Danish Christmas Baskets

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making woven Danish candy baskets to hang on the tree (sometimes we put candy in them, sometimes we don't). My family has a lot of Scandinavian heritage (more about other of our traditions here), and these baskets are something I've been making since early childhood.
They look elaborate, but are not really that complicated if you pay attention and have a little patience. I thought I'd make a little tutorial for you, so you can make them too!

1) Cut the two sides of your heart from two different colors of paper. Red and green are classic, but any two colors will work. Each piece should be about 3 inches wide and 9 inches long, folded in half (you can make larger or smaller of course, but this is a good size to learn on)


2) Round the unfolded ends, and cut two evenly-space slits up from the folded side--the cut should be 3 inches long (or maybe just a smidge longer) It's easy to check if you have the right length of cut by laying one piece over the other at a perpendicular angle--the length of the slits should equal the width of the other piece. (If you are feeling timid, try just one slit--so two sections. If you are feeling adventurous, try three slits--four sections!)

3) Begin weaving the two pieces together. Remember that you are not going "over-under-over" so much as "inside-outside-inside" because this is a 3-dimensional object that will need to be able to open up when you are done! (Yes, you'll have to bend things around a bit...just be gentle and keep wiggling until it works!)


















4) When the two sides are woven together, you just add a little handle (tape, glue, or staple it to the basket). voila! Hang it on your tree, and put in some candy or nuts if you like.

(This is my entry for the EtsyBloggers blog carnival this month, when it posts on Dec 23, you will be able to see others by going here and following the link!)