Some years, a certain item grasps the Christmas zeitgeist; 2022 was all about mushrooms, ideally glittery and certainly in abundance and that trickled into 2023 too, while ribbons were everywhere in 2021. Both these continue to be quite popular this year but something else has been staking its claim as the decorating darling of the season: paper chains. Metallic, matte, tonal, multicoloured, gingham, we've seen paper chains making quite the comeback across trees, ceilings and even kitchens. It's a decoration we love to see as they're so charming and bring a real sense of joy to a space.
In the Victorian times, many Christmas traditions came over to the UK from Germany (hello Father Christmas) and paper chains were one of these. Originally made from old newspapers, carol sheets and strips of paper and seen decorating trees, they have evolved hugely into ready-made kits now, though we still have a place in our hearts for homemade versions. Amanda Brooks made her own paper chains from silver and green and brown and gold craft paper when decorating her guest cottage, and they look brilliant. Of course, the benefit of making your own is that you can get whatever you need to fit your decorating scheme, should you have one.
Some people do still wrap their trees with paper chains (see Skye McAlpine's lovely Venetian apartment, pictured at the top of the article) but you're more likely to find them draped across paintings, strung on shelves or in their most theatrical guise making a sort of tent from the middle of the ceiling out to the corners, as Alice Palmer has done, below.
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They are a fiddly decoration to make and require some time and effort but it's also a lovely craft project to occupy yourself with of an evening. Light a fire, put on your favourite festive film and before you know it, you'll have meters of pretty paper chains to hang from room to room. They're affordable, add colour and texture to a space and we're so glad they're back in the limelight.
If you want to make life really difficult, do as Lucy Clayton did when decorating a dolls house for Christmas and make them in miniature. “At the risk of stating the obvious, making tiny Christmas decorations is really very fiddly,” she laughs. “The paper chains, which should have been a breeze, were made through gritted teeth and occasional yelling. I was like a pre-epiphany Scrooge with a craft knife.” They were worth the effort though and would look equally good in life size versions.
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Paper chains are perhaps more of a maximalist Christmas decoration, as evidenced by the fact that Sean Anthony Pritchard, who goes all out each year, has made reams of them to decorate his Somerset cottage this year in all sorts of candy colours. However, you could also do them in a more minimalist way and if a drapery of simple paper chains were your only nod to Christmas decorating, it would be an excellent compromise.
