Twelfth Night Clear Up
As the day is nearly here for clearing away Christmas decorations for a fresh start. Here are a few twelfth night traditions, or ones I've spotted other people doing and have added to my traditions list, that I'll be getting up to as I tidy up Christmas ready for the year ahead.
Christmas Cards into gift tags
I cut up all my cards into shapes big enough to be gift tags for next December's gift wrapping. When I open my Xmas box of tags and start wrapping I'm always very grateful to January me for preparing the tags in advance. It's a great way to reuse and recycle and adds a personal touch to your wrapping. You can see the Reel here showing how you can cut the shapes out then store the tags away in a box until the wrapping commences. Using a hole punch can help if you want to attach your homemade gift tags on with twine or string.
Christmas tree lights round a cloths hanger
To avoid the annual tangle, Dilly from @declutterdollies has the best organising tips and she wraps her xmas tree lights round coat hangers every year to stop them knotting up. I follow Dilly on Instagram for all sorts of manageable tidying up tutorials.
Acclimatising the tree to the outside again
Our Christmas tree is a living one that's growing in a pot. The year before last we re-potted the tree into a big galvanised bucket with handles so it's easier to carry in and out of the house. During the other months of the year, that aren't December, it's stored on the allotment but now we have a garden the tree will be living out there in the pot for the rest of the year. As it's been quite mild recently in Brighton I think the tree will be fine going straight back outside but if it was frosty like it was before Christmas I'd gradually acclimatise the tree back to the outdoors, so it didn't get a massive cold shock after being inside.
Keeping decorative boxes and bags
During the festive season these gift boxes and bags decorate round the bottom of the tree and I use them as last minute gift bags if I need them. Then in January I use the gift boxes and bags that get given to us or are left over, for storing the baubles and decorations in until they come out again next year.
Unravelling the Christmas wreath
You can keep the decorations and compost the plant material, and here's a list of what to do with the parts that make up your fresh door wreath:
- the moss and foliage can go in the compost
- the wire that’s binding it all together can be used for gardening
- the decorations like pine cones and bows can be kept for next year ( make sure any dried citrus decorations are fully dried out before you store them away to use again next year)
- the hoop can be used again for another wreath project
To kickstart your flower arranging hobby today…
download your free guide full of seasonal flower lists, the tools you’ll need and the mistakes I made that you can avoid!