DIY makes, decorating inspo, gift ideas… even the most ardent Scrooge will feel a twinge of cheer after reading our festive guide.

A. Advent

Repeat after us: I do not need to spend £200 on a beauty advent calendar. You might think you’re getting 500 quid’s worth of products, but half of them are the same bits and pieces still rattling around a drawer from last year’s haul (looking at you, Philip Kingsley Elasticizer).

You don’t need one, and if you’d like to give something that feels a cut above a supermarket buy to someone you love, the DIY route is a much more thoughtful way to do it.

Flora Shedden, owner of Aran Bakery in Dunkeld and author of Winter in the Highlands (which you can read more about in our November & December issue), likes to keep it simple by gathering recyclable materials from around the house, such as old envelopes, paper and ribbon, and heading to the local shop for sweets to place inside her homemade parcels. “I really enjoy putting them together on the last day of November with a candle lit and a wee glass of something,” she says. “It feels like you’re marking that launch into what is always a busy month.”

Recently, Flora stitched a fabric calendar (left) for her son, embroidering the dates on the pockets and filling them with a combination of inexpensive treats such as socks and cookie cutters, alongside things he already owned – wooden blocks, crayons – but wrapped in paper. “I might be in for a lot of trouble when my kids are older,” she laughs. “But if something is paired with a chocolate coin, it’s always going to go down a treat.” No time to sew? A shop-bought reusable calendar is the way to go. “Or buy some striped paper bags and string them up,” suggests Jules Haines, founder of fabric house The Haines Collective. Easy-peasy.

B. Style guide: baubles

If you are making your own advent calendar, pop a bauble inside one of the windows. They make excellent stocking fillers, too.

C. Check in

You may not be inclined to have Christmas dinner at a posh hotel, but we implore you to plan a lunch or short break with pals somewhere fancy in December to soak up the festive vibes.

If you’d like to spend time in a venue that goes full Liberace with the decorations, Prestonfield in Edinburgh is a safe bet; it is never knowingly underdressed, and will run a series of Winter Wonderland parties throughout December.

Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire also comes into its own during the festive season, and Forter Castle, the Perthshire-based estate of interior designer Katharine Pooley, is bookable throughout December and will be as impeccably styled as ever. It sleeps up to 12 people.

D. DIY

Anyone else experience a Pavlovian response at the first sight of a Pritt Stick tube in December? If crafting is calling but you’re stuck for ideas, let us direct you to Søstrene Grene.

As well as stocking all the yarn, paint and card you could possibly need to get you going, the Danish retailer has a library of project ideas on its website with handy guides to creating everything from knitted Christmas decorations and paper poinsettias to pipe-cleaner wreaths and clay ornaments. There are grab-and-go kits too (a DIY macramé star set costs £3.34), which make sweet gifts.

Fancy making your own wrapping paper? Toast’s block-printing kits are hand-carved by artisans in Jaipur and lend themselves well to repeat patterns, or even homemade Christmas cards.

Molly Mahon’s printing blocks are also gorgeous – or try a tapestry kit if you want to sink your teeth into something more challenging.

E. Evelina Kroon

First came Gustaf Westman’s range for Ikea, a playful collection of tableware featuring – what else – a dedicated meatball serving plate. And now the retailer has collaborated with another iconic Swede, the cross-disciplinary artist Evelina Kroon, to deliver stylish Christmas decs that dress her signature graphic checks in a seasonal palette of red and green. Ikea, you spoil us.

As well as the usual baubles and stockings, there are lampshades, cracker-shaped cushions, a tree mat and wrapping paper.

Unlike the Westman collection, which was only available in-store, everything can be bought online. Kroonophiles, take note: Evelina has also designed a linen-bound notebook for Ohh Deer (£14.95), perfect for letters to Santa.

We’re asking for one of the rugs from her new collection with Layered, due to land this month. Might not fit down the chimney, though.

