As i had already mentioned talking about Christmas symbols in Nordic countries, a common homemade Christmas ornament in Scandinavia is pleated hearts, very common in Denmark, known as Julehjerter, and Norway, where they are called Juletrekurv.
Children make them with their family with paper of different colours, although they are mostly red and white. They have been made for around 150 years: the oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal Nordisk Husflidstidende. A 1873 pleated heart can be seen at the National museum in Oslo and one from 1866 at H. C. Andersen house in Odense!
Make your own Julehjerter
I made my very own, simple version of them, so they are not really a basket as the Norwegian name says, and I used strings to hang them on the tree.
what I used:
- colored paper (the most traditional version is white & red, but do as you please). I used leftover paper we had at home.
- Scissors, obviously and something to make holes on paper, as pins
- Strings
Process:
- cut paper, put two sheets on top of each other when cutting so it is of the same size.
- cut the lines to intertwine the two pieces: they can be all of the same size or the two inner parts narrower.
3. Intertwine the pieces: depending on how you cut the lines you will have a slightly different pattern
4. Make a hole and put the string in it
Your Christmas Heart is ready to be hung on your tree or wherever you want!
Please share with me your Julehjerter if you happen to make any 🙂
Glædelig Jul!
a Polyglot illustrating Scandinavia 