The festive period is an opportunity for people to slow down, indulge in irredeemable quantities of food, and exchange gifts with loved ones in the midst of enchanting decorations. Just as one may gift joy in the form of a handmade Christmas card, personal touches to other handcrafted presents and decorations can also make the season more meaningful.

Providing inspiration for festive craftsmanship this year is the Homo Faber Guide, an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship which was developed by Geneva-based NPO, the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship. The organisation’s mission is to champion and preserve master craftsmanship around the world. Through educational programmes and the Homo Faber Guide, it also aims to demonstrate the viability of craftsmanship as a professional path for the next generation of potential artisans.

On the platform, one may discover an international array of great ateliers, artisans, museums, galleries, workshops and master classes. New artisans are added to the Guide every week, and new countries every three months. And it already boasts a database of over 1,800 expert artisans, whose excellence in craftsmanship has been validated by a cultural council.

This year, the Guide is creating a special feature dedicated to expert floral designers and their festive artistry. Each designer will present a video tutorial detailing how to create a seasonal decoration of their choice, from a festive mantelpiece to a mesmerising bouquet. This is an opportunity to produce something beautiful, both in the art of floristry and in the shared experience with loved ones if done together.

Quite romantically, then, relations with loved ones were also closely involved in the origins of many of these designers’ careers. Flower designer Emily Avenson moved from California to Belgium to be with her Dutch partner. Her love of floristry grew out of making decorations for their wedding. She then transformed the Château de Wodémont into her studio and a school for floral design. Laura, Mara and Teresa Cugusi, meanwhile, are three sisters who created Puscina Flowers, a sustainable flower farm in Tuscany. They established it in order to save their family farmhouse, which had fallen into a state of neglect. They specialise in the cultivation of seasonal flowers, making elegant decorations for weddings and teaching people on the farm about growing flowers and creating bouquets.

Similarly poetic is the designers’ common love of floral craftsmanship, in spite of their varied styles, influences and backgrounds. Hungarian florist Gábor Nagy’s experiments with colours and textures have yielded transfixing results, while Katya Hutter is inspired by Dutch and Flemish painters from the 16th and 17th centuries. Through projects such as this one, the Michelangelo Foundation is endeavouring to create an international network of people bound by a love of craftsmanship.

The Homo Faber Guide will also feature a curated selection of unique, handcrafted gifts for the festive period. This includes luxury hand-fans produced by the Parisian brand Duvelleroy, as well as Francesco Maglia’s bespoke umbrellas. The latter are, of course, appropriate presents for a UK winter, and whose beauty will shield the user from the grim weather of the season, just as the power of craftsmanship may brighten everything, too.

To add some romance, magic and craftsmanship to the festive season, see homofaber.com/guide or download the Homo Faber app on the Apple store and Google Play stores; michelangelofoundation.org