Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Business
Cat Olley

The most covetable Christmas decorations for 2023, from the artisanal to the delightfully naff

Christmas trees covered with hand-tied bows have emerged as the festive trend of the year, but for those reluctant to dump their entire bauble collection – or wary of ribbon-induced RSI – a couple of shiny new decorations will do the job.

Try festive trinkets with a foodie twist. Delicate oysters bring shimmer with a wink, and once-ubiquitous croissants have been one-upped by sticks of butter, cans of sardines and artisanal salad leaves. It's only a matter of time before someone adds a hook to a tin of Perello olives.

The other end of the scale marks a move towards tactile, organic shapes in papier mache, wood pulp and even mycelium – House of Hackney claim to have produced the first set of Christmas decorations spun from the silky fungi fibre with a little help from mushroom farmers Caley Bros.

Here are seven schemes to get you started.

Oysters and pearls

Oyster baubles will add tasty shimmer to your tree (ES)

Pretty iridescent shells are the decoration du jour. Go gold for extra glamour

1. Set of 4 Oyster Christmas Tree Decorations, The Conran Shop, £58

2. Oyster Christmas Ornament, Choosing Keeping, £20

3. Oyster Christmas Bauble, Flying Tiger, £3

4. Oyster glass Christmas Decoration, Selfridges, £10

5. Glass Christmas Tree Decoration, H&M, £9.99

Delicatessen

Fun food-shaped decorations for a tongue-in-cheek touch (ES)

Croissants are passé – the more obscure these pantry goodies, the better

1. Minnie-Mae Studio Radicchio Leaf Decorations, Maison Flaneur, £26.50

2. French Baguette Decoration, Graham and Green, £8.95

3. Metal Tin of Sardines, Angela Reed, £6.95

4. Stick of Butter Holiday Ornament, The Oblist, approx £19

Earthly pleasures

Natural materials make for a more sustainable alternative to plastic and glitter (ES)

Tactile woodland motifs made from pulp, papier mache and silky mycelium

1. Madam Stolz Recycled Cotton Pulp Hanging Tree, Trouva, £9.40 each

2. Broste Copenhagen Christmas Pulp Deco Pendant, Connox, £5.03

3. Mycelium Tree Decoration Set, House of Hackney, £30

4. Papier Mache Three Cap Mushroom Ornament, Ferm Living, £15

5. Set of Three Squiggle Papier Mache Decorations, Habitat, £4.50

In the abstract

Novelty shapes will add a twist to your tree (ES)

Hand-painted squiggles and sculptural forms for art school kudos

1. Firle Hand-Painted Bauble, Toast, £9.50 each

2. Qué Rico Luis Vase Christmas Decoration, The Hepworth Wakefield, £13

3. Amanita Labs Teth Hanging Decor Set, Glasette, £15

4. Set of 4 Hanging Decorations, Collagerie x KS Creative Pottery, £50

5. Thie Face Bauble, The Conscious, £12

Aim for the moon with these cool cosmic baubles (ES)

Suitably festive space invaders include astronauts, planets and contemporary stars 

1. Set of 2 Silver Star Baubles, Abigail Ahern, £6.50

2. Santa in a Spitfire Decoration, Imperial War Museum, £10

3. Spaceman Sam Wool Christmas Decoration, Selfridges, £14

4. Saturn Christmas Ornament, Choosing Keeping, £38

5. Moon Christmas Bauble, Royal Museums Greenwich, £8

Home comforts

Felted decorations are eco-friendly and fun (ES)

Crafted in felt, these domestic designs have a wonderfully irreverent twist 

1. Felt Christmas Cottage Tree Decoration, John Lewis, £7

2. Vegetable Allotment Felt Decoration, Sass and Belle, £18.50

3. Cosy Greyhound Felt Decoration, not just a shop, £9.50

4. Blue Christmas Jumper Felt Tree Decoration, Caroline Gardner, £12.50

5. Felt Bottle of Fizz Decoration, Liberty, £11.95

Ultra luxe

For those that have it all, there are high-end baubles that will break the bank (ES)

Money-is-no-object tree trimmings with heirloom potential

1. Set of Four Christmas Ornaments, Dior, £500

2. Set of Three Porcelain Tree Decorations, Cartier, £730

3. Carved Christmas Bauble, Harrods, £160

4. Ippolita Bauble, Loveaball, approx £85

5. Rêve Cosmique Sun Christmas Decoration, Christofle, £220

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.