What this template is for
A star with every point raised out of the plane, in two halves that meet back to back. Christmas tree toppers, hanging decorations, window stars.
Also called 3d paper star · christmas star · star ornament · tree topper star — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Christmas tree toppers and ornaments
- Hanging window and party stars
- Advent and Moravian style decorations
- Award and display pieces
How to use this template
Set your measurements above, then download the file that suits whatever you are already working in. All four are the same 3d star, drawn to the same size — only the format changes, and every one of them is free.
- PDF printing at home
- Print it at 100 per cent and cut it out. This is also the file to hand a print shop: say "actual size, no scaling".
- PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
- Upload it as an image, lock it in place, and design your 3d star on top of it. Works on the free Canva plan and on a phone. Full Canva walkthrough →
- SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
- Vector, with the cut lines, fold lines and labels on separate layers so you can style or delete them independently. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
- DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
- Two layers, CUT and FOLD. The free Silhouette Studio Basic opens DXF where it will not open SVG, so this is the one to use there.
Putting your own design on it: you do not need any of those programs for a logo or a pattern — add a picture in the panel above and drag it onto the 3d star. It is trimmed to the cut outline and embedded properly in the PDF, and it never leaves your computer. Getting it printed properly →
Printing it
- Type the size you need above, in millimetres, centimetres or inches.
- Download the PDF and print it at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
- Too big for your paper? Tick Split across several sheets and it prints across as many as it needs, with overlaps and matching letters to tape together.
How to put it together
These pictures are the 3d star itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.
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Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Scissors are fine; a craft knife against a steel rule is neater on the straight runs. Cut the inside shapes, like a thumb hole, before you free the outline — the sheet is easier to hold while it is still whole.
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Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds, and they want scoring first: run an empty ballpoint, a bone folder or the back of a butter knife along a ruler. Card folded without scoring cracks along the outside of the bend. Fold each crease both ways, then back — it makes the shape almost close itself.
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Fold, glue and hold
Crease every fold — the lines to the tips fold one way, the lines to the inner corners the other. Roll each half up and glue its seam, then glue the two halves rim to rim.
Glue: a glue stick is enough for paper; use white PVA on card and hold each seam for thirty seconds. Tape works on the inside of any seam if you would rather not wait. Let a box dry standing up, not lying on a flap.
Questions about the 3d star
- Why does each half print in more than one piece?
- Because a star rim is not a convex shape. The faces meeting at the raised centre can add up to more than a full turn, and a surface like that cannot be flattened onto paper in one piece — the net would fold back over itself. The tool cuts it into equal sectors instead and tells you how many.
- Which way do the folds go?
- The creases running out to a point fold one way and the creases running to an inner corner fold the other. Crease every line in both directions before you assemble anything and the star almost forms itself.
- How far should the points lift?
- About a fifth of the diameter gives a star that reads as three-dimensional from across a room without becoming a spiky ball. Raise it more for a sharper, more crystalline look.
Print your own design on it
Every template here takes your artwork. Add a picture in the panel on the left — a logo, a photo, a pattern — drag it where you want it on the 3d star, and it prints with the template. It is trimmed to the cut outline automatically, so nothing spills over the edge, and it goes into the PDF as a properly embedded image.
No other free box template site will do that, and your picture never leaves your computer — there is no server here to send it to.