Order for your Ornaments: How to properly preserve and care for your antique and collectible Christmas ornaments

Let’s face it.  Every year it happens at least once.  You unpack your Christmas decorations only to find that a one or more of your precious (and most of the time your favorite) ornaments have been cracked, chipped, or otherwise destroyed.  And just when you though you had packing them down to perfection!  Christmas ornaments are very delicate items and most of the time, if they are collectible or antique ornaments, they can also be a bit pricey.  If they are heirlooms in your family, some would even say priceless!  This is why it is especially important to learn how to properly preserve your fragile treasures.

I have put together some helpful hints to help you avoid a decoration disaster this Christmas, both when packing and when hanging your ornaments.

*  When you are hanging your ornaments, make sure you hang your most expensive, and precious ornaments towards the top of your tree.  Hanging them on lower branches is asking for trouble from your household pets and small children (and let’s be honest, probably yourself if you are constantly rearranging your gifts under the tree!)

*  When it is time to put away your Christmas ornaments, make sure that you properly clean the dust off of you ornaments before packing them.  Do this using a delicate makeup brush (like this one: http://www.beautyneeds.com/beauty/IB104.html). Dust the ornaments while sitting on the floor or at a table.  This decreases the likelihood that they should shatter, should you lose your grip.

*  Remove the hooks from your ornament before storing.  This will ensure that your ornaments will remain scratch-free when you move your box of ornaments into storage.

*  Do not wrap your ornaments in newspaper.  The ink from the newspaper could rub off on your ornament and cause discoloration.  Instead, shred magazine paper as a soft “bed” for your ornaments.  If you do not have a shredder, you can delicately wrap them in the magazine paper or acid-free tissue paper and create a bed by crinkling a few pages to lie underneath the ornament.  

*  Store your ornaments in acid-free boxes with individually divided trays, such as this one: http://www.ultimatechristmas.com/cgi-bin/ULTstore.pl?user_action=detail&catalogno=403 . Acid-free is the key word here!  Using cardboard boxes, especially recycled ones is the worst thing you can do for your ornaments.  The cardboard is made from wood pulp and is therefore VERY acidic.  The acid from he wood pulp will destroy the paint on your ornaments.  Another option is to store them, wrapped individually in magazine paper (or acid-free tissue paper), in an airtight Rubbermaid-type Tupperware container.  

*  Store your decorations in a moisture-free environment out of direct light.

*  Make sure to store your ornaments in a place where the temperature is as constant as possible.  

Because we are all human and mistake happen, it is also good to know where to shop for replacement ornaments in case a few should break.  Here are a few websites that are great for building on your Christmas decoration collection:

• Christmas People - http://www.christmaspeople.com
• Lenox - http://www.lenox.com
• Bronner's - http://www.bronners.com/
• Touch of Class - http://www.touchofclass.com
• Family Christmas Online - http://www.familychristmasonline.com
• Decorative Living - http://www.decorative-living.com/
• Cathy's Creations - http://www.cathyscreations.com/
• Christmas Forever - http://www.christmas-forever.com/

For more permanent preservation of your collection, don’t forget to digitize your Christmas decorations and collectible ornaments on iTaggit.com!  iTaggit makes it easy to value your collection and print reports for insurance purposes should something happen to your magnificent collection!