Dirty Little Secrets ..... Christmas Decorations in March!

Well, here we go. Another installment of Dirty Little Secrets. This one is just plain embarrassing, but I signed up for the job to share, so share I will.

Christmas decorations .....

displayed in my home .....

..... on the 12th of March! 

See, embarrassing right? Now I remember a few times in the past, discovering the odd decoration around the house; a reindeer-print hand towel in the guest bathroom, a few ornaments in a mantle vase or even a wreath on a side door ..... but that was in late January/early February! Never has it gone to March Break. And this is an entire Christmas village!

My Mom has renamed her village to be a "Winter Village", so that she has an excuse to leave it up longer (or is it procrastinate taking it down?) Ha! Lucky for her, she collects the Dickens Village, so with the exception of a few Christmas wreaths, it doesn't shout Christmas. Mine on the other hand, is the North Pole Series by Dept 56. And as the title states, it is Santa's Village ..... Christmas.

Now one of the problems with my village is that I never got it fully together this year. This was our first Christmas in our new house, so I wasn't quite sure where to set it up. I moved it a dozen times, but it ended up here in the library on top of the kid's book shelves. I purchased new trees and accents, received new pieces for gifts but they never got added in. They were just thrown on top of everything else, waiting to be stored away ..... and they waited ..... a very long time.

This is where my village began ..... LEGO ..... as most decisions are based on in our Lego obsessed home. I was shopping at one of my favorite local shops, The Abbey, and came across this piece for 30% off. How could I resist? If you can see, the red colour dispenser on the end lost it's colour grains. For me that was not a big deal. I figured once my children got their little hands on it, that would be the least of my worries!

From that point on, I collected pieces here and there, trying to find just the right pieces to compliment the Lego Workshop. Then one sad day, it was announced that The Abbey was going out of business. I ventured down to see what I could find. To say that I purchased a lot is an understatement (And all at clearance prices!) So my village became a mash of everything. It was all the North Pole Series, but there was a lot inconsistency and it didn't really work. So now I am back trying to fill in the gaps and make it flow properly.

But enough with my design dilemmas, let's get back to packing this stuff up!

So while the kids are home with me this week for March Break, I figured I would enlist some little helpers and be rid of the Holidays once and for all! (We wouldn't want Mr. Peter Cottontail getting his tail-all-in-a-tangle seeing Santa still displayed at our house.)

With most collector items, they come very well packaged. I find it very easy to pack away (once I finally get around to it!) I simply disassemble all cords and small parts. Lay the items on the box that they are to be packaged in and then call in the little elves for help. I prefer to store all the little packages in a tote to keep them together and the larger boxes go on the shelf beside them in the storage room.

It took about an hour in total (with little helper!) I only wish I had tackled this sooner. Nevertheless, I now have a Christmas-free home and a clear space to dress up for Spring!

Is anyone else guilty of leaving Christmas up too long? What are some of the items that you are finding lurking in corners or under the sofa? I'm hoping this is the last of it for our house, but I'm sure Spring Cleaning will turn up some tinsel somewhere.