Pleated Christmas hearts ( da, Julehjerte) are

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Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, and north

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crafts, commonly used as

Christmas ornament Christmas ornaments, baubles, "Christmas bulbs" or "Christmas bubbles" are wiktionary:decoration, decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be Weaving, woven, Glassblowing, blown (Glassblowing, glass or Blow ...

History

The exact age and origin of the tradition of making paper hearts is unknown, but the oldest known pleated Christmas hearts were made by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen in 1860. However, as Andersen's heart has no handle, it seems unlikely it could have been used as a Christmas tree ornament. That pleated heart is today located in the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in the city of

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

in Denmark. It is documented, however, that Andersen did make decorations for Christmas trees, and that the predecessors of the pleated Christmas hearts were miniature wicker baskets. The oldest known guide to making pleated Christmas hearts is found in an 1871 edition of the Danish journal ''Nordisk Husflidstidende'',.Lea Holtze: ''Det flettede julehjerte er en dansk juleskik''
he pleated Christmas heart is a Danish tradition Danish Bible Society The oldest pleated Christmas heart (from 1873) is preserved at the National Museum of Norway, in Oslo. But it was still some 40 years before the pleated Christmas hearts became more widespread. The oldest depiction of a Christmas tree decorated with pleated hearts dates from 1901 from the Danish manor house ''Søllestedgaard''. That same year, the pleated heart motif was used by Swedish artist

Carl Larsson Carl Olof Larsson (; 28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic fa ...

in the lithograph '' Brita as Idun''. It is believed that Danish

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

s from around 1910 started spreading the use of the pleated Christmas hearts, which were made from glossy paper in order to enhance the children's creative abilities, patience, and

fine motor skill Fine motor skill (or dexterity) is the coordination of small muscles in movement with the eyes, hands and fingers. The complex levels of manual dexterity that humans exhibit can be related to the nervous system. Fine motor skills aid in the growt ...

Pleated books

*The first pleated Christmas book, ''Julehjerter'' (1975), was released by the Lottrup Knudsen brothers. *A more recent book (2002) which includes a big variety of pleated Christmas heart templates, is Francis Jordt's ''Flettede julehjerter''(https://bibliotek.kk.dk/ting/object/870970-basis%3A24272486)

References

External links

Various Pleated Christmas hearts templates

Pictorial
on making a woven Christmas heart {{Christmas trees Danish culture Christmas decorations