F. Flowers

“I love white pine, Scotch pine, conifers and berried ivy for foliage at this time of year,” says Scottish florist Jess Runciman, founder of London-based design studio Fluoresse. “Dried bracken is also great for a different texture and colour. Look out for twigs and branches covered with lichen moss, and dried teasels, as these make great decorations.”

As there’s not an abundance of seasonal flowers around in winter, Jess likes to decorate with potted amaryllis and cyclamen plants. “They add a beautiful rich pop of colour, and last longer. You can also buy them as cut flowers from a local florist,” she says. “For something bigger, play around with tall evergreen foliage and dried materials in a large vintage pot or urn. Start by creating an asymmetrical base with protruding branches. Use the green foliage to create layers of texture. Finish off by hanging a few tree decorations and long ribbons from the branches to add colour and detail.”

Let scent guide you too. The florist suggests including rosemary and thyme in your wreaths, and hanging a big bunch of eucalyptus in the hallway to greet you when you come in from the cold. “My favourite variety is Stuartiana Autumnal and I love eucalyptus seed pods.”

G. Guest prep

This is it. This is the year you’ll finally sort out the guest room and not have your gran sleeping in a SpongeBob SquarePants sleeping bag.

“The first mistake people often make is thinking of it as a ‘spare room’; an add-on to your home rather than a part of it,” says Georgia Metcalfe, founder and designer at French Bedroom. “Instead, choose colours, patterns and finishings that are in keeping with the rest of your home and this will instantly help your guests feel they’re a welcome addition.”

If you don’t have time to get the paint roller out, focus on the bed. “I always recommend choosing a duvet one size larger than the bed frame so that it drapes over the edges, softening the look of the whole room while offering plenty of warmth,” adds Georgia, who favours a 13.5-tog duvet in winter with a natural filling such as down or wool.

“When it comes to pillows, the plumper the better. If budget allows, duck-feather pillows sit beautifully and offer a wonderful night’s sleep. I always position one pillow beneath the duvet, and one on top. The one on top neatens and finishes the look while the one beneath is ready for your guest to rest their head as soon as they draw back the duvet. It’s the little things!”

H. Hearth

“Garlands are the easiest way to zhuzh up a mantel,” reckons Ashlee Jane, founder of The Suffolk Nest. “Start by thinking about the shape you’d like to achieve. For a more modern edge, try an asymmetrical shape where the garland drapes from one end and tumbles down one side.

“Or, for a more formal finish, I love making the mantel feel opulent and grand by using two of the same garland. Style them in a classic, symmetrical drape, anchored in the centre before sweeping across the mantel and cascading evenly down each side.” Ashlee uses The Suffolk Nest’s faux mixed foliage garland: “It’ll never dry out in the warmth of your home, and you can enjoy it year after year,” she explains. Style with a long bow in the centre to conceal the join, and add candlesticks to the mantel top.

I. Indie makers

Scotland has a vibrant network of independent makers and artists that would be overjoyed for your custom this festive season. Whether you find them at Christmas markets across the country (keep scrolling for a list of the best markets to visit this November and December) or in one of Scotland’s wonderful independent homeware stores, you’re sure to find a gift, for every person in your life, that has been lovingly made and proudly shared.

For the quirky, we recommend Fake Food Workshop’s characterful, and incredibly realistic, food ornaments (see the Dropped Cones above). For the whimsical, we recommend Celia Wood‘s elegant ceramics (see her yellow bird vase above). For the elegant, we recommend Katy Eccles‘ floral imprints (see Imprint Casts gift on blue above) and Natalia Manczak‘s paper florals (see the Icelandic Poppie orange crepe paper sculpture above). For the more artistic, we recommend Emily Powell‘s limited edition ‘Tresco’ silk scarf or Frances Priest‘s tulip tile ornaments, which come in a range of colours.

J. Style guide: jumpers

‘Tis the season for the fluffy, the garish and the colourful. Yes, it’s finally time to get your hands on the ugliest Christmas jumper you can find. Not your bag? There are plenty of classy takes on festive ganzies, with mossy Fairisle options and thick cream pullovers that are as soft as a cloud. See a few of our faves below.

