Protecting and Storing Heirloom Ornaments

As a professional organizer I am not a huge keeper of stuff. My kids won't be handed down boxes and boxes of things to go through. I take pictures of things instead of keeping them. Essentially my children will be left a photo journal of memories instead of making the hard choice of what to get rid of and what to keep. There is however one tradition I have started with my children and they will each get one special box when they leave the nest.

Every Christmas I buy each child a keepsake Christmas ornament. From birth on they get a special ornament for that year. I often try to pick an ornament that reflects them during that year, things they like or their personality. For instance this year my three year old daughter really came out of her shell and became a total drama queen. We found the perfect ornament of a deer playing dress up! When we unpack our ornaments each year we get to reflect on years past just from the memories these ornaments bring out.

 When my children leave the house it has been my dream to give them a special box filled with their ornaments and decorations that we have collected for them over the years. Finding an ornament storage box had been harder than I originally thought. I didn't want something plastic or something breakable. A lot of thought and money goes into picking out each ornament. Each year we spend anywhere from $10 - $15 dollars on each ornament. Sometimes more! More importantly though I wanted something heirloom quality. I wanted that special look and feel to the box that lets my kids know each year when we pull them out that it is something special. Something that will be all theirs one day.

When I came across Sterling Pear™ and their ornament storage boxes I knew I had found what I was looking for! The Signature Ornament Storage Box has the look, feel and quality I was after. I feel it is important to make a investment in proper storage up front so that your heirlooms are protected over the years. I look forward to pulling these boxes out every year and spending this special time with my kids during Christmas!

Tanna Clark is founder and "chief organizing officer" of Complete Organizing Solutions. As a professional organizer and mom of three Tanna is passionate about helping busy families find the organizing solutions they need to manage their homes efficiently.

Christmas Decorations: The Ultimate Storage Solution

Tis the season to deck the halls and trim the tree.  In fact, it’s probably already happened in your house.  Did the decorating go smoothly?  Did you find your Christmas ornaments in one piece, or were a few favorites broken or squished?  What kind of empty ornament storage box has been returned to the attic or basement?  Were those favorite ornaments wrapped in leftover Christmas tissue? Or worse, last January 2nd’s classified section, and put in a shipping carton?

If this sounds like your M.O., maybe it’s time to upgrade the ornament storage. No more reckless treatment of your cherished Christmas ornaments!  Those breakable, sentimental pieces deserve to be protected so they last year after year with only Midnight the cat as a potential threat.   Why not take a few minutes to do a quick Christmas storage inventory to figure out how best to store and protect your favorite decorations and ornaments.

Options abound out there!  However, not all of them are so great. Hard plastic crates certainly don’t protect fragile items, though they work with unbreakables.  Collapsible fabric containers run the same risks.  Enter Sterling Pear™! The storage systems designed by Sterling Pear™ provide a plush, protective environment for your favorite ornaments or small collectibles.  

The beautiful, Keepsake Ornament Storage Chest™ provides the ideal Christmas ornament storage solution.  Inside, this showpiece storage chest is lined in a rich velveteen.  It contains removable lined trays which are also padded on the bottom to ensure protection of your fragile decorations.  Each of the three trays boast satin handles and removable dividers so it can be adjusted to your individual storage needs.  What’s more, when you are decorating the tree next year, you’ll be able to set each tray out and ponder placement of ornaments with everything displayed in front of you!

And, as a side bonus, if storage is an issue in your home, this gorgeous Keepsake Ornament Storage Chest™ would be perfect placed in any room year-round.  It could be sitting on the top of a bookshelf or hutch, or sitting in the corner of the guest room. 

To see Sterling Pears complete product line please visit www.sterlingpear.com.

(contributed by Heather Martinez)

New Sterling Pear Giveaway on Facebook!

It’s time for another Sterling Pear giveaway for our Facebook Fans!

Are your “stockings hung by the chimney with care”? In light of recent media surrounding unsafe stocking holders (please see related article link below), a lucky winner will receive one 4-pack set of the original MantleClips in either a polished brass or holly-patterned oil-rubbed bronze finish. These stocking holders fit most mantles up to 3” deep and are especially safe if you have small children about the house.

