3 ways to clean up after Halloween and prepare for Christmas

Some start decorating for the holiday season before Halloween–and we’ll never judge you for putting up a tree early. But for most people and retailers, Christmas begins the day after Fright Night.

For the celebration-inclined, November 1st might be a simultaneously stressful and exciting day. You’ve spookified your home for the last few weeks, and now you want to trade cobwebs and skeletons for lights and baubles. To make the Christmas season last as long as possible, this might be the day you pull down the Halloween paraphernalia and put up a tree.

Here are three ways to have an organized and easy transition from Halloween to the holidays:

Stock up on Halloween supplies for next year
Take advantage of those post-Halloween sales and spend less on the holiday next year. Whether it’s making a few pit stops at your local party stores, drug stores or pop-up shops like Spirit (whose post-Halloween sales are legendary), you can go home with a major haul. You can often find tempting discounts online as well.

While you don’t want to save the clearance candy for an entire year, you can stock up on discount costumes and decorations to save money and avoid stress. A year from now, you’ll be thanking your former self for choosing a costume this far in advance.

Prepare your Halloween items for storage
Treat your costumes and decorations carefully when you put them away, and they’ll look just as great when you pull them out next year.

Wash costumes and cloth items. Use soap and water to carefully clean plastic, wood and metal pieces. Dry everything thoroughly before putting it away to avoid mold or rust.

If you’re using an offsite storage unit (with a reputable company whose lockers are dry and humidity-controlled), you won’t need to worry as much about the container in which you store your belongings. But if your Halloween supplies are destined for the garage or basement, keep them dry and pest-free in well-sealed plastic bins.

Pull out your seasonal decorations
It’s the moment holiday aficionados have been waiting for: open the box you carefully packed away a year ago, and start covering everything in tinsel (or just the holiday spirit).

If you were storing your decorations in a damp place like a basement or garage, they might have a musty smell. Make sure everything is free from dirt and dust, washing if necessary (spray with Febreze if it can’t be wiped down). If you have an artificial tree, give it a good shake to fluff up the branches and get rid of any stray needles.

This time of year is a funny one: with the change from autumn to winter, our cities transform from spooky to festive at the drop of a santa hat. Protect your decorations, keep them organized in a clean, dry location, and you’ll be able to enjoy the season year after year.