Affordable and slightly old fashioned in the best possible way, let crepe paper streamers, paper chains and starry garlands be the final flourish to your Christmas decoration scheme. Here are our favourite ways to use them.
Other things you may find useful: Christmas Decorating Ideas | Christmas Living rooms | Christmas Bedrooms | Christmas Tree Ideas | Christmas Table Settings
PAPER CHAINS
So affordable and pretty, with a process of assembly easy enough to get even the youngest crafters in the family involved, yet they still look suprisingly sophisticated.
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Sarah Hogan
Simple white paper chains adorn this rustic cottage scheme.
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Jan Baldwin
Foil paper chains, '10576', 180cm, £5.10 each, from Gisela Graham. Wrapping paper, from £3.50 a sheet, from Paperchase. Velvet ribbon, from £1.65 a metre; satin ribbon, from 55p a metre; both from V V Rouleaux. Alphabet stickers, by Meri Meri, £4.95 each, from Liberty. Gold paper stars, by Livingly, £8.75 for 3, from SCP.
PAPER GARLANDS & CRAFT PUNCHED SHAPES
Invest in a craft punch - basially a giant hole punch that when applied to coloured card yeilds various pretty shapes - you won't regret it. String your craft punched bounty in to pretty gardlands, or stick straight to walls.
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Lucas Allen
The bunting hanging across the hall is perfect for vintage style Christmas decorations. Make your own using a craft punch like this one from Woodware.
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Rachel Whiting
Gold dots are a fun - and, crucially, very temporary - way of adding a Christmas feel to the home. Gold dots cut from foil card, £3 for an A3 sheet, from Paperchase; using 'XCut Large Palm Punch Circle', £6, from Hobbycraft.
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Sarah Hogan
This cosy living room decorated for Christmas features many stylish details. Paper and cotton garland, 'Vintage Music', at The Original Pop Up Shop. Paper bunting at Toast. Pine-cone garland, at Anthropologie.
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Carolyn Barber
Home-made paper garlands are the perfect way to add a festive flourish to bedrooms. These were hand-made using shapes punched from coloured card using a craft punch fromWoodware.
CREPE PAPER STREAMERS
Crepe-paper streamers are an affordable and effective way to add festive cheer to walls and furniture.
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Rachel Whiting
Paper streamers - very simply made by rolling a sheet of crepe paper and cutting into slices like a swiss roll - can be garlanded around for a village-hall-celebration look. Handmade bespoke paper and straw chandeliers, 'Pajaki',from £90, fromKarolina Merska. Garland in crepe paper, £1.75 a 2.5-metre roll, from Paperchase. Nineteenth-century Kashmiri hand-painted wooden
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Paul Raeside
Here House & Garden decoration editor Gabby Deeming has twisted them round the posts of this Eighteenth-century Spanish daybed. Decking its canpoy with a bushels of fir and multi-coloured baubles.
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Paul Raeside
Old fashioned crepe paper streamers give an instant pop of colour. For full captions click here.
Paper Fans and Flowers
For those who embrace colourful, kitsch decorating. Decorations derived from traditional Mexican and Polish styles are prefect for maximalists. See how to make your paper flowers
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Rachel Whiting
Paper streamers, £8.50 for 3 x 4-metre lengths; hanging paper decorations, from £15 each; metallic fans, £9 for three; all from Talking Tables.
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Paul Raeside
House & Garden decoration editor Gabby Deeming has created a jolly Christmas dining room, strewn with velvet ribbon from Macculloch & Wallis and crepe streamers from Pipii. The gold hanging paper snowflakes and diamond piniata are from Talking Tables, while the pink honeycomb ball is from from Pearl & Earl. Draped on the table the orgami star garland made from Paperchase wrapping paper was handmade (find instructions for creating your own here).
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Rachel Whiting
Paint two metal hoops, suspend them from the ceiling with string and garland them with paper chains - and wild abandon. Paper flowers can be attached with twists of florist's wire, and will helpfully conceal joins and ties. Paper decorations are easy to make at home, but there are also plenty available to buy. Traditional Polish paper chandeliers, calledpajaki, have a similar look and can be bought online, or you could try garlanding a simple chandelier with bright fake flowers or paper pompoms.
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Damian Russell
The hand-made rosettes over the fireplace are made from plain-coloured wrapping paper from The Conran Shop.
Paper Stars
A classic Christmas motif, stars are a failsafe way to bring beauty to a room. Follow our guide to making origami paper stars if you're feeling crafty.
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Rachel Whiting
There is something visually striking cascade of stars, the charm is in the looseness of the arrangement and in the tones of white on white. Made of papier mâché, the stars have to be dipped in paint and hung up to dry. Once dry, string them on to long lengths of clear wire and hang them at different lengths, building up more density lower down. Then scatter the same number of stars on the table. However, be prepared to buy in bulk: this arrangement took nearly 200 stars. Papier mâché stars, from £4.75 for a pack of six, from The Littlecraftybugs Company.
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Paul Raeside
Paper stars (white), large, 60cm diameter, £8.60 each; medium, 45cm diameter, £6.13 each; and small, 12cm diameter, £16.15 a set of three. All from House Doctor.
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Give traditional Christmas decorations a colourful twist. Gabby Deeming creates a scheme inspired by the holiday season, using this year's most stylish decorations paired with patterned textiles and hung with garlands of origami stars. See the full shoot here.
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Rachel Whiting
Go oversize on decorations for impact. One of these paper rosettes would hold its own in a small room. Bespoke giant paper rosettes, by Comeuppance, from £75 each, from Etsy.
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