What Are Woven Hearts in Denmark?

If you are walking around Copenhagen at Christmas, you may notice something rather lovely: red and white woven paper hearts hanging in windows, on doors and, most importantly, on Christmas trees.

In Danish they are called flettede julehjerter, or simply julehjerter.

They are one of those traditions that most Danes hardly need explained. Children learn to make them, families weave them together and old hearts are carefully unpacked again each December. A little piece of paper can somehow become part of a family Christmas for decades.

Why do Danes weave Christmas hearts?

A traditional Danish Christmas heart is made from two folded pieces of paper. The pieces are cut into strips and woven through each other so that the finished heart becomes a tiny basket.

Red and white is probably the combination most people recognise, although Danish hearts come in many colours and patterns.

They hang on the Christmas tree and can hold a sweet, a nut or perhaps a small message.

But for me, the important part has never really been what goes inside the heart. It is what happens around the table while we are making it.

Hans Christian Andersen and the woven paper heart

The oldest known surviving woven paper heart was made by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1860s.

His heart looks rather different from the red and white Christmas hearts most Danes know today, but the connection is a lovely one.

Hans Christian Andersen is known around the world for stories including The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. The name Ugly Duckli was inspired by The Ugly Duckling, so I have always had a particular affection for the fact that his little woven heart is part of this story too.

A Christmas tradition, but also a heart

Danes tend to see the woven paper heart as Christmas before anything else.

Visitors from other countries sometimes see something different first. They simply see a heart.

I rather like that. The Danish julehjerte belongs completely naturally on a Christmas tree, but the shape itself speaks a language that travels very easily. Love, friendship, family and connection need very little translation.

What woven hearts mean to me

I have watched many people make their first heart over the years.

There is usually a moment when the weaving feels completely impossible. Then suddenly the strips begin to make sense, and a little heart appears in their hands.

But the part I remember afterwards is rarely whether the heart was perfect.

I remember the people around the table. We talk. We help one another. Someone laughs because they have woven a strip the wrong way. Someone else suddenly understands it and helps the person sitting beside them.

When we weave hearts, we weave ourselves into each other’s lives.

That is the part of the Danish Christmas heart tradition I would most like Ugly Duckli to help carry forward.

Experience the tradition in Copenhagen

If you are visiting Copenhagen and would like to experience the tradition rather than simply read about it, I welcome small private groups into my home in Frederiksberg.

We sit around my table for two unhurried hours. I tell some of the story behind the hearts, we talk a little about Danish Christmas and Hans Christian Andersen, and I help everyone weave their own hearts.

No previous craft experience is needed. In fact, seeing someone make their first successful heart is one of my favourite parts.

Sharing the tradition with a group

I also bring the Danish Christmas heart tradition out to companies, international teams, universities, organisations and communities in Copenhagen.

The group experience can be arranged for a defined group or as open heart weaving at a larger event. I bring the materials, tell some of the story behind the tradition and help everyone get started.

It is a simple and very human way for people from different countries to experience a Danish Christmas tradition together.

Can you make Danish woven hearts at home?

Absolutely.

You can begin with my free illustrated weaving guide, or use the Ugly Duckli DIY gift box, which contains our specially produced glossy paper and the materials for making 16 classic Danish woven Christmas hearts.

The materials are produced in Denmark, and the box is the same one I use when I teach the hearts myself.

A few questions about Danish woven hearts