Barneblad: Christmas ornaments to make and share
A monthly feature to share with kids and grandkids
Photo: Heidi Håvan Grosch
Woven heart baskets are easy to make for your own Christmas tree or to give as a gift.
Brought to you by Heidi Håvan Grosch
There are many traditional things to make at Christmas. Many families make flatbread and lefse. Others bake many different kinds of cookies. Still others put lights in their windows.
Making things by yourself is a big part of Christmas. Here are a couple of ideas of things you can make to hang on your Christmas tree or to give as a present to someone else to hang on their Christmas tree.
Norwegian (or Danish) Christmas woven (or pleated) hearts
One thing that is easy to do is to make woven or pleated hearts. You can make them out of paper or fabric. If you use fabric, it is good to iron some backing onto it so it is a little stiffer.
It is hard to say who made the first woven or pleated heart, but there are some in museums that go back to the 1800s. Many of these can be found in Denmark at places like the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense and the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
They aren’t too hard to make, even thought they look very complicated. You cut two oblong pieces of fabric or paper, fold them in half, and cut those halved into thirds. Weave the two pieces together and you have a heart that you can hang on your Christmas tree or fill with candy. You can even use these hearts for Valentine’s Day!
There are many websites that give very good directions and include pictures. Here are four of them:
• www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/mwoven.htm
• www.haabet.dk/users/julehjerter/making.html
• gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/28/
• mylittlenorway.com/2011/12/norwegian-christmas-heart-baskets
Another good Christmas ornament to make is a beaded snowflake. You can use any size beads you have. If you use pipe cleaners, they are easy to make no matter how small you are. If you are a bit bigger, you can try making them with wire.
Photo: Heidi Håvan Grosch
Beaded stars or snowflakes (below) are also beautiful for your tree and are the perfect present.
Beaded snowflakes
Start with three pieces of wire, or three pieces of a pipe cleaner. Make a loop at one end of the wire or pipe cleaner, and string on your beads. When you have three wires or pipe cleaners full of beads, remember to bend the other end so the beads don’t fall off, bend the three together in the middle to make a star or snowflake. It is a good idea to leave a little room in your string of beads so there is room to bend the three together. You can also take your three pieces of wire or pipe cleaner and bend them together first to make a star or snowflake. String your beads on afterwards.
We did this project at the local World Children’s Day in September in Levanger, Norway, and it was very popular.
There are good directions on the web for these, as well:
• www.happinessishomemade.net/kids-christmas-craft-beaded-snowflake-ornaments
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9mmfSWHYmE
If you make a Christmas heart or snowflake star, why don’t you take a picture of it on your Christmas tree and send it into The Norwegian American? It would be fun to see your Christmas creativity in action!
God jul!
This article originally appeared in the Dec. 15, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