K. Kitsch

Speaking of garish… kitsch has made its Christmas comeback. Add a little flair to your Christmas set up this year with baubles in the form of eyeballs, lobsters and caviar tins. You can see a few of our faves below. If kitsch is your thing, we recommend a rake through the Rockett St George website; they never disappoint.

L. Lighting

Even if you do little else in the way of decorating, lights can do a lot of heavy lifting without transforming the home into a full-blown Christmas grotto.

Candles are the most cost effective tool in your arsenal. Mix creamy church candles with tealights and tall tapers for a cosy, thrown-together feel. Battery-powered fairy lights will keep the electricity bills down; wind them through garlands on the mantelpiece or on the stairs.

Lights4fun has a huge selection of designs. We’re also partial to Perch & Parrow’s white ceramic tealight houses to cheer up a window ledge or radiator cover. You can pick them up for under £30 online.

M. Markets

Yeah, it’s fun to wander around the big Christmas markets with their roasted chestnuts and mulled wine. But if you ask us, the best markets are the ones that gather the country’s most interesting independent makers in one place. Spot Design Market will hold two winter markets in Glasgow on 8th – 9th November and 13th – 14th December.

We also have our eye on the Open Studios + Popup Shop at Mount Florida Studios on 28th – 29th November, where we’ll be browsing Cecilia Stamp’s jewellery and Sam Luntley’s stoneware.

On the first weekend of November, Easterbrook Hall in Dumfries hosts Upland Made, a two-day craft fair featuring more than 40 makers. Textile artist Louisa Ruthven will deliver a free two-hour meditative stitching workshop as part of the festivities.

In Edinburgh, don’t miss the Endless Love Creative Makers’ Market on 6th – 7th December at the Fruitmarket Gallery.

N. Nordic

If tinsel and tat give you the boak and you prefer a pared-back approach, The Christmas Season: Created by Scandinavian Artists (ACC Art Books, £35) is essential reading.

Danish stylist Katrine Martensen-Larsen peers inside the white-walled homes of Scandi creatives to share decorating ideas, recipes and crafting projects for anyone planning a cooler-than-cool Yule.

O. Outdoors

Christmas at Mouse Cottage, the charming B&B in Strathtay run by Penny Kennedy, is a magical time. For Penny, an artist and keen gardener, the outdoor spaces merit as much (perhaps more) attention as those inside. “I was influenced many years ago by a Swedish friend,” she recalls. “We went to their lovely wooden house for dinner on Christmas Eve, and they had candles all the way up the drive. It was just beautiful.”

To create a similar look, Penny lines the paths in her garden with tealights and places candles in the ‘rooms’ of her garden. “Nowadays you can get the little battery-operated tealights that flicker, and taller candles that are waterproof and can be kept outside,” she says. “I’ll also hang glass baubles containing lights on my lovely Amelanchier tree.”

Penny is “absolutely mad” about Paperwhite narcissus, so she’ll be planting those up soon then placing them indoors and out when they bloom towards the end of the year. “If it’s a nice evening and people are coming round, I’ll put them in pots around the garden,” she says. “I very much like a fresh green-and-white look. I’ll always have vases of white tulips as well – I know they’re not seasonal, but they are so lovely – and I’ll plant up my window boxes with snowdrops and anemones which will just start to peek out once Christmas is over.”

Mouse Cottage is well equipped for outdoor living, even in winter; there are several log-burners indoors and in the garden. Penny’s favourite fire lighters are found in the woods across from the house: “I’ll go out with a big bag and collect all the fallen pine cones. They light a fire straight away and they look nice gathered in a basket by the fire or at the front door,” she says. At the back of the house, the Mini Mouse self-catering studio has a summerhouse filled with candles, lanterns and fairylights (as well as lots of throws and quilts to keep cosy). “It’s such a pretty cottage,” she smiles. “With all the lights up the drive and around the little paths, it looks really sweet and Scandinavian.”

