Every January, somebody in every household breaks an ornament packing everything away in a hurry. It's an entirely avoidable tragedy. Here's how to actually protect what you've collected — glass, felt, and everything in between.

Glass Ornaments

Glass is the one people worry about most, and rightly so — but it's also the easiest to protect if you do a few things right.

• Use individual compartments, not a shared box. A compartmentalized ornament storage box (or even a repurposed wine shipping box with cardboard dividers) keeps pieces from knocking against each other in transit or on a shelf.
• Wrap, don't just nestle. Tissue paper or bubble wrap around each piece matters more than people think — even soft contact between two glass ornaments over months of storage can cause hairline scratches or chips.
• Store upright when possible, especially for ornaments with delicate top details (a cork stopper, a tiny stem on a champagne coupe). Lying flat puts pressure on the most fragile part.
• Avoid attics and uninsulated garages if you can. Extreme temperature swings are hard on glass and can cause the paint and glitter finish to crack or flake over time.

Felt Ornaments

Felt is far more forgiving, but it has its own weak points.

• Keep them away from moisture. Felt can develop mildew or a musty smell if packed away even slightly damp — make sure they're fully dry before storage, especially if they've been out during a humid December.
• Watch for pests. Felt and wool blends can attract moths in long-term storage. A cedar block or lavender sachet in the storage box is a simple, low-effort deterrent.
• Don't compress them for months at a time. A felt mouse's ears or tail can hold a "flattened" shape if it's squished under other items all year. A slightly looser pack keeps the shape intact.

General Rules That Apply to Everything

• Label boxes by category (glass / felt / novelty), not just "ornaments" — future-you will thank you when you're decorating next November and want the cocktail collection specifically.
• Store boxes somewhere temperature-stable — a closet or under-bed storage beats a garage or attic every time.
• Take five extra minutes at pack-up. Almost every ornament casualty happens in the rush of taking the tree down, not during the season itself.

Clever (Free) Storage Tricks Worth Knowing

You don't need to buy specialty ornament boxes for everything. A few tricks that work surprisingly well:

• Egg cartons for small ornaments. Cardboard egg cartons are basically pre-built individual compartments — perfect for smaller glass pieces, delicate felt mice, or anything under about 2 inches. Line each cup with a scrap of tissue paper first, and you've got padded, divided storage for free.
• Wine shipping boxes for taller pieces. If you've ever gotten a case of wine shipped, don't recycle the box — the built-in cardboard dividers are made for exactly this kind of job, and they're the right depth for most champagne and cocktail ornaments.
• A muffin tin as a packing tray. Not for long-term storage, but genuinely useful the night you're taking the tree down — sort ornaments into a muffin tin by type or fragility as you pull them off the branches, so you're not just grabbing handfuls and hoping for the best.
• Plastic cups for stemmed pieces. Ornaments with a delicate "stem" (a champagne coupe, a martini glass) can go stem-down into a solo cup or similar small cup, which keeps the most fragile part protected and upright without needing a specialty box.
• Toilet paper tubes for garland and beaded strands. Wrap garland around a cardboard tube instead of balling it up loose — it prevents tangles and kinks that are almost impossible to fully work out the following year

One Last Thing

If something does break — and eventually, something always does — most collections are meant to be added to anyway. Consider it an excuse to add a new piece to your tree next season.

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