How to Bring the Magic of a Danish Christmas Into Your American Home

You don't have to live in Denmark to experience some of the traditions that make a Danish Christmas so special. In fact, many of the traditions I grew up with are surprisingly easy to bring into an American home.

When I moved from Denmark to America, I didn't leave Christmas in Denmark behind. Over the years, I have continued many of the traditions I grew up with and introduced them to my own family. We light lots of candles, celebrate Advent, make Danish foods, decorate with fresh greenery, and bring out some of the same kinds of decorations I remember from my childhood.

You certainly don't need to change everything about the way your family celebrates Christmas. Choose one or two Danish traditions that sound fun and add them to the traditions your family already loves.

Start With Advent

Advent is a wonderful place to begin because it gives you four Sundays to enjoy before Christmas arrives. A traditional Danish adventskrans, or Advent wreath, has four candles, with one additional candle lit each Sunday leading up to Christmas.

The wreath might sit on a table or hang from the ceiling, sometimes over the dining table and sometimes in another part of the room. You can make your own with fresh greenery or buy one and decorate it however you like.

Growing up, Advent Sundays also meant æbleskiver and gløgg in our family. We would gather together, light the next candle, and enjoy warm æbleskiver with powdered sugar and jam. You don't have to do exactly what we did, but I love the idea of having a special food or drink that your family enjoys only on Advent Sundays.

Another easy tradition is the Danish kalenderlys, a countdown candle numbered from 1 to 24. You light it each day in December and let it burn down to the next number. And yes, it only goes to 24! Christmas Eve is the big Christmas celebration in Denmark, so December 24 is the day we are counting down to.

Bring Greenery Inside

Some of my favourite Danish Christmas decorations begin outdoors. As a child, we would go into the woods and gather greenery to bring home. We used it to make our kalenderlys arrangement and other Christmas decorations.

You can do the same thing with whatever grows where you live. Gather pine, cedar, spruce, pinecones, seed pods, or interesting branches from your own property, or ask a Christmas tree stand if they have extra branches they have trimmed from their trees.

This is one Danish tradition I have continued in America in a much bigger way. For more than ten years, I have invited women into my home to make fresh greenery candle arrangements. I gather blue spruce, pine, cedar, pinecones, seed pods, and other natural materials and cut everything into manageable pieces before they arrive. Each person starts with a plate, clay, and a candle, then creates her own arrangement.

What I love is that they all look different. Over the years I have had mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, neighbors and friends come together. Sometimes someone comes alone and leaves with a new friend. Once we finish, we gather for hot chocolate or gløgg, kringle and cookies and share stories together.

You don't need to host a class to try it. Invite a friend over, gather some greenery, put on Christmas music, and make something together.

Fill Your Home With Candles

If you came to our home during the winter, you would probably notice candles everywhere. My husband, Rich, may love them even more than I do. He will light one on the dining room table, another on the coffee table, and another on a side table.

Most of our candles are unscented, which is also what I remember from Denmark. You don't need expensive candles or elaborate candleholders. A few simple candles around a room can give you that wonderful feeling the Danes call hygge.

Candles are such a normal part of Christmas in Denmark that I have even seen them burning in grocery stores. You find them in homes, restaurants, cafés, churches, and shops throughout the Christmas season.

Make Danish Christmas Decorations

You don't need to buy Danish decorations to make your Christmas tree look a little more Danish. Some of the most recognizable decorations can be made from paper.

Try making red and white woven julehjerter, the little heart-shaped baskets that hang on the Christmas tree. Because they form a pocket, you can fill them with chocolates or other small treats. You can also make paper stars and kræmmerhuse, traditional paper cones that can be filled with nuts and candy and hung from the branches.

Add a string of little Danish flags and suddenly your tree will begin looking very Danish.

If you really want the Danish look, the tree itself is different too. Danish Christmas trees tend to have more open space between the layers of branches rather than the very full shape common in America. For years, I searched for a live tree here that looked like the trees I remembered from Denmark and couldn't find one. Eventually, I found an artificial tree with those open, layered branches.

Now I have a Danish Christmas tree in my American home.

Make Something Danish to Eat

Food is such a big part of Christmas traditions, and this is an easy place to add something Danish without changing your entire Christmas dinner.

Make æbleskiver and serve them warm with powdered sugar and jam. Bake vaniljekranse, pebernødder, or brunkager. Make risalamande for dessert and hide one whole almond in the bowl. Whoever finds it wins the mandelgave, or almond gift.

One of my own favourite Christmas treats growing up was havregrynskugler, chocolate oat balls rolled in coconut and chilled in the refrigerator. They are especially memorable to me because of the Christmas morning I discovered that the last five had mysteriously disappeared from the refrigerator. My parents blamed the “phantom nibbler,” and years later I discovered that the phantom nibbler was my dad!

You don't have to make every Danish Christmas food. Pick one, try it with your family, and see if it becomes something they ask for again next Christmas.

Dance Around the Christmas Tree

This one may take a little convincing if your family has never done it before!

On Christmas Eve, Danish families traditionally gather around the Christmas tree, hold hands, and sing while walking around it. Growing up, we sang several Christmas songs, but things became much livelier when we got to Nu er det jul igen.

I remember my brothers, Kelvin and Jason, pulling the rest of us faster and faster around the tree. Because everyone was holding hands, once they started moving, the rest of us had no choice but to follow. Sometimes our line would leave the tree altogether and wind through the other rooms of the house before eventually coming back.

You don't have to know Danish Christmas songs to try it. Put on a favourite Christmas carol, grab everyone's hands, and walk around the tree together. Your children may think you have completely lost your mind the first year, but that might also be why they want to do it again.

Add Serving to Your Christmas Traditions

This is where my Danish Christmas traditions eventually became part of The Blessing Nisser.

In the story, Rasmus and Ingrid bring some of the fun and mystery of the Danish nisser I remember from my childhood, but they have a plan for Charlotte. They help her notice people around her who need a little kindness, including her selfish brother Hans and grumpy Mr. Andersen down the street.

The 25 acts of kindness cards come with the book take that idea beyond Charlotte's story and into your own family. Children might bake cookies for a neighbour, bring in someone's trash can, make a card for someone who is lonely, or find another simple way to serve.

For our family, the reason behind serving is Jesus. Charlotte already knows Him, and eventually we discover that her desire to serve others comes from understanding that Jesus came to serve. That is the heart I wanted behind The Blessing Nisser—a fun Danish Christmas tradition that ultimately encourages children to look beyond themselves and bless someone else.

Make It Your Own

You don't need to recreate Christmas in Denmark to bring a little Danish Christmas into your American home. You also don't need to add ten new traditions this December.

Choose something that sounds like your family.

Make æbleskiver on an Advent Sunday. Light a kalenderlys. Gather greenery and make a candle arrangement. Fold paper hearts with your children. Fill a kræmmerhus with candy. Hide an almond in the risalamande. Light a few more candles. Or surprise everyone on Christmas Eve by grabbing their hands and announcing that you are all going to dance around the Christmas tree.

When I look around my own home at Christmas, I see traditions that began during my childhood in Denmark mixed with traditions our family has created here in America. I think that is exactly how traditions are supposed to work. We carry some with us, change some along the way, and create new ones for the people we love.

You don't have to celebrate Christmas exactly the way I did growing up in Denmark.

Just borrow a little Danish Christmas and make it your own.

God Jul and be a blessing!

Kirstie