There's nothing sustainable - not to mention tasteful - about plastic Christmas decorations that only get hauled out once a year. To sustain some festive cheer around the house, we've put some D.I.Y. ideas as well as products with natural longevity into the picture to help you duck from the materialistic frenzy Christmas all too often becomes! Think Christmas wreaths, trees, tinsel and special baubles...

Let nature decorate your room. Ditch the plastic baubles and silver tinzel for some holly, berries and ivy which you can drape over picture frames, mirrors and mantelpieces to beautiful effect. You can even make your own wreath, which Xmas tree cuttings come in rather handy for as well.

If you don't trust your own DIY skills, then why not buy a completely handmade one that will fill your home with a fragrant orange and cinnamon scent that is bound to create a wonderful ambience. Aspen & Brown's wreath (£13.50) is made with dried whole oranges and pumpinos interspersed with slices of dried oranges and apples and cinnamon sticks. Sounds delicious (don't eat it!) and is reusable, as you can top it up with essential oils when you bring it out again next year. View wreath at Aspen & Brown.

The Christmas tree always makes a grand statement during the festive season, and if you haven't already grown a tree in preparation for Xmas, then here are some suggestions. Over the holidays, get wrapped up warm and plant some trees outside for future Christmases. Tree2MyDoor is a good option. We also love the idea of renting a Christmas tree. TreesforRent.com deliver to a wide radius around Dorset and ChristmasTreeMan deliver UK wide. What we didn't twig is a living Christmas tree poses less of a fire hazard than a dead cut one.

Another idea is a Fair Trade Christmas tree, a collaborative approach between Love Eco and the poor cone tree growers in Georgia. We particularly like the idea of the potted one as you'll be able to plant it outdoors after Christmas.

Now that you've got your Christmas Tree sourced, it's time to decorate it with gorgeous baubles that won't cost the earth and will last a lifetime. So we hunted around for some special items to decorate your tree with.

Biome Lifestyle have some gorgeous decorations for the tree, and are either made with eco friendly materials or are sourced from ethical work units supporting fair pay and rights for workers. We love the striped hearts in particular, and at £3 each, they won't break the bank, particularly if you use them year in, year out.

We also love Biome Lifestyle's Christmas Eco Tinsel. It's doubtful that many, if any of us, will enjoy a white Christmas but you will if you decorate your tree with this white snow ball tinsel. They are made from chemical-free felt (just soap and water in fact!), and are handmade by a small collective of wonderful women in a small backstreet of Kathmandu. We love!

We also couldn't resist sharing these painted vintage birds from Cox & Cox. In fact they are so pretty, we recommend using them as decor all year round. These tin birdies are oh so delightful, and will look simply stunning hanging from their black and cream ribbons.

Christmas dinner isn't really festive without some crackers, but most are destined for the landfill. Don't throw it, grow it, is the motto for these super Eco Seed Crackers, which will give you some wild flowers to enjoy long after Xmas has ended. The handmade seed paper crackers still contain the expected hat, motto and snapper, but the true gift of these lies in the paper, which you can plant to grow your wild flowers. How beautiful is that?!

And to conclude your Xmas decorations, scatter your home with some cute little porcelain tealight holders. What we particularly love is the British artist who hand makes them uses leftover porcelain from other projects. So rather than wasting her 'off cuts', she recycles them into these lovely little tealight candle holders.

Happy Xmas!