2 weeks ago
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Christmas is always the busiest time of year for Josie Rossington, 52, the owner of the Follie gift store on the edge of Lincoln town centre. Christmas cards and ornaments are ordinarily her best sellers. But this year it’s her stock of velvet ribbon that has been flying off the shelves – metres and metres at a time.
“People have been buying 20, 30, 40 metres. It’s a lot of ribbon,” says Rossington, who estimates she has sold a total of six miles of it since October.
At first, Rossington thought the spike in sales was due to a blip in the algorithm. “I’ve had about 1,500 searches on Google. And I’m tiny, I’m literally nothing in the whole internet of people. So that is massive for me,” she says. But soon she realised that the demand had been prompted by a growing online trend.
The homemade velvet ribbon chain garland is one of the most popular home accessories this festive season, upgrading the nostalgic paper chain to a more luxe material.
Viral tutorials collecting thousands of likes on TikTok and Pinterest showcase the colourful handmade decoration circling the Christmas tree or draped over the mantelpiece, intertwined with twinkling golden fairy lights. Many people are even selling their creations.
Emma Howard, 46, is one of them. She runs a small business based in Stockport called Mother of Pearl, where she’s been selling the ribbon chain online since October. “I put it on the internet and it just went insane. I’ve never had that traction before,” she says.
Making the garland is a relatively straightforward, family-friendly activity, involving cutting strips of velvet ribbon to approximately 20cm and looping them together to create a long chain.
Unlike the expected festive shades of red and green, unconventional colourways are popular this year, such as orange paired with teal, and burgundy partnered with pale pink.
In previous years, Rossington’s supply of velvet ribbon from her shop would reach as far as the wreath-making groups in her local town, but this year she’s selling her inventory in Lapland. “I have to Google some of these places,” she says.
Howard’s sales are also widespread, from a chocolatier in London to a hotel in Switzerland. She estimates she’s sending approximately 250 packages a week. “The opportunity has been incredible. I can’t believe it,” she says.
The high demand for velvet ribbon is also evident in the major retail market. Hobbycraft said sales of the beloved burgundy wire-edge satin ribbon were up 334% and searches for the word ribbon on its website had increased by more than 2000% since December 2024.
The craze is indicative of the shift that Christmas decorating has taken towards handmade, nostalgic aesthetics – what experts are referring to as “retromaxxing”.
“Garlands have been a breakout star of 2025, in all their shapes and sizes.” says Whinnie Williams, an interior designer and trends forecaster for the artificial Christmas tree company Balsam Hill. “Paper chains and honeycomb garlands in particular have surged. They’re nostalgic, lightweight, recyclable, and handmaking paper chains adds a unique and sentimental touch to any home.”
Africa Daley-Clarke, a home interiors writer, says the homemade, velvet ribbon garland complements a family environment. “It’s less about a perfect tree and more about a home that reflects the people living in it,” she says. “Rustic textures, softer styling, fewer fragile precious pieces and more tactile decorations that can handle real family life.”
Viral trends may come and go but Howard believes that the velvet ribbon chain can outlast the passing Christmas season. “These are decorations that people could buy and then use next year,” she says. “The craft is a lovely thing to do with the family and it creates memories.”
