12 Days Of Christmas Decorating With ELLE Decoration And Friends The interiors experts – and a few of their creative friends – share 12 alternative ways they’ll be decking the halls this December. The verdict? It’s all about stylish-but-sustainable twists, plenty of greenery and getting stuck in… Organise a festive forage ‘In the lead up, it’s nice to wrap up warm and go for a walk with someone you love to forage some foliage for the Christmas table decorations. Little dried grass sprigs or lichen sticks look so lovely in small stem jars or in ribbon-tied bundles for place settings on napkins. It can be a welcome breather from the manic-ness towards the end.’ – Terri Chandler, co-founder of Worm London Organise a festive forage ‘In the lead up, it’s nice to wrap up warm and go for a walk with someone you love to forage some foliage for the Christmas table decorations. Little dried grass sprigs or lichen sticks look so lovely in small stem jars or in ribbon-tied bundles for place settings on napkins. It can be a welcome breather from the manic-ness towards the end.’ – Terri Chandler, co-founder of Worm London 2. BRANCH OUT ‘I like to hang delicate baubles and beautiful pieces of fabric from a large branch, which I find is perfect for hallways, where you want to decorate but perhaps there is limited space. Creating little ‘still lifes’ like this, all around the house, is something that I love to do at Christmas. I usually place a tree on the balcony outside too – that’s a longstanding tradition.’ – Tricia Guild, creative director of Designers Guild 3. TRY SOME FANCY FOLDING ‘I’m always squirrelling away beautiful papers – I love marbled effects at the moment – and at Christmas I’ll use them to make origami birds and stars, adding some festive twine or thin ribbon to hang them from the tree. There’s some great YouTube tutorials out there.’ – Sharon O’Neill, Picture Director, ELLE Decoration 3. TRY SOME FANCY FOLDING ‘I’m always squirrelling away beautiful papers – I love marbled effects at the moment – and at Christmas I’ll use them to make origami birds and stars, adding some festive twine or thin ribbon to hang them from the tree. There’s some great YouTube tutorials out there.’ – Sharon O’Neill, Picture Director, ELLE Decoration 4. TAKE INSPIRATION FROM TRIPS ‘I have lots of coloured ribbons that I bought in India years ago and I added different colours every time I had another child, so the tree is now bursting with colour. I tie them in bows attached to candles on the tree. I don’t light them but they look beautiful.’ – Suzy Hoodless, Interior Designer 5. REFINE YOUR WREATH ‘Making my own wreath sounds wonderful but I rarely get around to it. A brass or gold wreath ring is actually really versatile – I’ll add a twist of eucalyptus or bay or use it to frame a few dried flowers tied to the top edge. It looks subtle enough to hang inside, rather than on the door where I’d barely get to see it.’ – Cat Olley, Senior Features Writer, ELLE Decoration 5. REFINE YOUR WREATH ‘Making my own wreath sounds wonderful but I rarely get around to it. A brass or gold wreath ring is actually really versatile – I’ll add a twist of eucalyptus or bay or use it to frame a few dried flowers tied to the top edge. It looks subtle enough to hang inside, rather than on the door where I’d barely get to see it.’ – Cat Olley, Senior Features Writer, ELLE Decoration 6. DON’T WASTE BEAUTIFUL WALLPAPER ‘One of my favourite festive traditions involves making paper chains from wallpaper offcuts with our children, which we then use to decorate our home. Not only is it fun, but it’s also a great way to make use of any wastage.’ – Frieda Gormley, Co-Founder of House of Hackney 7. ADOPT YOUR TREE ‘We love to have a real Christmas tree but last year we decided no more, as it was definitely too wasteful, so we invested in a Himalayan pine (pinus wallichiana). We keep it in a pot in our garden and then every year we’ll bring it back inside. We love its long weeping needles – it has structural drama and a hint of retro glamour.’ – Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead, Founders of 2LG Studio 7. ADOPT YOUR TREE ‘We love to have a real Christmas tree but last year we decided no more, as it was definitely too wasteful, so we invested in a Himalayan pine (pinus wallichiana). We keep it in a pot in our garden and then every year we’ll bring it back inside. We love its long weeping needles – it has structural drama and a hint of retro glamour.’ – Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead, Founders of 2LG Studio 8. GIVE TRIMMINGS A FRESH TWIST ‘I re-use saved ribbons and baubles. One year I threaded satsumas onto a bright pink grosgrain ribbon and hung it on the tree! I also love that old school days thing of spraying bare twiggy branches with silver paint and hanging a few Christmas decorations, instead of a tree.’ – Katie Fontana, Co-Founder of Plain English Design 9. UP YOUR FRAME GAME ‘I live in a pint-sized flat, so instead of a tree, I hang greenery which I’ve gathered from Epping Forest on shelves, door and window frames and ledges. Then I finesse it with fairy lights and baubles I’ve collected over the years. It looks just as lovely as a tree and smells wonderful too.’ – Kate Worthington, Features Editor, ELLE Decoration 9. UP YOUR FRAME GAME ‘I live in a pint-sized flat, so instead of a tree, I hang greenery which I’ve gathered from Epping Forest on shelves, door and window frames and ledges. Then I finesse it with fairy lights and baubles I’ve collected over the years. It looks just as lovely as a tree and smells wonderful too.’ – Kate Worthington, Features Editor, ELLE Decoration 10. GATHER FROM THE GARDEN ‘I like to go out and cut the ivy. It needs to be trimmed back and taken off the trees as it’s not good for them, and it looks great as part of a table centrepiece or added to the banister. You can do a bit of gardening and house decorating at the same time.’ – Sophie Conran, Homeware Designer 11. BUY FOR A BABY ‘Angela, my stepmother (also known as Nangela in our house) has been buying a special Christmas decoration for our son since I was pregnant, with the idea that when he leaves home he will have a beautiful set for his tree, full of memories.’ – Bethan Gray, Furniture & Homeware Designer 11. BUY FOR A BABY ‘Angela, my stepmother (also known as Nangela in our house) has been buying a special Christmas decoration for our son since I was pregnant, with the idea that when he leaves home he will have a beautiful set for his tree, full of memories.’ – Bethan Gray, Furniture & Homeware Designer 12. PRETTIFY YOUR PLANTS ‘I’m usually averse to anything other than a natural Christmas tree (the bigger the better), but living in a small apartment I’ve been forced to rethink my festive ambitions. This year, I’ll be dressing my houseplants instead of a fir. My towering cheese plant (named Harvey) will be entwined with lights and a few subtle decorations.’ – Clare Sartin, Houses Editor, ELLE Decoration Find more festive home inspiration at elledecoration.co.uk and @elledecorationuk, or sign up to the ELLE Decoration newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. MORE LIKE THIS Arts & Culture 7 Books To Refresh Your Coffee Table With We’ve curated a collection of thoughtful, inspiring and beautiful books to give table tops a new sense of purpose ...read more Arts & Culture 9 Interior Design Instagrams To Follow Now Whether you're seeking inspiration to update your space or just a little interior escapism, our list of the best interior ...read more Arts & Culture How To Find The Perfect Print For Your Home Buying the perfect print has the power to transform your home. Screen print experts, Print Club London, share their top ...read more