumbled together in one paper bag. Even the delicate wire thingies that could easily get deformed. So today, I took out everything and properly stored them away. Here's how I did it.

Ideas for Christmas decoration storage

Extend the life of your precious holiday decor by keeping them properly organized. Shoving them altogether in one paper bag may seem like the easy, space-saving solution, but here are better ways to ensure you get to enjoy them for many Christmases to come.

1. Designate a sturdy storage box for your decor. Paper or garbage bags can offer protection from dust, but they can easily get squished in storage. I use clear plastic bins which we bought on sale from the department store, Php99 each. 

2. Wrap your ornaments individually in bubble wrap. I saved the ones mine originally came in. If you forgot to keep yours, reuse the gift wrapping paper from the presents you received.

3. Wind ribbon on a spool to keep them wrinkle-free - don't fold them. I kept the spools my ribbons came in, but if you tossed yours already, you can use a tissue paper roll.

4. Keep Christmas lights from getting tangled by doing the same thing you did with the ribbons. Wind the string of lights around a spool, tissue paper roll, or a Coke can.

5. Cushion delicate pieces in bubble wrap or crumpled, old gift wrappers. Here, I stacked all bubble-wrapped ornaments in a plastic bin, and nestled the wire drops on top.

Don't forget to label your boxes so you don't forget what's inside!

Discovering Digital Domino

Domino, my favorite interior design magazine, folded up years ago. The few issues that I own have been reread many times over, to the point that I can almost memorize its contents. So imagine my delight when I found out recently that Domino launched a digital version! Woot!!!

 

I downloaded the free iPad app. It's lovely! The digital edition is a joy to read - it's interactive and intuitive. Some text is cleverly hidden away behind icons so you can appreciate the photos more. A quick touch reveals the information. The layout changes with your iPad orientation - the app doesn't simply resize the photos, it actually rearranges the way the images and text are laid out on the page! But it does so in a very subtle way, you almost won't notice. Very smart!

 

There are two special issues available for purchase - Quick Fixes and Best Rooms ($6.99 each). I bought Quick Fixes first, and I'm thinking of getting Best Rooms as a Christmas present for myself this month.

Reading through the digital Domino felt like bumping into an old friend you haven't seen in years. You sit down for a long chat to catch up, and you hit it off right where you left off. When you get to the end of the conversation, you feel bitin, and can't wait for next time.

 

Makeovers

I was pretty busy at home the past few days, hence my absence. I finally got to finish fixing up my little crafty corner. I can't believe I got everything to fit in the cabinets. I have a ton of stuff. As in. So I'm very happy I squeezed everything in somehow. But you know what? I think I'm going to tweak the arrangement of all the shelves again. So I'm not ready for the big reveal just yet.

Speaking of fixer-uppers, how are you liking my blog makeover so far? Here's the before and after photo. The one on the left is what my blog looked like a month ago. And on the right is what it looks like today.

I completely DIY'd the theme. I don't have the funds to purchase even a pre-made design. So after a lot of trial and error with the code, I got to tidy up the blog a bit. I even gave it a new name! From Beadbaby, it's now called Saccharine: life's sweetest pleasures. More about that here.

And if you've noticed, I am writing more often! Yay! From the once in a blue moon posts early this year, this is a huge improvement for me. Haha. I also introduced two weekly columns: Eye Candy Mondays and Scrumptious Saturdays. Eye Candy is all about my lovely finds - pretty stores, cute things, gorgeous interiors, great design. I'm doing it on Mondays because I want to send you off to a brand new week with some sugar rush! Hihi. Scrumptious Saturdays are all about pigging out on yummy food. Perfect for the weekend.

You see, I'm trying to take blogging a little seriously. It's become my main creative outlet these days, so I want to do it right! I need the mental exercise - beecoming a good writer takes lots of practice. So my goal for 2013 is to blog more often.

I would appreciate any feedback about this little blog of mine! What posts did you enjoy the most? What do you want to see more of in the future?

 

The Best Home Store Ever

Happy Monday people! Let's start the week with some eye candy! This weekend I did some errands for a writing and styling raket, so we visited my favorite source of lovely home accessories: Regalong Pambahay Outlet Store along Pioneer St.

Regalong Pambahay is my go-to place for chic decor. This is where I bought my beloved tea set, saucers, and pastry stand many years ago. I'll show you those in a future post. For today, let's take a look at this to-die-for escritoire! The store had a cozy living room set up when we went last Saturday. I wanted to live there! This is the only photo I was able to take. After I clicked, the staff asked me not to take photos. Sayang! There was this lovely striped couch I wanted you to see. Ok, back to the table.

This secretary table I coveted is in a yummy shade of cream, with the edges scuffed off to give it a shabby chic look. It would look perfect in my craft room. I get that warm fuzzy feeling everytime I look at this photo. I can imagine myself spending hours writing and crafting on this desk. So what's keeping me from buying it? The hefty price tag: Php40,000 (roughly $1000). OMG, right? So for now, I will file this on my list of Things-To-Buy-When-I-Win-The-Lottery.

You can find many Regalong Pambahay stores in leading malls, but if you're in the Pasig-Mandaluyong area, try to drop by the outlet store in Pioneer. From the outside, it looks like a crummy warehouse. Step inside and you'll be awed. It's one of the most beautiful home stores this side of the planet. I hate that I don't have more pictures to show you. But the outlet store isn't only for eye candy - it's one of the best places to do your holiday shopping! Regular items sold in their mall stores can be had here for a 20% discount on cash purchases! Best of all, no hordes of holiday shoppers or long lines here.

Next week, I'll show you some of my favorite Regalong Pambahay finds. Happy Monday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We finally put up our tree today! Yey! Little moon "helped" and ended up peppered with glitter. Naughty little girl! We had so much fun. Especially when Ally pointed and said "tree"!

We're not yet done - we're buying more ornaments. I thought we had enough since we were only decorating one side of the tree. Para tipid. Haha. But we decided to move the tree to a different spot, and now you can see it from all angles. So we have to get more decor.

You can see some of the stuff we bought in the pic above. Remember the eye candy I posted a few days ago? As suspected, the output is totally different from my pegs! Hubby wanted a traditional tree. I realized I wanted a "normal" tree too, since this is our first one. I really love the red and gold velvet ribbon we bought! Simple yet gorgeous.

The only thing that's bothering me is all the glitter. I'm crafty, but I don't like using glitter in my projects. They fly everywhere! Oh well.

That's my little Christmas update. Happy weekend everyone!

A sneak peek into my craft room

How's your week so far? I can't believe it's Wednesday! I've been pretty busy at home, organizing the monumental kalat that's been accumulating for months now. I am thankful that the hubby gave me yesterday off from yaya duty, so I took the time to tidy up my work area. I'm so happy!

Here's a sneak peek! I'll post more pics when my camera is cooperating.

What do you think? I'm not done yet - all those containers in the shelves need to be organized. I'll save that for another day.

How do you organize your work space? I'd love to see!