To enter, go to the Sterling Pear Facebook Fan Page, then under the “Discussions” tab leave a comment on why you should win one of these beautiful AND safe stocking holders (one entry per-person please)!

The winner will be announced next Saturday, December 19th. Good luck!!

Related article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34266493/ns/health-behavior/?GT1=43001/from/ET

Holly Patterned Oil-Rubbed Bronze Finish

Polished Brass Finish

Keeping It Together on Thanksgiving Day

Having people over Thanksgiving Day?  Feeling a bit overwhelmed by agreeing to host the family this year?  If you spend just a little extra time today and tomorrow, you’ll be ready to relax and enjoy your company.

Today, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is the ideal day to make sure you have all ingredients on hand (and if you don’t have a menu yet, well, don’t despair-- just hurry and get that order in at the gourmet grocery!).  It’s the day to make sure that those food assignments you parceled out last week are, indeed, going to show up.  It’s the day to pull out the right number of dishes, serving pieces, and linens – if you are missing anything, there’s still time to borrow a place setting from your sister.  It’s the day to make that pumpkin cheesecake and roast the chestnuts for the stuffing.  Prepare those dishes that can be made a few days ahead.  And, today is the day to make sure the house is clean.  If it’s not, just do a quick pick-up, wipe-down, and vacuum.  It’ll do.  Oh, and if the turkey isn’t defrosting yet, you better head to the store to buy a fresh bird.

The day before Thanksgiving is the day to set your table and, if you are serving buffet-style, set up the sideboard.  Arrange serving dishes how you will want them set for dinner.  Then, take the serving spoon (or tongs or fork…) for that dish, label its purpose with a tiny piece of masking tape on the back, and lay the spoon down where the dish will be.  All organized, and no scrambling at dinnertime when the peas have no spoon.  The day before is also the ideal day to finish as much food prep as possible, so come morning it’s just a matter of roasting the turkey, tossing the salad, and heating up the mashed potato casserole.  If you planned well and passed out food assignments covering everything but the turkey, take a few minutes and create a Thanksgiving soundtrack for dinner, including favorites from each family member.  Then play Guess Who Loves This Song during dinner.

Just remember, Thanksgiving is a time to enjoy each other’s company, to take the time to be grateful for all we are given.  The only thing needed for a perfect Thanksgiving is a grateful heart and people to share the Thanksgiving spirit with.  Those burned orange rolls will be the hilarious story next year.  No shame in that.

Storing Holiday Ornaments And Keeping Them Safe

The holiday season usually seems to end as quickly as it begins. The excitement of and time spent unpacking holiday decorations and placing them around the house is expeditiously replaced with the need to take them down and pack them away for the next 11 months. Taking them down amidst returning to work, school, and requests from some to leave them up a little while longer however can make the task a bit daunting. When taking holiday decorations down you're also faced with the task of storing them safety for use next year.

The storage of Christmas and other holiday ornaments however isn't as simple as one might think. There is of course not just packing ornaments away but the matter in which they are stored too. The types of ornament storage containers you place ornaments and decorations in also affects their durability and ability to be used for years upon years. Even individuals that use top of the line storage boxes however will find that the location in which holiday ornaments are stored play a huge role in the caducity of the ornaments and can determine whether or not they're usable after a year of storage.

There are many things an individual can do to safely store their ornaments and precious holiday keepsakes for another years use and a number of things people should be conscience of when packing them away. Keeping the following things in mind can protect your ornaments and keep them safe for a lifetime and reduce the wear and tear then normally receive while in storage.

Tender loving care: Giving your ornaments plenty of TLC goes a long way in preserving their color, durability, and even prolonging their lifespan. When taking down holiday ornaments treat them as you would perishables or items of the most sensitive nature. Removing them from trees, stairwells, and the exteriors of homes with great care, being careful not to snag them on surrounding hooks and permanent fixtures can keep them intact and ready them for storage without any type of damage.

