Traditional Christmas Greeting: "Glad Jul"
Location: Scandinavia
Tree Type: Traditional

Decorations:
- The heart shaped baskets are woven and maybe made from straw. These baskets are filled with candy for January 13th St Knut's Day.
- The straw ornaments (Juldocka) are handmade figures. They represent children and animals, and date back to a time when the only material available for ornaments was straw.
- The wooden heart symbolizes the belief that everyone is lovable at Christmas time.
- The tissue and cardboard ornaments (Julgrans Karamellar) contain small gifts inside. They are made especially for the children.

Traditions:
Advent begins the holiday season in Sweden four Sundays before Christmas. Swedish Christians light one candle each week as they await Christmas Eve. On the 13th of December, towns and families celebrate Santa Lucia Day in honor of the fourth century girl who was martyred for her Christian beliefs. To commemorate her sacrifice, one girl in each family dresses in a long white gown and places a wreath of evergreen branches with four lit candles (sometimes electric today) in her hair. Her siblings dress in white and accompany her while she brings her parents coffee, buns, and cookies in bed. This tradition is sometimes repeated in schools or town squares.

Christmas trees in Sweden are usually not decorated until a day or two before Christmas. Families get together the evening of the 22nd or 23rd to cover them with straw snowflakes, stars and sunbursts, candy, flags, and small gnomes wearing red hats. When candles are lit or lights illuminated on Christmas Eve, the tree is truly a beautiful sight during the dark winter.

The 24th brings to Sweden the lavish Christmas Eve meal often called the smorgasborg. Herring, lutfisk, or salmon usually provide seafood to go with the julskika, or Christmas ham, that has been boiled, marinated, and baked over the previous several days. In addition, people in Sweden feast on Kottbullar (meatballs), leverpastej (liver and anchovy paste), potatoes, beet salad, and revbenspjall (oven-roasted pork ribs). For dessert, they have mandelmusslor (almond cream tarts), pepparkakor (heart or goat shaped gingerbread), and a creamy rice pudding called risgrynsgrot. There is always just one almond in the pudding, and it is said that whoever finds the almond will be married during the next year.