Mistletoe | Papercraft

A small mistletoe that can stay green Christmas after Christmas.

This delicate paper cutout depicts the classic mistletoe with green leaves and light berries. The individual parts are cut out and assembled in layers, giving the motif more volume and making it look almost like a small sprig of mistletoe.

Hang it in a doorway, on a branch, or among your other Christmas decorations – and then time will tell who ends up meeting under it.

Create your own mistletoe

Carefully cut out the individual parts and glue them together layer by layer. This gives the paper cutout a fine three-dimensional look.

Once the mistletoe is assembled, you can finish it with a small fabric bow or string and hang it up. It is especially lovely over a door or in a doorway, where the classic Christmas tradition naturally comes into its own.

The paper mistletoe can also be used as a small creative Christmas greeting or be part of a larger Christmas display along with spruce, pinecones, and other nature-inspired decorations.

Hand-painted Danish paper cutout

The paper cutout is designed by Tall Hat Tales and has a charming hand-painted look that fits beautifully with traditional Nordic Christmas decorations.

At the same time, the mistletoe is a motif with a long and intriguing history. Long before we started hanging it up in the hope of a Christmas kiss, the evergreen plant was surrounded by stories, symbolism, and superstition.

A very special plant

Mistletoe is an evergreen plant that grows on the branches of other trees. In the middle of winter, when the deciduous trees around it are bare, mistletoe keeps its green leaves. Over time, this has made it a symbol of life and fertility in the midst of winter's darkness.

Mistletoe also appears in old European folklore and mythology. In Norse mythology, it plays a famous, and somewhat less romantic, role in the story of the death of the god Baldur. Mistletoe was the one plant that Baldur's mother, Frigg, had not secured a promise from never to harm him. Loki exploited this and let the blind Hodr strike Baldur with an arrow made of mistletoe.

However, the story of Baldur is not the origin of our modern tradition of kissing under the mistletoe, even though the two stories are often confused.

Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is especially associated with Great Britain, where the plant became part of Christmas party games and decorations.

In the 1700s, the so-called "kissing bough" was mentioned – a decoration made of evergreen branches that could include mistletoe. Throughout the 1800s, kissing under the mistletoe became an increasingly well-known part of English Christmas tradition.

An old custom dictated that one should pick one of the mistletoe's berries for every kiss. When all the berries were gone, there were no more kisses to be had under that particular mistletoe.

Through Victorian Christmas tradition and later pop culture, the custom spread far beyond the borders of Great Britain. Today, most people know the meaning when a mistletoe suddenly hangs over a doorway in December.

With this paper cutout, the tradition can have a permanent place among your Christmas decorations – without the mistletoe ever wilting.

Product information

• Unique Danish design
• Mistletoe motif
• Printed on heavy 300-gram paper
• A5 format
• Printed on both sides
• Figures are cut out by hand
• Suitable as Christmas decorations, hanging ornaments, table decorations, and place cards
• The motifs are hand-painted, so the front and back may vary slightly

Need the right tools?

For the fine details in papercraft, we recommend a sharp hobby knife and a good cutting mat. You can purchase our papercraft and paper cutting set, which includes an NT-Cutter precision knife with 10 blades as well as a Linex cutting mat.