Happy new year!

Like many of you, now that the holidays (and 2013) are officially behind us, I’ve been spending time dismantling Christmas around here. Always such a sad time for me. I get so attached to my trees and love the extra festive accents around the house. With everything packed away it suddenly seems so barren around here. You think a minimalist like me would enjoy that, but it’s actually difficult and depressing for me to pack it all away.

Yesterday I spent time packing away all of the Christmas gear (will share more tomorrow) and thought it would be a good idea to share how I pack away one of the most challenging holiday decor items – Christmas lights.

Besides the oversized outdoor decor, string lights are top of the list in terms of organization challenges. I’ve seen this done many, many ways over the years. All of them area super smart ideas…and I even shared some for you below. But I have used this tried and true method for years and it has never failed me. So why not share it with all of you!

Do not let your lights gets packed away for the year looking like this…

Every year as I remove my lights from the tree and roof lines, I start by wrapping them around my arm into a nice little circle…making sure the male and female electrical ends remain sticking out on either side…

Then I take both the female and male electrical ends and cinch them around the middle of the circle of lights, making sure to get them snug….

Then I connect the outlets together to keep the bundle nice and tight…

Once you have your light bundle secured, just place it inside your storage bin…

Then just keep packing those bundles away until you’re job is complete. I use 2 long, underbed type bins for containing my Christmas lights. This bin holds only my white lights on green strings…

I have another that holds colored lights on green string and white lights on white string.

I place the light bundles outlet side up so that next year all I have to do is grab a bundle, detach the outlets, plug in the light string to make sure it works, then easily unravel the bundle…tangle free!….as I decorate the tree or house.

Super easy and simple. No special gadgets or labels required for this organization challenge. If you haven’t packed away your Christmas lights yet, give this a try this year. You will be happy next Christmas when you aren’t wrangling tangled lights!

As promised, here are some additional Christmas light storage ideas that are share worthy. Sources are listed, if known. Enjoy!