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" Holiday Organizing pro and author of Simplify Your Holidays (Thomas Nelson, 2008) Marcia Ramsland shares ways to simplify holiday storage and manage the postholiday clean up:   Upgrade your containers. If you haven&amp;#039;t made the switch from cardboard to plastic, it&amp;#039;s time to upgrade. A plastic container with a secure lid will protect your holiday decor from moisture and critters. Same-size containers will stack neatly and keep your storage space orderly.   Add a label. Pack and label each box according to when in the season the items are used. Box 1, for example, should contain first-to-open items like front door decorations, while lateseason items like stockings can go in Box 10. Attach a 456 index card to each box, with its number and a short description of the contents.   Limit your options. At the start of the season, sort out ornaments you no longer use or need and donate them to a charity. Holiday items are only used for four to six weeks, but they take up space for 11 months, so make sure they&amp;#039;re your favorites.   Wind it up. Holiday lights quickly become a tangled mess if you don&amp;#039;t store them neatly. Use a piece of masking tape to ID each string as indoor or outdoor, then wind lights around a sheet of sturdy cardboard or tubing.   Set a schedule. Set a day for holiday clean-up and stick to that date each year. Eat the last of the Christmas cookies while you organize, store and celebrate the season&amp;#039;s end.    BOXED IN (main photo) Cargo Ribbon Box. $12. 800-600-9817; organize.com   ROUND UP (left) Wreath Keeper Storage Bag. $69 to $149. 888-263-9850; frontgate.com.   UP, UP AND AWAY (center)Vertical Gift Wrap Organizer. $13. 888-266-8246; containerstore.com.   ON THE LEVEL (right) Three Tier Ornament Storage Box. $70. 877-718-7901; solutions.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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