With Christmas trees being one of the best-loved symbols of the season, Russian designers are resorting to some unusual styles for decorating them.

Some make trees out of seashells, while designer Yulia Gryzhko creates her Christmas trees out of cotton and embroiders them with sequins, lace and ribbons. She says they’re a great addition to the traditional tree:

“If you have a big, festively decorated fir tree in the living room, you still go to the kitchen when you want a cup of tea,” she said. “The New Year spirit should be all over your home. So, you go into the kitchen – and there is a cute Christmas tree made by me.”

At a special exhibition devoted to the alternative Christmas tree, one can find all kinds of trees to suit different tastes: from the plastic to even edible gingerbread ones.

What is hung on the tree, however, is just as important as the tree itself, especially if it’s homemade.

At the exhibition, Moscow’s most well known designers are making decorations for the New Year tree with children.

“Taking part in this event along with the kids is much better than if I designed something alone. Such creative work is important,” said a designer Yulia Milner. “Today we decided to make these white Christmas angels and hang them on the tree. It looks great.”

So whether you decide to make your own festive decorations or splash out on one of the more artistic trees on offer, there’s plenty of inspiration available for a creative Christmas and New Year.