These ten ideas blend DIY fun, sustainability, and decorative flair. The BYO Reindeer kit brings crafting and ornamenting together at just £7.99, while the Driftwood Designs Advent Box (at £65.00) offers a charming, daily countdown with exclusive keepsakes. Use them as anchors in your overall scheme, and build your festive look around them.
BYO Reindeer Kit
This is a standout pick for creative families. The BYO Reindeer kit (found at BuildYourOwnKits) retails for £7.99.
It’s a cardboard “slot-together” model: assemble, decorate (colour in, add stickers, etc.), and display. It’s plastic-free and recyclable, making it fun and eco-friendly.
Link: BYO Reindeer
Because kids love to build with their hands, this doubles as an ornament and a keepsake. You could even use several to form a little reindeer “herd” around a mini tree or by the hearth.
Driftwood Designs “Prepare for Christmas” Advent Box
Driftwood Designs has launched a much-anticipated Advent Box this year, priced at £65.00 with free UK shipping.
Each day in Advent, you open a numbered pocket or bag to reveal a surprise: the box includes 8 Christmas cards, 8 decorations, and 8 small gifts—all exclusive to the box. Greetings Today
Link: Prepare for Christmas Advent Box
It’s a beautiful “countdown” gift, and each little item can double as a decoration or a card to share.
Hand-painted Wooden Ornaments
Driftwood Designs also specialises in illustrated, sustainable wooden baubles and ornaments (robins, deer, woodland creatures) made from birch wood in the UK.
These make charming tree-filler pieces or garland accents and blend well with both traditional and modern décor.
Decorative Advent Cards
Not the usual chocolate calendars, but beautifully illustrated Advent cards that also act as mini artworks. Driftwood sells versions for around £6.00 per pack/card. driftwooddesigns.co.uk+1
You can pin them to a wall or hang them individually, combining the countdown with decorative flair.
Wooden Hanging Garlands & Bunting
Use Driftwood’s illustrated garlands of winter scenes, woodland motifs, or seasonal silhouettes to drape across fireplaces, stair bannisters or windows. How to plan a perfect Christmas+2Greetings Today+2
Because they’re lightweight wood or thick card, they hold shape well without sagging.
Themed String Lights with Charms
Choose string lights that carry tiny charms (stars, snowflakes, mittens) or clip-on mini ornaments. These bring twinkling layers to windows or mantels.
Families sometimes tuck in little surprises (like handwritten notes or treats) behind some charms for an extra Advent twist.
DIY Salt-dough Ornaments
Make classic shapes (stars, hearts, trees) from salt dough, let kids press hand- or footprint designs, bake, paint, varnish, and finish with ribbon.
It’s a hands-on project and gives you a set of meaningful, personal keepsakes.
Nature-Inspired Accents
Collect pinecones, sprigs of holly or ivy, dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, or small branches.
Bundle into bunches, hang with twine, or place in glass jars as natural accents. This grounds your décor in real winter textures.
Ribbon & Fabric Cascade Trees
Use lengths of festive ribbon or strips of tartan/floral fabric to cascade down walls or pillars, interspersed with baubles, fairy lights, or small ornaments.
It’s a low-commitment, high-visual impact way to “decorate a wall” without a full tree.
Memory Ornament Display
Have a dedicated tree (or section of a tree) for “memory ornaments”: each year, let each family member choose or make 1–2 ornaments tied to a special memory (a photo ornament, a postcard, a homemade clay shape).
Over time, this becomes a storytelling display you look forward to unwrapping.
How to Combine & Plan
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Mix big & small: Use BYO Reindeer as a focal piece, surround it with garlands, string lights, and wooden ornaments.
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Advent layering: The Driftwood Advent Box adds daily surprises that can feed straight into décor—day 1 could be a hanging ornament, day 5 a small card that becomes a tree decoration.
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Hands-on prep: Reserve a weekend for salt-dough or BYO kit crafts.
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Reuse & renew: The Driftwood wooden pieces and BYO kit are durable, so you can enjoy them year after year.
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Display zones: Create zones for the advent box reveal, a “kids’ tree” with simpler decor, and an adult-focussed area with your finer ornaments.