Holiday Style Guide 2025
Handmade Beauty, Oversized Accents, and Rich Jewel-Tone Warmth
As winter starts to set in and the holiday season draws closer, we find ourselves returning to the comforting traditions that make this season feel so special. The holidays have always been about warmth, and the simple beauty of nature. This year’s Holiday Style Guide celebrates the spirit of that, with a focus on handmade décor, gorgeous accents, and a rich, jewel-toned palette that fills every space.
The Flower Cottage at PepperHarrow Decorated for the Holiday Season
Handmade Holiday Magic
The heart of the 2025 holiday season is a return to handmade, meaningful details. Decorations that feel touched by human hands bring a softness and authenticity that mass-produced pieces can’t replicate. This trend honors craft, patience, and the quiet joy of creating something beautiful.
Here are a Few Easy to Make Ideas!
Paper ornaments and simple handcrafted details
We love making cinnamon ornaments to our tree for a wonderful fragrance and they’re pretty easy to make! Another easy, but elegant touch is to cut your own paper snowflakes, a tradition that was passed down from my Great Grandma Vera.
Greenery foraged from the yard or farm for a grounded, natural touch
Grab a few small side branches off of a pine tree, or similar. Adding just a few pieces of greenery to your mantle, dining table, or other areas around your home, not only looks beautiful and inviting, but it also smells wonderful!
The goal for handmade items is to surround yourself with décor that feels personal, thoughtful, grounded, and connected to the season.
Dried Citrus for Decorations
Dried citrus garlands with all oranges orange mix of, ruby grapefruit, limes, and lemon for a refreshing take on dried citrus decorations for the holiday.
Handmade Candles
Hand-poured candles cast a warm, gentle glow. They’re perfect to make handmade gifts for your home, or to be made as thoughtful, easy to make handmade gifts for others.
Oversized Bells for Bold Warmth
Oversized bells are one of the standout accents for 2025. Their weight, texture, and scale add warmth and interest to even the simplest displays. With an antiqued finish, they carry the charm of old-world décor and elegance.
Ideas on How to Style Them:
+Add one or two large bells to a wreath for a strong focal point
+Hang a cluster from a newel post or staircase for a festive welcome
+Pair bells with draping ribbon for a classic holiday arrangement
These festive accents anchor a room and balance the lighter, handmade elements of the season.
Oversized Bells Hang on the Flower Cottage at PepperHarrow
Generous Bows
Oversized bows take a starring role in 2025. Large, voluminous bows bring softness, elegance, and just the right amount of drama. Velvet, silk, and soft cotton ribbons in rich jewel tones elevate any arrangement.
A Few Ideas for How to Use Them to Decorate:
Add a large bow with long tails as a tree topper for a gorgeous focal piece.
Finish wrapped gifts with an oversized bow for a luxurious touch
Pair ribbons with bells or greenery for layered styling
This is the year to let your bows take up space, adding movement and beauty wherever it’s used.
Oversized Bows
This year, we added an oversized bow for decoration in our event barn for guests to grab a photo or two during wreath making workshops.
Embracing Simplicity
While we do love big bows, it’s worth meting. that for wreaths this year, many are opting for minimalist bows, so they can add elegance, but not detract from the wreath itself. They’re going with bows tied with a knot added somewhere (top, bottom, sometimes the side) to the wreath with simple tails hanging down, or a sash, as shown (right).
The 2025 Color Story
This year’s palette is rooted in heirloom tones and the quiet glow of winter evenings. They’re colors that feel storied, collected, like something out of a Victorian Christmas. These hues are inspired by vintage holiday postcards, and worn velvet ribbons tucked in old keepsake boxes.
Deep jewel tones mingle with warm neutrals and antiqued gold accents, creating a look that feels both luxurious and lived-in. It’s an elevated palette that still invites you to settle in, relax, and enjoy the season.
Red to Dark Red
A rich, moody red that instantly brings a sense of tradition and warmth. This shade adds depth to mantles, garlands, and tablescapes, grounding your holiday décor with festive elegance.
Burgundy
Velvety and timeless, burgundy is the anchor of this year’s color story. It pairs beautifully with both greenery and gold, adding a romantic, old-world feel to ribbons, florals, stockings, and ornament collections.
Essex Green
A classic, sophisticated green that evokes evergreen forests and hand-cut wreaths. Essex Green is the quiet hero of the palette—deep and grounding, yet refined. It complements both rustic textures and refined holiday elements, making it an easy, versatile choice throughout the season.
Accents of Antiqued Gold, Brass, or Bronze
Any of these rich jewel tones with added antiqued metal elements create a palette that feels luxurious without being showy, perfect for both modern and traditional holiday decorating. They’re perfect with the jewel tone colors as a perfect rustic, but elevated accent.
A Season to Enjoy
The PepperHarrow look for Holiday 2025 blends handmade charm, expressive accents, and rich jewel tones into a style that feels both curated and deeply comforting. It is holiday decor that looks collected over time rather than purchased all at once. Every piece feels intentional. Every element carries warmth. To bring this style to life in your own spaces, let your décor evolve through natural textures, generous layering, and thoughtful details.
Adding Organic Elements
A grapevine wreath base with light greenery (Noble Fir), pine cones and a few small sparkles, really makes a home cozy and inviting..
Holiday decorating isn’t about chasing perfection or adhering to rigid trends. It is about creating an environment where people feel welcome and connected. A space filled with handmade details, thoughtful touches, and rich textures has a way of gathering everyone a little closer.
Whether you're crafting décor with your own hands, refreshing your home with new seasonal elements, or honoring beloved traditions passed down through the years, may this guide inspire you to fill your spaces with meaning, warmth, and beauty.
XX Jenn + Adam
