Danish paper hearts

These are a traditional Danish Christmas decoration that our family have been making together for years. We create ours in the Danish colours of red and white, but any contrasting colours look great and they look so pretty all together on the Christmas tree. You can drop a small treat into each one (they never seem to last in our house!). Or use the hearts as place settings on your Christmas table, as gift tags or to decorate a wreath. You could also string them up and hang them across a window or wall.

MATERIALS:

Red and white paper (or any coloured paper, including wrapping paper) Scissors Glue stick

For a template and video demonstration, visit aroundthekitchentable.com.au

METHOD:

1 Fold your sheets of paper in half.

2 Using the template, cut a strip of red paper and a strip of white paper for each heart. Cut a smaller strip from the red paper for the handle.

3 Starting from the folded side of the paper, cut along each dotted line (don’t cut all the way across).

4 Hold the red paper in one hand and the white paper in the other hand so they are at right angles to each other, with the folded sides in the middle (if they’re not in the middle, the hearts won’t work).

5 Weave the top strip of the white paper into the first red strip, making sure you thread the paper through and around the red strip (if they don’t separate, the little basket you are making will not open up). Repeat with the remaining white strips, weaving in and out, until all of the strips have been woven together (ease them down as you go) and you have a checked pattern as shown. This can be fiddly, but you’ll soon get the knack with a bit of practice.

6 Cut the straight edges to make the curved top of the heart, then glue your handle on.

“My paternal grandmother, Mary, made the best meringues – hard on the outside and chewy inside. After Sunday lunch she’d put a big plate of them on the table with whipped cream and passionfruit pulp. We’d sandwich two meringues together with that tangy cream mixture and they were everything. Here they are with poached apricots and ice-cream.”

- Sophie