P. Style guide: paper décor

Christmas is one of the most wasteful times of the year. In the UK, approximately 114,000 tonnes of recyclable materials are likely sent to landfill, while 108 million rolls of wrapping paper are thrown away. 500 tonnes of Christmas lights are also discarded. So, this year, take some time to research more eco-conscious ways to gift and decorate this Christmas.

At H&IS, we’re planning small things like turning dinner leftovers into hearty soups and swapping plastic crackers for handmade reusable numbers. Top tip: keep the cardboard tubes from your wrapping paper; cut them into quarters, wrap each with a colourful fabric, drop a little gift into the tube and tie off each end with some ribbon or jute string. Voila! A handful of tasteful and personalised table settings that you can use year after year.

See a few of our favourite pieces of paper décor above, from honeycomb trees and hand-folded houses to origami garlands and fun paper crowns that the kids can wear on Christmas morning.

Q. Quilts

Instead of naff Christmas themed duvet sets, get yourself a special quilt that only comes out at this time of year. Or, better still, learn how to make one.

Remake in Crieff runs quilting workshops every autumn that cost just £72 for a block of six, or there’s a spendier patchwork and quilting course at Gartmore House in Stirlingshire which runs every month and includes four days of tuition, five nights’ accommodation and three meals a day from £879.

The Quilters’ Guild has a comprehensive list of quilting groups and classes throughout the country, as well as patterns for seasoned quilters seeking a project to occupy idle hands during Twixmas.

R. Repurpose

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… but, as we said before, it is also the most wasteful. So before you hit the shops for future landfill, survey your home and see if anything you already own can be repurposed.

“We like to take fabric remnants and tie them into bows; even if it’s just a five-centimetre strip of fabric, it can look really sweet,” says Jules Haines, founder of The Haines Collection, which sells surplus high-end textiles as well as objects made using upcycled fabrics. “I’ve also done a huge bow above my fireplace using seven metres of fabric (see below), stuffing the sides with newspaper and old packaging.”

Got any half-empty tins of white paint languishing under the kitchen sink? “Get some twigs and splatter them with the paint so it looks like sprinkles of snow,” suggests Jules. “It’s a great activity to do with the kids. We also like to make crackers out of old loo rolls and surplus wallpaper, tied with ribbon.”

Reusable cloth crackers are a smart investment (the striped Colours of Arley one below folds out into a napkin), and fabric can also be used to wrap gifts in the vein of Japan’s furoshiki tradition.

If you prefer a conventional cracker that pops, buy ones with reusable decorative elements. “We tied thread around the snowflakes that were glued to the top of some crackers we had, and now they’re tree decorations,” tips Jules.

S. Scent

Oh, come on – you don’t need our permission to light the candles. Check out Arran Naturals for luxurious-smelling fragrances; its candles have excellent throw (even unlit, they cast a pleasing whiff).

Swap liquid handwash for a bar of good-quality soap to perfume the bathroom inexpensively. We like Òir, which has a limited-edition orange, cinnamon and nutmeg scent for Christmas. Use a soap dish that has drainage gaps or mini plinths to reduce gunk. A beer cap stuck to the bottom of the soap will do in a pinch.

T. Tablescaping

It might sound like a right old faff, but “tablescaping is really not faffy at all; it’s just a fancy way to say you’re setting your table, but with an element of joy and focus on creating a functional piece of beauty,” says ceramicist Deborah Brett, founder of DB Ceramic.

“An easy way to create impact is with colour. Either keep things tonal by, say, having everything in a green-and-white palette, from the table linen to the crockery to the flowers. Or choose a pop of colour such as bright yellow and set it against white china and linen, fastening yellow satin ribbons around the napkins and the necks of bud vases to tie the theme together.”

Layering is the trick, which Deborah – formerly a fashion journalist – likens to assembling an outfit. Your base layer is, of course, the tablecloth.

