You Probably Have Heather Taylor’s Holiday Decorating MVP in Your House, and If Not, You Can Get It at Amazon

If you haven’t seen textile designer Heather Taylor’s new collection for West Elm yet, allow me to introduce you to it here. Known for her rustic striped and plaid linens, Taylor has translated the look and vibe of her signature line into this well-priced holiday-leaning assortment, which includes everything from pillow covers and Christmas stockings to table runners and napkins, all in festive shades of red, green, and gold. What’s brilliant is a lot of the pieces match back to her fall line, too, so you can really go to town mixing and matching both holiday and non-holiday looks.

I got a chance to see the pieces all styled out by Taylor herself on a dinner table and on a fireplace mantel earlier last month, and the scene looked like a grandmillennial’s dream. The one thing that really caught my eye though? Taylor used thin velvet ribbon in so many creative ways. It got me thinking — is velvet ribbon the key to a pretty but inexpensive holiday table, tree, and hearth? There’s something about this luxe texture that telegraphs festiveness, but you can find it pretty cheap at just about any craft, fabric, or ribbon store, particularly in thinner sizes. And yes, you can even order velvet ribbon in various colors and thicknesses from Amazon.

Buy just a spool or two — that is, if you don’t already have one in your craft drawer or with your stock of gift wrap — and you’ve got so many things you can do with it decoratively beyond the obvious. First, tie off little lengths in colors that coordinate with your linens for cute little bow napkin rings, like Taylor did at each place setting on the table at her West Elm press preview, which you can see here.

This idea plays well with a simple, unfussy garland going down a table, embellished with fresh, festive fruit like oranges and pomegranates that you can use whole now and eat later. Taylor even dressed up the plate rack hanging on the wall above her table with similar ribbon bows, only with longer tails.  

If you don’t want to go the napkin holder ribbon route, Taylor also suggests using various colored bows to dress up the base of plain candlesticks or the stems of inexpensive, plain wine glasses, which she’s also done in the past at her own dinner parties. If you have enough colors, velvet ribbon can also be used as impromptu wine charms in this way. Taylor’s one caveat is that she wouldn’t do all of these things on the same table — it can become overkill or too sweet looking with all the bows.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll definitely be stocking up on this kind of ribbon pronto this season. Clearly it’s good for way more than just wrapping presents.