The short answer
Topper first, then ornaments from the top down, sorted into four size piles on the floor, hooks off and bagged, one per compartment, and the box stored near the top of the stack. The whole thing takes about forty minutes for a full tree and saves you considerably more than that next December.
The order matters more than the products
Most damage happens during take-down and repacking rather than in storage. Working in the wrong order means reaching across decorated branches, putting fragile pieces down somewhere temporary, and packing in a hurry at the end when you are tired of it.
- 1
Topper off first
It is the most fragile and least replaceable thing on the tree. Pack it immediately, in its own box, before anything else moves.
- 2
Ornaments from the top down
Working downward means you never reach over a decorated section. It also means the branches you are leaning on are already clear.
- 3
Sort into four piles on the floor
Under 3 inches, 3 to 4, 4 to 6, over 6. Ten minutes, and it tells you the divider layout before you touch the box.
- 4
Hooks off, into a bag
Every hook. A small zip bag in the box's rear pocket, or in the corner of the box.
- 5
Build the layout
Merge bays for the large pieces at one end, standard grid at the other. Do this while the box is empty.
- 6
Pack one per compartment
Unprinted tissue on painted, gilded and matte finishes. Plain glass in its own bay does not need it.
- 7
Fill the gaps
Crumpled tissue in part-empty merged bays so nothing travels.
- 8
Photograph, label, stack
One photo of the finished layout. A label on the outside. Then near the top of the stack, never under a heavy bin.
What to skip
Several habits in this category do nothing or actively hurt.
Wrapping everything. A plain glass ball in its own compartment does not need tissue, and wrapping it wastes ten minutes and makes unpacking slower. Wrap the finishes that can be marked, not the shapes that can break.
Newspaper. Ink transfers. Unprinted tissue costs almost nothing.
Sealing the box airtight. There is no benefit and a slight risk, because whatever humidity was in the room when you closed it stays in there. A zipped lid that keeps dust out is what you want.
Packing the box completely full. Collections grow. A box at 100 per cent capacity this year is a box you cannot use next year, and squeezing in an extra row is how compartments get shared.
Where the box goes
Near the top of the stack, in the most temperature-stable place you have. If that is a conditioned closet, use it for the glass and put the tinsel in the attic. If everything goes in the garage, put the ornament box inside a rigid latching bin so it is not sitting against concrete.
The interior height figure is what you check: a 128 box is 13 to 13.5 inches tall, and the bins that clear it are on storage containers by capacity. The trade-offs between the three usual locations are on attic versus garage versus basement.
Then the rest of the tree
Ornaments are step two of the pack-down. Lights come off next and want reels; the tree itself wants a bag sized to its longest section. The whole afternoon, in order, is on the pack-down checklist.