Tree Places

Having bought an artificial tree you have the benefit of being able to store it year to year without having to buy a new tree.  For some people this means just folding up a decorated tree and putting it into a storage box.  For others it means striping the tree first and then placing it in a container for next year.  How you handle your tree depends on several factors. You will need to keep in mind if the lights are built into the tree or strung individually.  You will need to look at the materials that the decorations are made of, with an eye for what is heavy, delicate, or old and valuable. You will have to decide if the garland needs to be removed or not – as use of paper chains might not be, but if you strung popcorn and cranberries you likely will not want to store them for a year.

If you have a pre-lit tree and are using lightweight inexpensive decorations on it that will not break you may wish to simply fold it up as it is and put it in a storage container.  Lucky you, packing your tree is easy.  But, if you use expensive, delicate blown glass, or heavy decorations you will want to carefully remove them for packing and storage individually. In any case the tree should have interior edge protectors to keep it from getting overly flattened, although external cardboard edge protectors would not be as necessary unless you were moving.  Overall, you might need to rely on custom packaging solutions for your tree and the decorations to ensure that nothing is broken when you store it.

If you happen to have a “realistic” artificial tree that is not pre-lit then you will need to consider taking everything off of it.  Decorations and lights could be folded up with the tree, in some situations, but for ease of storage and safety, it might be better to simply take the garland, decorations, and lights off when the tree is coming down.  This way you can store the lights in special reels to keep the cords from tangling and pack the decorations into boxes that will keep them safe with internal edge protectors as part of your custom packaging solutions for the holidays.  The tree should be folded and placed in its own box though, so that the ends are protected by cardboard edge protectors to keep them from getting bent.

Using an artificial Christmas Tree can be a real time saver.  Over the course of several years it can save you money, if it is packed away properly and protected from damage. While a real tree can be recycled in the yard as a type of bird feeder or place on the curb for pickup, you will want to take extra care in packing up you artificial Christmas Tree. This is because the entire reason for buying one is to give you a tree you can use year after year.