“Or if you have a wonderful textured table (I have a beautiful zinc-topped one in my kitchen and a wooden one in my dining room), I will often only use a table runner,” she says. “Then, I’m a big fan of table mats – rattan designs are my favourite as they add texture and can make things less formal – followed by a dinner plate topped with a starter plate, and a napkin tied with my co-ordinating ceramic napkin ring or a ribbon.”

Use taller objects to add dimension. “I like to dot bud vases along the centre line of the table, interspersed with candles,” explains Deborah. “I’ll add vases and candles of differing heights to create a visual feast.”

This year she plans to style her Christmas table with an Alpine theme using a mixture of berries, eucalyptus decorations and antique silver candlesticks adorned with velvet and tartan ribbons.

But don’t worry about sticking too rigidly to a theme or scheme. If ever there was a time to dust off all the beautiful odds and ends you’ve accumulated over the years, this is it. The gherkin-shaped salt-and-pepper cellars found in a charity shop? Plonk them down!

U. Unwrap art

Every year, the Scottish Contemporary Art Network (SCAN) runs its #UnwrapArt campaign to promote artwork and hand-crafted objects as Christmas gifts.

“People are always thrilled to receive art,” says Veronique AA Lapeyre, SCAN’s director. Understanding the recipient’s taste is helpful. “It can be as simple as knowing the colours they like, or whether they’re into classical or more contemporary pieces,” she adds. “Workshops are also a lovely gift; introductions to printmaking or ceramics, for example.” Follow SCAN on Instagram for ideas.

V. Style guide: velvet

Add luxury to proceedings this Christmas with velvet décor, stockings, quilts and table settings. Opt for rich colours and elegant patterns to really boost that regal vibe.

W. Wrapping

“An old boyfriend’s mother ran a café, and always said that the food served to her customers should not just taste good, but look good,” says product designer Mette Beck Adsbøl in The Christmas Season: Created by Scandinavian Artists.

“I have had this in mind ever since – even when I wrap presents. They should provide a feeling of hygge and warmth. I generally decorate with a twig, a fresh or dried flower, or perhaps a bauble and pretty ribbon, and to top them off, one of my handmade brass stars. Should I have some pretty fabric remnants, I like to use these as ribbons or extra decorations.”

X. Xmas tress

Every year we look forward to seeing the winterscapes dreamed up by David Lawson, aka the man who luxury hotels such as Mar Hall and the Kimpton Blythswood Square turn to for festive installations.

He finds inspiration for his designs in unexpected places – the tree on the right, for instance, was based on the ethereal beauty of a partially frozen fountain. “I used a flocked tree (which has the appearance of snow-covered branches) and decorated it with glass ornaments and spiralling gold ribbons to convey the movement of the water dripping through the icicles,” he explains. “I added gold branches and foliage to warm it up, then kept the gift wrap very plain so as not to detract from the tree.”

This year, David is excited about pairing burgundy, rich reds and pinks for a festive palette with a modern twist. “In the look above, I kept the trees relatively clean and simple, decorating with bows and plain baubles in those colours to keep the focus on the garland and wreath.”

Y. Style guide: yuletide greetings

Drop some festive cheer through your favourite people’s letterboxes this year with cool cards from some of Scotland’s best illustrators. You can pick up endearing, sustainably-made cards in independent homeware stores like Farmore Interiors (St Andrews), BAM (Glasgow), This Must Be The Place (Glasgow), Harbour Lane (South Queensferry), Loch Leven’s Larder (Perthshire), Haus & Co (Innerleithen) and Curated Markers Pop-Up in the St James Quarter, Edinburgh. We’ve listed some of our favourites below.

Z. Zest

Swap red for the zesty warmth of orange and make the most of the opportunity to use the citrus fruit in your décor.

Clementine filled bowls are easy centrepieces (keep the leaves on for a splash of green). Dried orange slices are easy to make and instantly punch up a wreath or garland – just cut a few oranges into two-centimetre slices, pat dry and stick in the oven on a low heat (around 100°C) for three hours, turning at least once. And don’t you dare forget to put satsumas in the stockings. It keeps the kids humble.

Applications for Scotland’s Christmas Home of the Year 2025 are now open