Danish Christmas Heart Ornament
These Christmas ornaments, called julehjerter in Danish, have been a tradition in Denmark for a long time. No one seems to know when exactly the tradition to make these pretty woven hearts began but one source, a video from Denmark’s gateway on Youtube, see below, indicates that the earliest known were made by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1860.
The basic one is very simple to make but if you’re interested there are literally hundreds of patterns out there which are more complex and challenging. I’ll provide a link to a site at the end of this post.
They are most commonly made from paper, the ones I made are paper but they can also be made from ribbon or fabric. I’ve even seen yarn, felt and straw ones while surfing the web.
You will need paper in two contrasting colors; Christmas paper, copy paper, envelopes (the orange in the pic is an envelope), a template, scissors, string and a glue stick picture #1. Here is a link to a basic template; Kidspot Woven Heart, Place the straight edge of the template on the fold of the paper and cut around it #2 pic, don’t cut the fold. Then cut another in your second color choice and cut strips through the fold to the beginning of the curved edge. Weave the two together #3 pic and attach a strip of paper for a hanger #4 pic.
Here is a link to a diagram of and instructions for the weaving process; Woven Christmas Heart and here are two videos; one from Denmark’s gateway on Youtube We love Christmas; woven heart and from Kidspot Woven heart Valentine's day.
If you are enjoying weaving hearts and are looking for different ones to try or want to see the possibilities, I highly recommend visiting Papermatrix to see many beautiful woven hearts and to get some different templates, like these for using more colors Four color woven hearts
Here are the woven hearts I made. They are a nice little basket which could hold a small surprise on the Christmas tree. The center one was made using a different template, found here so the weaving has a rounded look to it. The wrapping paper I used for that was too slippery and I thought that it would not last long because of how thin it was but it is so pretty. The only other issue I had was getting the last row or two to weave because there wasn’t enough room. I fussed with the rows a lot to get enough space.
Could be just my inexperience, I’ve only made this once before, ages ago, but I thought I would mention it in case you have the same issue.
Sharpen your scissors everyone and enjoy weaving your Danish Christmas Hearts.
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Looking forward to seeing your creations.
Happy Crafting.
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