Post Halloween clean-up

4804 Views 50 Replies 42 Participants Last post by Deadview, Nov 16, 2014

Cloe

Discussion Starter · Nov 10, 2014

Please someone else on here assure me that I am not the only one whose inside is still fully decorated and still has a catastrophic mess to put away outside. I really go all out and am getting kind of nervous about all the wooden structures lining my driveway and such that still have to be dismantled and mountains of stuff in my garage that has to be organized. Most of my outdoor stuff is in my garage at least but my front yard fence and mausoleum (crypt) is still out. I left my gazebo canopy up too as a shelter for our yearly Halloween rain. (And again wasn't disappointed) All this is a no go in the frigid snowy NE and must come down. I get my fair share of help from the family putting it up but tend to feel guilty asking for help putting it away as this is my thing, not theirs. I like knowing where everything is post season in case I need something I'm working on anyway but I feel a little stressed about getting it taken care of as old man winter starts settling in. Those of you that had it all put it away by the 1st. I commend you but hoping some of you can convince me I'm not the only one that it takes weeks to put everything away. Half tempted to say screw it and leave the indoors up to be that much ahead for next year. Told my daughter we can hang Christmas ornaments from the webs!

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RCIAG

· #2 · Nov 10, 2014

Cloe said:
Please someone else on here assure me that I am not the only one whose inside is still fully decorated ...!

Nope. You're not alone. I never get it all put away the day after or even the first weekend after. We bring it all in the night of Halloween (we don't have as much as you do). It all gets put in the basement room where it's stored & the indoor stuff stayed up until yesterday.

I still have a dining room table full of indoor decor I just took down yesterday that needs to be stored & about 10 ziploc bags of the dollar store paper lanterns sitting on the DR floor.. I finally got the outside stuff that was brought inside, sorted out, stored & a pile to sell/donate/etc. yesterday too.

I will be putting up Christmas stuff & find something I missed. A paper decoration, a wreath, something outside, just something, there's always one thing I forget.

As I'm typing this I realized I forgot a witch sign that was up at the front door.

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Frankenfrog

· #3 · Nov 10, 2014

This is the second year that we have not had it all down by noon the next day. But then it all sat around inside the house for several weeks with us stepping over it until it was finally stored away.

Well this year it took us 3-4 days to take it all down, but it is still sitting all around inside the house waiting to be stored.

Good Luck

CherryBrandy79

· #4 · Nov 10, 2014

We just got everything offically put away this weekend. We went back threw totes that we had in the basement of things we didn't use this year to make sure we even wanted to keep the things or possible try to sell it at a garage sale. We then organized everything into the totes and wrote on the outside what was in each tote, Hopefully it will make things easier for next year.

Kind of makes me sad that our living room don't have Halloween things up anymore!

Wonderland_Brownies

· #5 · Nov 10, 2014

You are not the only one, I assure you. The last three days have been really nice out and I planned on taking down all the outside decorations. But, my boyfriend and I were hired by his mom to re-do the inside of her building (she's turning it into a B&B) and we haven't gotten home before it is dark out. Today it is cold, windy, and has been trying to snow all day. So now I am hoping it clears up by the end of the week and we can get everything inside. That being said, I still have decorations to take down inside too.

Screaming Demons

· #6 · Nov 10, 2014

We took everything down that night, but it was all thrown into random boxes and taken inside. Now I have to sort through and repack things. No need to worry about burglars though - anyone walking through my front door would think I'm a serial killer that never disposes of the bodies.

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Scatterbrains

· #7 · Nov 10, 2014

While I am mostly on my own for Halloween setup, my youngest is a huge fan of that other holiday, so she was out bright and early the morning after disassembling stuff. By Sunday night, you couldn't tell we had a haunt. There's still some work needed in the garage, but we took advantage of the nice weather yesterday and put the reindeer on the roof and got everything outside where it belongs. I've got tomorrow off, so whatever doesn't get done tonight will be finished tomorrow. This is by far the fastest and most organized teardown to date.

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Trex

· #8 · Nov 10, 2014

Ours is finshed as of yesterday as we knew a cold front was coming through and didn't want to finish it in the bitter cold. You would never know we had a Halloween yard haunt aweek ago. This weekend is supposed to warm up so we will put up Christmas lights and organize the Halloween stuff in the basement, which really isn't too bad, everything is packed just need to put boxes away in shelves.

StanFam3

· #9 · Nov 10, 2014

As of this past Sunday, all of our decorations are down, organized, boxed, and back into the attic! Woot! But it's completely ok to nor be at this point yet! You'll get there.

xxScorpion64xx

· #10 · Nov 11, 2014

Wifey and I just finished putting away everything this past Sunday, lot of stuff, I totally understand your situation

boo who?

