Tips for Storing Glass Ornaments

Beautiful and iridescent as the first frost of Christmas snow, glass Christmas ornaments hold a unique and magnificent allure that other ornaments simply don’t have. Glistening and reflecting an array of lights, they make beautiful keepsakes, wonderful gifts, and look splendid whether adorned on a Christmas tree or displayed on a stand. There are many creative decorating ideas that can be used to showcase these beautiful Christmas embellishments making them a great addition for all Christmas collections. However, storing glass Christmas ornaments may prove to be a bit of a challenge. Chips and breaks can ruin your beautiful heirloom pieces and can cause a great source of disappointment when the next season arrives. No one wants to open their stored Christmas items, only to find an array of crushed and broken ornaments. Since most people prefer that their decorations last longer than one season, it is a good idea to ensure that your glass Christmas ornaments are stored carefully.

Worthy of being the centerpiece of any Christmas arrangement, glass Christmas ornaments should be stored carefully when not in use. One of the best ways to ensure that your delicate and fragile ornaments are protected is to purchase individual boxes (you can buy these in home department stores). These boxes may be individualized or have compartments for holding more than one ornament. You can also create your own storage boxes by using boxes such as old wine boxes with compartments, shoe boxes, plastic cups, or even by saving the original boxes that the ornaments first came in. Many people often discard the original boxes when they open up their ornaments for the first time. Always open the boxes carefully and set them aside for later storage use.

One important fact to remember is that using newspaper or regular tissue paper to store your glass Christmas ornaments is not recommended. Dyes from these papers may run and over a period of time, they can have a disastrous effect on your ornaments. It is better to use bubble wrap, or acid free tissue paper (available in specialty stores) for storing your ornaments.

Before you store your glass Christmas ornaments, be sure to wipe them clean of any debris. Remove them carefully from the tree or display stand and dust them off with a piece of chamois. You can never wrap your ornaments in enough layers, so be generous with the tissue paper before storing. Label your storage boxes accordingly and make sure that you never store delicate ornaments on the bottom. Finally, you should be certain that there is no movement within the box after you have placed the ornament inside. If the ornaments have room to move, they are at risk of breaking and will need to be repacked. By taking the time to carefully pack your fragile glass ornaments, you can ensure that they will bring you plenty of enjoyment for years to come.

Tags: christmas decor

Anticipating Santa, Part 4

She was five years old and didn’t believe in Santa. What, I ask you, has this world become when a five year old in America cannot believe in Santa Claus?

But according to Jeff Westover, founder of My Merry Christmas.com, it was this non-belief in Santa that has led to a virtual empire of associated Christmas websites (including this one).

Back in 1991 Westover married a woman with a five year old child. In today’s world where blended families are common Westover found himself challenged to keep his beloved tradition of Santa Claus alive because his intended and her child had never had the Santa tradition in their holiday celebration.

“She opened her presents on Christmas Eve,” Westover recalled. “Can you imagine my horror at that? But she was insistent. It was a terrible parental challenge to deal with right off the bat. She didn’t believe in Santa and I had to make that happen.”

To make a long story short, Westover got some help from a higher source: the North Pole. Back then, the Internet wasn’t a reality. He had to do it the old way. But somehow he got the help he needed — with direct contact from Santa himself.

Santa, it seems, does a lot of mailing. He usually sends letters but is known to send packages containing all manner of goodies specifically to serve the needs of just one particular person, if necessary.

He will use his computer, like many of us do these days, but he actually has more methods of contact that almost anyone else in the world. He uses fax machines, telephones, cell phones, short wave radios, Morse code and even the good old fashioned method of smoke signals. Santa is big on communication. But his preferred method — like to due to the promise of guaranteed delivery through sleet and snow — is through the post office.

“It took one special elf and Santa at the North Pole himself to convince my eldest daughter about Santa Claus,” Westover triumphantly reports. “I couldn’t do it alone. That singular effort led to sharing what we know about Santa and the North Pole with the world. We use to send out our Santa updates by fax, but that was very expensive. Then we discovered the Internet. That made it cheaper and easier to reach millions.”

For as much as we love the Internet, Westover says that nothing does it for his kids (he has seven!) than actually getting something in the mail from the North Pole. “Oh yes,” he recalls, “that first Christmas my daughter’s first gift from the North Pole was a map of the world. She got it a couple of days before Christmas and she was instructed by her elf to hang it on the wall and use it to track Santa.”

She did, and the rest, as they say, is history.