Curate and create everything you need for a spectacular Christmas/festive season. From crafting unique decorations and thoughtful handmade gifts, to making a flower cloud to hang above your table, this is our guide to hosting with confidence and flair throughout the festive season.

Fresh, foraged & dried festive decorations

Learn to make a flower cloud with Bex Partridge

A floral hanging is a quietly dramatic way to transform a space for Christmas. Striking enough for a party, yet soft and organic enough to live alongside throughout the festive season. In Bex Partridge’s course, she details how to create a beautiful seasonal flower cloud installation using a mix of fresh and dried materials that you can easily source yourself.

Using foraged finds from your garden or local area, many of which will dry in situ, the result feels natural rather than overly styled, a celebration, in many ways, of the winter hedgerow. Bex suggests using honeysuckle vines to form the structure of the cloud, chosen for their twisting and sculptural quality, though any pliable vine sourced locally should work well.

As Bex builds the installation, she layers in ‘fluff and fillers’, creating movement and depth, ensuring the installation feels light and balanced in form. Hung above a table or as a seasonal feature in a living space, Bex teaches an approach to festive decoration that feels both contemporary and timeless, and in fact works for festivities at other times of the year.

Master the art of wreath making with Willow Crossley

Few decorations feel as synonymous with Christmas as a wreath, and Willow Crossley’s approach, detailed in her course is refreshingly instinctive. This is a process best embraced with a little mess, with Willow suggesting to lay down newspaper or work outside, and with a generous hand.

Willow recommends securing moss firmly with reel wire, pulling against yourself as you go, and packing the moss in tightly. When in doubt, she suggests - go bigger. If you are falling short of foliage, offcuts from Christmas tree suppliers can be an excellent source of greenery.

Willow reminds us that there is no right or wrong way to decorate a wreath. Step back often to assess balance and shape, and don’t be afraid to adjust. Good secateurs are essential for clean, solid cuts, while thicker wire can be threaded through stems to secure heavier elements if necessary.

Before finishing, place the wreath on the door and assess it in situ, hiding any overly stalky sections with finer details. A wreath should feel abundant, secure and joyful, welcoming your guests before they’ve even stepped inside.

Craft your own Christmas gifts

Make beautiful pressed flower cards with Arthur Parkinson

Handmade gifts carry a particular kind of warmth, and homemade pressed flower cards are a beautiful way to share a piece of your garden in winter. In his pressed flower card lesson, Arthur Parkinson guides us through selecting his favourite flowers, violas and pansies, which he uses to make beautiful pressed flower Christmas cards.

The key, Arthur explains, is patience. In the pressing process, flowers should be laid out carefully so they never touch, allowing space for air to circulate as they dry. Once pressed, he explains to leave them undisturbed for at least two weeks as opening the press too early can ruin the results and to always pick flowers on a dry day, as moisture can cause moulding.

Arthur suggests pressing flowers alongside foliage, as it adds depth and character to the composition. He recommends keeping a secret stash of pressed blooms to combine creatively later. In the quieter winter months, these small acts of making become a gentle reminder of the garden waiting beyond spring and it makes a wonderful thoughtful accompaniment to a gift.

Learn to make unique metal decorations with Jess Wheeler

Bring a glimmer of gold to your Christmas tree with Jess Wheeler, who reimagines field maple leaves as beautiful sculptural brass decorations.

By studying the symmetry, veining and movement of a leaf or botanicals, Jess demonstrates how careful observation is the key to the success of the delicate decorations she makes. Starting with a brass sheet and a small leaf as a reference point, Jess teaches you to create clean edges and softer lines in the brass to recreate the movement and detail of your reference leaf.

The techniques learned for crafting a single leaf will form the foundation for more ambitious christmassy themed projects and decoration, from stems with multiple leaves to delicate garlands. The result is a collection of decorations that feel beautifully individual and that can be added to your collection to bring out year after year.

Festive table setup

Use block printing to make stunning festive designs with Molly Mahon

For Molly, a well dressed table doesn't need to be formal to feel special. Her block-printed runners and napkins will bring colour, pattern and personality to any festive gathering.

Using something as simple as a potato, Molly demonstrates how to create bold, Charleston-inspired designs that you can recreate for your festive gatherings. By printing first and hemming the napkins or designs afterwards allows the pattern to lead the design, resulting in pieces that feel relaxed yet considered.

Molly suggests laying the runner down the centre of the table over a white cloth. And for the full look - if you have the time and inclination - matching napkins in complementary colour-ways is the only way to go for full festive impact.

Create the perfect festive table setup with Nina Campbell

For Nina Campbell, laying the table is as important as the food itself, and is all about confidence and layering.

Mixing and matching crockery collected over time brings charm and individuality, while coloured glasses for water and clear ones for wine add subtle distinction. Nina likes to stick to low flower arrangements that encourage easy conversation and uses mirrored plates with candles to create a festive twinkle.

Nina encourages hosts not to worry about perfect sets - the beauty and charm of any table set up lies in variety. ‘Shop the cupboard’, she advises, bringing pieces from around the home to the table. Most importantly, allow yourself to create different moods for different occasions, from formal dinners to relaxed festive lunches, experiment with design and, above all, enjoy the process.