You might need a holiday box if you:

• have limited storage space
• have a second home
• are downsizing
• have college or young adult children
• use an RV to travel
• need a unique, memorable gift for a newly engaged or married friend

You need a birthday pack if you:

• Are a person
• who knows people
• who have birthdays

 

When I downsized to a living space less than 500 square feet, most things had to go. I tried to be as frugal with my new space as possible. One cup per person would have to do. No off season clothing. Everything had to fit in my closet. Double duty items were at the top of my list.

But when I got down to decorations, I just couldn’t part with my special holiday items. So, I found a way.

I piled all of my decorations into my dining room and split them into holidays/seasons. I labeled a storage box and then picked from each pile until I had a new holiday box. My favorite small items all went in first. Then I tried to make sure there was something to represent each holiday and that the lid would still fit. The rest of the items were sold or stored.

Some items were so sentimental that they made picking easy. Would Halloween be the same without this little ghost that I got when my daughter was in kindergarten? No!

 

Here is what I picked for every season…..

Halloween – including my cute ghost!

Thanksgiving – those turkey parts plug into a pumpkin making a centerpiece. Turpumpkin?

Christmas – this is the fat Santa I love. How cute is he? I got him from Hallmark years ago and he is irreplaceable to me.

Valentines Day

Spring and Fall generic

Easter! I love the little chicks. They are meant to be table place card holders. I also use them to identify the coconut cake or hold a sign saying “Happy Easter”. My daughter painted the rabbits, so I could never get rid of them. Insert heart emoji here! And those plastic eggs? My kids will never be too old for candy. Or so they tell me.

and the thing you never knew you needed – A Birthday Pack!

Even if you don’t need a holiday box because you live in a large house with plenty of storage, please consider making a birthday pack. I can’t tell you how many times my birthday pack has had my back. Often I find out at the last minute that it is someone’s birthday and I grab my pack and rush to the hall and put up banners, crepe paper and even a decoration for a cake, lickety-split.

You could include birthday candles, a cake or cupcake decorative picks, crepe paper in colors to match a birthday banner. If you want more, consider birthday confetti, a disposable solid color tablecloth and solid color treat bags. Your birthday person will feel loved and it will be easy to make your room into a party in 10 minutes or less.

My holiday box warms my heart, season after season. Last week, I told my daughter that I wanted to start a holiday box for her. She said she has enough room in her apartment for one storage box like this. We will label it and put in a Christmas item. Then we will look for a Valentines item. And so on. Each holiday this year will signal a mother/daughter shopping trip. A trip to look for the best, most heartwarming or perfect item for her box.

We might buy it together at a yard sale, Etsy, Target or even a consignment store. Maybe a local craft fair will hold her first item. Wherever and whenever we find it won’t matter as much as that specially picked item in her own box. If we don’t find something for Christmas this year, we can try again next year. It doesn’t need to be completed in a year.

I’m hoping this will be a great holiday box. Practical and warm. Opening this box should bring back all kinds of laughter and memories. And when the items are back in the box, the next set will come out. Warming her apartment one season at a time.

I hope you have a box of memories too. These items, whether they are ornaments collected over time or irreplaceable gifts from dear ones, can become a living photo album – carrying us back to places and people we love.

 

Variations:

• An ornament box that is added to year after year could be a great holiday box alternative.
• Shopping with a close friend each holiday could be a fun activity and gift in one! If the person lives far away, collect suggestions via Pinterest or Etsy or Amazon. Then pick and mail the item to be placed in the special box.
• This could make a great wedding shower gift or going away gift for someone retiring.