DIY Scandinavian Christmas Decorations: A Copper Himmeli Table and Simple Nordic Ornaments

Updated October 2026. Scandinavian Christmas decor you can make at home: a copper himmeli side table, small straw or paper himmeli ornaments, and a few candle rules from NFPA worth knowing before you light anything.

The easiest DIY Scandinavian Christmas decorations are geometric himmeli shapes, plain wood, white candles and greenery. Our main project is a copper-pipe himmeli side table: 30 pieces of 10-inch pipe, about 40 feet of twine and one walnut top. As of October 2026, NFPA counts about 5,894 home candle fires a year, so keep flames 12 inches from decor.

Jump to: 🏠 What a himmeli is · 🪜 Copper side table · 📸 Small ornaments · ⏱️ Candles · 💲 Selling in December · ❓ FAQ

Scandinavian holiday style is mostly about restraint. Pale wood, white walls, one or two warm metals, real greenery and soft light. Nothing blinks. The pieces you make yourself tend to look better than store-bought ones because the slight unevenness reads as handmade, which is the whole point.

What is a himmeli, and why does it look so Scandinavian?

A himmeli is a hanging mobile of straws joined into triangles, diamonds and octahedrons. Finland’s official site calls it the quintessential Finnish Christmas decoration and notes that the bigger ones use hundreds or even thousands of pieces of straw. Traditional makers favor rye, since it has the longest and sturdiest stems.

The shape is simple geometry, so it works in any material. Modern makers use plywood, paper, brass tubes and even plastic straws. That’s what makes it a good DIY project: once you can join three tubes into a triangle, you can build anything from a palm-sized ornament to a piece of furniture.

How do you build a copper himmeli side table?

This is the big project. It takes a weekend, mostly because the walnut top needs time to cure. You will need:

• Walnut veneer plywood, big enough for a circle the width of the base.
• Walnut edge banding tape.
• Clear polypropylene twine, about 40 feet.
• A pipe cutter and three 10-foot rods of ½-inch copper pipe.
• Three ½-inch copper pipe hangers and very short screws.
• A sander, clear creme wax, a waxing brush and lint-free cloths.

Step 1: Build the base

Cut the copper into 30 pieces, each 10 inches long. Cut a 10-foot length of twine. Check out this tutorial for the stringing pattern, then use the same idea at a larger scale, starting with three pieces of tubing.

Pull the twine tight and tie a firm knot at the end of every triangle. Loose triangles make a wobbly table. Don’t panic if the half-built base feels flimsy; it only stiffens once the last pieces lock together. If you run out of twine, tie a new 10-foot length to a corner joint and keep going.

Step 2: Cut the tabletop

Walnut veneer plywood is usually a special order, so plan ahead if the table has to be ready by a set date, and order extra in case of a bad cut. It arrives unfinished.

Measure the widest points of the base with a piece of twine. Fold it in half to find the center and tape that center to the plywood with painter’s tape. Hold a pen at the free end and draw the circle, like a big compass. Cut it out with a jigsaw.

Step 3: Finish the edges

The cut edge of plywood shows its layers. Iron on strips of walnut banding tape, trim the extra with a box cutter, and give the edge a gentle sanding so it feels smooth.

Step 4: Wax the top

Brush a coat of clear wax over the top. Doing both sides is optional, but it brings out the grain and helps the wood stay flat. Buff with a lint-free cloth.

Step 5: Put it together

Lay the dry top face down, set the base on it, and fasten them with the three pipe hangers. Use very short screws so nothing pokes through the top. If the twine at the joints bothers you, paint it with liquid copper leaf from a craft store. Done.

What smaller Scandinavian decorations can you make?

Not everyone wants to cut 30 pieces of pipe. These take an evening or less:

1. A paper-straw himmeli. Use 12 straws cut to equal length and thread them with fishing line into an octahedron. Hang it over the dining table. That’s where old Finnish himmelis hung, meant to bring a good crop the next year.
2. Folded paper stars. Plain white or kraft paper, no glitter. Hang them in a window at different heights.
3. A branch arrangement. Bare birch or pine branches in a tall clear vase, with a few wooden beads or a single small himmeli.
4. Wool or felt garlands. Gray, cream and one muted red. Pin them along a shelf rather than the whole room.

Fresh paint makes all of this look better. If your walls are tired, our Interior Home Painting Guide walks through a weekend repaint, and these ideas to take your interior design to the next level help you pick a calm palette.

How do you use candles safely with Scandinavian decor?

Candlelight is the heart of a Nordic Christmas, and it’s also the risky part. NFPA’s figures for 2020–2024 show U.S. fire departments went to an average of 5,894 home fires a year started by candles. Those fires caused an average of 63 deaths, 532 injuries and $286 million in property damage each year.

The pattern is consistent. Over half of candle fires started because something that burns, like curtains, bedding or decorations, sat too close. More than a third (36%) began in a bedroom. NFPA also notes that Christmas is the peak day for candle fires.

So a few house rules: keep every flame at least 12 inches from straw, paper, wool and greenery. Never put a lit candle inside or under a himmeli. Blow candles out when you leave the room. And for anything near a window or a tree, flameless LED candles look almost the same in a photo and won’t start a fire.

Other maintenance before guests arrive is worth a look too. Our checklists on Fix It Yourself: Essential HVAC Supplies You Can Buy Online and 4 Tips To Help You Out With Plumbing Installations cover the small jobs that tend to break right when the house is full.

Should you decorate if you’re selling your home in December?

Yes, lightly. A few calm, Scandinavian touches are about the best holiday decor for a listing, because they don’t take over the room. NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Staging found that 83% of buyers’ agents say staging makes it easier for buyers to picture a property as their future home. Heavy themed decor does the opposite and dates your photos.

Shoot the listing photos before you decorate, or keep it to a wreath, a branch arrangement and one himmeli. That way the photos still work in January. Our guide to virtual staging explains how to fix an empty or cluttered room after the fact.

If you’re planning to sell, our guide on How Do I Sell a Home by Owner and Maximize Value covers pricing and prep. A Beycome flat fee MLS listing starts at $99 with $0 due to Beycome at closing, in 17 states and DC. Concierge, where experts handle the sale with you and you keep every decision, is $1,399.

Shopping for a home over the holidays instead? See these Tips for Home Buyers. Beycome’s buyer program has no upfront fee; Beycome keeps 1% of the price (minimum $1,499) and credits the rest of the buyer-agent commission at closing, with lender approval. It’s open to every buyer on homes listed by other agents (the commission credit can’t apply where no buyer-agent commission is offered, like most FSBO homes, or on homes listed by Beycome sellers).

Scandinavian Christmas decoration questions