DIY foldable 3D Stars with downloadable svg file

How was your weekend today? Did you get some Christmas shopping done? I’m so behind on everything.
I thought today I’d share with you how I made all the gold 3D stars you saw throughout my Christmas tour last week. I’m sure this has been done over and over already in blogland but I’ll write about it anyway. It’s definitely not mind-blowingly new but they are one of my favorite accessories I added to my tour this year.

I have always liked stars and they are perfect for Christmas.

I had a large amount of poster board stashed in the basement. You can buy several sheets at our grocery store for very very cheap and some of the stars were even made from cereal boxes I had in our recycling bin.

DIY foldable 3D Stars tutorial with downloadable svg file

Now I’m lucky enough to have a Silhouette cameo ( you do not need a cutter and can use the template to cut stars by hand at home) who cuts and perforates all the lines for me but it is totally doable without the Silhouette or Cricut and all you need is a star shape to trace, crafting knife and cutting board. I tried it and it works too. It’s just a little more time-consuming that way because you lightly have to score the areas you want to fold with the crafting knife.

materials needed

• posterboard or thin cardboard like cereal boxes or even thicker scrapbooking paper
• spray paint
• cutting files and cutting machine
• (or X-Acto knife and metal ruler if you don’t have a cutting machine and better than scissors)

downloadable 3D stars cutting files (SVG and studio)

• 3D star svg file
• 3D star studio file

printable 3D star shape

I added a printable 3D stars shape (2 different sizes) for you in case you want to make them without a cutting machine. You can also use this printable paper star version for my gingerbread Christmas ornaments as star templates.

step-by-step instructions

Start out by downloading your file and uploading it to your cutter.
Make sure that you set the thickness and blade appropriate for cardstock before sending the poster board through the machine. You obviously have to cut the poster board to the size of the cutting mat before being able to feed it through the machine.

No cutter? No Problem!

If you don’t have a cutting machine, use my printable version.

Just print them on a piece of paper, cut them out, and trace the shape onto the poster board. Perforate the center score lines lightly with a craft knife by lightly running it on the edge of a ruler but make sure not to cut the poster board all the way through.

All I had left to do is peel the stars off the cutting mat, fold the perforated lines to form creases, and spray paint them with gold spray paint ( I used Rust-Oleum gold spray paint). I actually wanted to use copper first but decided on gold last minute since I had already painted some Christmas balls copper. I wanted to mix more metallics.

Photos of finished 3D stars

The entire star is hollow on one side but you can see the 3D shape. The center of the star needs to be folded outward. Folding paper stars doesn’t have to be as difficult as folding origami stars, right?

RELATED: Speaking of origami! I made easy origami diamond Christmas ornaments with printer paper and colored cardstock. They look very pretty and are another great affordable ornament option.

If you don’t feel like making the stars you could also just buy paper mache stars and spray paint them gold with the same paint I used above.

Here they are in our home. They make such a big statement for a small amount of money. I don’t like to hang them and prefer to just tuck them into the tree instead.

I even went all colorful with my Christmas decorations one year and the stars were the perfect touch.

And the gold stars match perfectly with the gold Ikea star tree topper. They are totally made for each other.

Also, see them in my 2015 Christmas tree below. Check out more photos of the tree.

Other ways to use these 3D stars as decoration

• I also turned these stars into 4th of July bunting. They make the perfect 4th of July decorations.
  
• on a wreath
• as a garland for your mantel
• as napkin ring decor
  

Check out my other DIY Christmas ornaments like my plastic painted ornaments, posterboard snowflakes with free snowflake svg file, macrame ornaments using scrap macrame cord, paper fan ornaments, easy honeycomb ornament, and paper bag snowflakes. Or how about toilet paper roll snowflake ornaments which are free and so fun to make as a craft for all ages?

I feel like these stars were so easy and they make such a big difference. I love crafts like this. None of the trees would look the same without the stars, don’t you agree?

I hope you like the stars as much as I do and have fun with your holiday decorations.

Tschüß