Sterling Pear Keepsake Ornament Storage Chest is durable keeping all your precious ornaments safe until you use them next year.

Invest in your ornaments: Many people view their holiday ornaments as family keepsakes, many of which have been in the family for years. Sadly however many of these same people simply pack their ornaments away into cardboard or even generic plastic boxes. Even more alarming is that these boxes are then placed into crowded garages, attics, and closets all of which tend to damage ornaments and cause the lose of heirlooms and holiday favorites. Fortunately for those who look at their ornaments and see more than mere decorations, there are plenty of ornament storage chests available from online vendors. The majority of these are affordable, convenient, and stylish, allowing for the safe and secure storage of holiday decorations. Buying an ornament storage bin should be the first thing people do, well before taking decorations down.

Sterling Pear offers 2 types of ornament storage boxes:

• Keepsake Ornament Storage Chest
• Signature Ornament Storage Box
  

Be Creative: Pulling holiday decorations down after the season concludes doesn't mean that any and all reminders of the holidays need to be put away for another year. Many of the ornament storage boxes for sale not only protect your ornaments and keepsakes from damage but they're designed to be part of your home decor and fit nicely into tight spaces for convenient and tidy storage. Many of these boxes boast holiday themed designs themselves while others are designed to fit naturally into any home's natural decorum. This means that ornaments can be safely stored out in the open all year giving you quick access to them when the holidays roll around once more.

Purchase Your Ornament Storage Box Today!

Simple Ideas for Holiday Elegance

Holiday Ideas -- #1

The Time to Get Organized for the Holidays is Now…

The secret to a peaceful, non-stress holiday season is to plan, plan, plan. Why not spend an hour before Halloween to calendar out the coming holiday season? Pencil in dates for travel plans, guests who may come to town, parties or open houses you might be hosting this year, and any already scheduled events you might attend. 

Then, for the real planning, set dates to have specific tasks accomplished. For instance, November 10th have Thanksgiving Dinner organized, November 15th have Holiday Cards ordered or purchased, December 1st have your annual New Year’s Day open house planned, and December 10th have all gifts shipped.

After scheduling, take an hour the next day to start those lists. Who’s getting holiday cards or gifts and what those gifts might be. Your annual cocktail party plans (even down to the last hors d’oeuvre). Stocking up for overnight guests. And, what about the decorating?

Spend an hour over the weekend to take stock of what you have, and decide what you want to supplement your décor from seasons past. Maybe that tree skirt has seen better days. Perhaps your favorite glass balls were crushed while in storage. Maybe it’s your first holiday season on your own and you have almost nothing. Start thinking about what you need and what styles you’re looking for.

Weekly Sterling Pear will post a new holiday idea. We’ll include ideas for holiday decorating, traditions, planning, and organizing. And we won’t stop with Christmas -- we’ll keep it up all year long!

Need to Organize All Your Xmas Ornaments??
We Can Help Purchase Sterling Pear Ornament Storage Box Now!

Welcome To The Official Holiday Ornament Storage Blog

Welcome to the official Sterling Pear blog!  This blog will serve as an avenue with which to keep our clients and potential clients informed of company news, new products, specials sales, and things of that nature.  We will regularly update this blog and showcase our many ornament storage containers.  Expect not only images but product information as well.

Click here to buy Ornament Storage Boxes

For those not familiar with Sterling Pear we are a company dedicated to offering holiday ornament storage solutions.  We understand that for many people their holiday ornaments are much more than mere decorations and fall more along the lines of keepsakes.  It is for this reason we offer ornament storage chests.  Our ornament boxes are designed not only to keep your ornaments safe but make them easy to locate and store as well.  Made from metal as well as fiberwood and other strong resilient materials our holiday ornament storage containers will save you time, money, and the heartache associated with losing precious holiday ornaments.

The following ornament storage containers are available through our website:

All of our ornament storage containers make great gifts as they will come in handy immediately following the holiday season.  If you have questions about any of our ornament organizers please don't hesitate to contact us.  You may also visit our holiday ornament storage website for a full list of products we offer.