· #11 · Nov 11, 2014

Everything outside is now inside with only a few errant bins and boxes creating a minor obstacle course in the front hallway.

Unfortunately, inside and in the right room does not mean organized. Right now my Halloween storage room is a mishmash of decorations, lights, and props that played this year.

dbruner

· #12 · Nov 11, 2014

The inside is back to normal but all of the outside stuff is still in the garage waiting to be packed up. Normally I box and label everything, this year I kind of shoved stuff in boxes randomly, I'm sure I'll be sorry next October. When packing up I found the extra package of buffet plates I couldn't find the night of the party that I Knew I had.

Halloweena

· #13 · Nov 11, 2014

Same! It has taken me longer this year to break down than I think it ever has. The outdoor stuff goes back into the basement Nov 1, but indoor is another story. Less time, more stuff... 10 totes down and counting. I'm hoping to get it all squared away by Saturday, then the turkey day stuff can come out for a few weeks.

3pinkpoodles

· #14 · Nov 11, 2014

I had so much Halloween "crap" (as my husband calls it).... Seriously, I never knew how much "stuff" (as I call it) we had until we pulled it ALL Out of the attic to do the haunted house at the kids' school this year. Well, since it was all already down from the attic, we (the kids and I) decided to do our first ever haunted back yard walk through.

Though I've been collecting and building props for a long time now. .... this year it really hit me..... I've got a little "problem". My friends have dubbed me as a Halloween Hoarder!

Putting it away? there was NO WAY I could do it all myself. Hubby did spend one whole day a couple weekends ago taking it all down. I packed it into bins/totes. Then we stacked those bins in the backyard..... SOOOOOOO Many bins...... Ugh. I just could NOT stand the thought of putting it all up into the attic (climbing a ladder, no less).

So I took the chicken's way out, drove over to Home Depot, and picked up a couple of day laborers to help me. They were grateful for the job, and boy was I grateful for the HELP. The attic has never looked better. So neat and tidy. Everything stacked in perfect little sections.

Of course, NOW I have no clue where anything is. But...it is put away! That is a relief.

BUT---- I am dreading next year, trying to figure out exactly HOW it got organized....... Not a clue in that department!

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screamqueen2012

· #15 · Nov 11, 2014

woo we pulled everthing out of our garage and storage and repacked it by what it was with what i had out for this year outside, my maze is retired now, i cant physically do it anymore.so i got it all put up so i can find all my things by what theyare and threw out a bit...my husband was so happy....found some stuff too i knew i had but couldnt find it...haha... so still have heavy indoor boxes to go to the third floor when i can get them up there..................now for xmas

Saruman of Many Colours

· #16 · Nov 11, 2014

Had taken everything down by 10:00 PM on Halloween night, except for my inflatable tree with ghosts, a skeleton groundbreaker, and our JOL. Moved everything else into the garage.

On that Saturday and Sunday, took down the elements of my interior window display and witch's table. Packed everything away and moved those boxes back down into basement storage. But didn't get them back onto the shelves, because I'd added several new life-size props this year (CVS Headless Horseman, Bobble-head Grim Reaper, and GR's Werewolf Boy) and knew that I'd need to rearrange things.

Was too busy during the week to do much with it.

Over the past weekend, finished packing away the outside decorations, moved those boxes down to the basement, and rearranged the shelves. Have some overflow still sitting on the floor in front of the shelves that I'll need to find some space for . . .

Also, still need to roll/fold up the inflatable tree, which should have dried out by now.

Edited: As I left for work this morning, saw that I also have to disassemble my Halloween lamp post, bow stsnding in a corner of the garage.

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ooojen

· #17 · Nov 11, 2014

Those darned totes get heavier every year!
I got my outside stuff torn down right away, but I still have a bit of indoor decor to tame. I got in a hurry and crammed everything in random boxes last year. It made setup such a pain that I set a goal to better in the future. But careful organization and inventory takes time. I bought and made quite a bit more stuff this year, and I need to re-organize the basement shelves and buy some more totes. I'd probably be about done if I hadn't kept on buying clearance stuff after Halloween was over. It's time to quit!

Deadna

· #18 · Nov 11, 2014

I throw everything into the garage willynilly and worry about packing later. The house can stay decorated for how ever long but I get tired of the windows being blocked or all the black making the house dark and depressing this time of year so I have been taking inside stuff down to let some sunshine in

UnOrthodOx

· #19 · Nov 11, 2014 (Edited)

Been organizing as we tear down, so I still have a long way to go. Couple things still up in the yard, but mostly cleaned there, the garage is about 50%, the craft room is about -200% (it's not all my fault).

The inside typically stays up till after Thanksgiving, but that's the boss's department.

Berserker

· #20 · Nov 11, 2014

I made a compromise with the wife this year...I can decorate last week in September if we clean up on Sunday after Halloween. I have nothing up...

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