Coming for Christmas 2026
The Danish Christmas Heart Experience
From my Christmas table in Copenhagen to yours.
This Christmas, I would love to invite you to my table in Copenhagen.
Together we will weave traditional Danish Christmas hearts, while I share the story behind one of Denmark's most loved Christmas traditions.
Join me from anywhere in the world. Come on your own, gather the people you love around the table, or give the experience to someone as a Christmas gift.
Tell me when it is ready
An online experience in English
Not simply a craft course
You will, of course, learn how to weave a Danish Christmas heart. I will show you slowly and help you through the funny little puzzle that every first heart becomes.
But I also want to bring you a little closer to Christmas in Denmark. To the story, the memories and the people who have kept these simple paper hearts for generations.
I hope you will not only say, “I made this.” I hope you will feel, “I experienced a little piece of Christmas in Denmark.”
Enjoy it yourself.
Make it together.
Give it to someone you love.
Come with me
A little piece of Christmas in Denmark
In Denmark, the woven Christmas heart is something many of us have known since childhood.
We make them from paper, hang them on the Christmas tree and sometimes fill the little baskets with sweets. Old hearts are carefully unpacked again each December, often carrying memories of the people who made them.
Some are perfectly neat. Others are charmingly crooked. Both belong on the tree.
Christmas Eve at my parents' home, with paper hearts collected through the years.
The little heart with a big story
A heart made by Hans Christian Andersen
The oldest known surviving woven paper heart was made by Hans Christian Andersen in the 1860s.
His heart was quite different from the red and white Christmas hearts we know today. It had no handle and was probably not made as a Christmas decoration. But it is a lovely early part of the story.
During the experience, I will tell you more about Andersen's heart, the little girl connected to it and how the woven heart later found its place on Danish Christmas trees.
Then we sit down together
Come and sit at my Christmas table
I will show you what you need, how to use the Ugly Duckli templates and how to weave your first heart step by step.
We begin with a small heart, because I want everyone to experience that lovely little moment when the weaving suddenly makes sense and you realise: I did it.
If you are ready for more, we continue together with a larger heart.
Pause whenever you need to. Go back and watch my hands again. Make a cup of coffee, help each other or simply take your time.
There is no hurry at my Christmas table.
What you will make
Your first heart, and then another
We begin with a small, traditional Danish Christmas heart.
At first, the two pieces of paper may look like a puzzle. And then, suddenly, they become a heart.
Once you know the secret, we make a larger heart together. Perhaps after that, you will begin making hearts of your own.
The printable Ugly Duckli templates are included with the experience, so you can return to the Christmas table and make new hearts whenever you wish.
Everything you need
A few simple things from home
You do not need a special box from Denmark. Before we begin, I will help you prepare a few simple things.
Paper in two colours
A pair of scissors
A printer for the templates
A little paper glue
That is all.
You can take part wherever you are in the world. I will show you how to prepare the paper and use the templates before we begin weaving.
The Danish Christmas heart is made from something very simple. Perhaps that is part of its beauty.
Make it together
Bring the people you love to the table
You are very welcome to join me on your own. But you can also gather someone you love around the table.
Make the hearts with your children or grandchildren. Invite a friend for coffee. Spend a quiet afternoon with your mother. Or bring together a family whose Danish traditions have travelled across the world.
Pause while you weave, talk, laugh or help each other through a difficult little corner. The heart is only part of what we are making.
When we weave hearts, we weave ourselves into each other's lives.
A Christmas gift without distance
Give a little piece of Denmark
Give the experience to someone who loves Denmark, Christmas, making things by hand or simply spending time with the people they care about.
There is no parcel to cross the world and no shipping deadline to worry about. The experience can be enjoyed at home, wherever home may be.
A printable Ugly Duckli gift card will be included, ready for you to give in person or send to someone far away.
Meet Rikke
The person waiting on the other side of the screen
My name is Rikke, and Ugly Duckli is my small family business in Copenhagen.
I have worked with Danish Christmas hearts for more than twenty years. What began as an idea around my own family's Christmas table grew into an award-winning Ugly Duckli concept, thousands of woven hearts and many lovely meetings with people from around the world.
The Ugly Duckli heart-weaving concept received the Formland Prize in 2003. Our story has since been featured in Berlingske and Familie Journalen and shared with international audiences through BBC.
But this experience is not about awards or newspapers. It is about sitting down together and passing on a tradition I love.
I look forward to welcoming you.
My mother, my father and me. Ugly Duckli has always had its roots in family.
A tradition carried forward
From one family table to another, the little woven heart keeps finding new homes.
Coming for Christmas 2026
Would you like to weave with me this Christmas?
I am creating The Danish Christmas Heart Experience now.
Join my early list and I will write to you personally when it is ready.
As a little thank you, you will receive a special launch offer when the experience opens.
Yes, I'd love to knowThe button opens a ready-made email to Rikke. No spam, and you can leave the list whenever you wish.
A few helpful answers
Questions about the experience
What is The Danish Christmas Heart Experience?
Is the experience live?
Is the experience in English?
Do I need craft experience?
What materials will I need?
Do you ship a box of materials?
Can children join?
Can several people enjoy it together?
Can I give the experience as a gift?
Is this different from Ugly Duckli's free weaving guide?
When will it be available, and what will it cost?
Can I watch it outside Denmark?
