Learn how to make a beautiful (and super cheap) DIY Christmas tree star using this step-by-step tutorial and free printable template.
I always struggle to find a Christmas tree topper I really love. For a few years I actually just skipped the tree topper all together, but then I found the most beautiful gold Moravian star at an estate sale for just a couple bucks.
I don’t think it was actually meant to be a Christmas tree star at all, but I turned it into one and I love it.
I’ve shared my beautiful star a few times over the years and I’ve gotten quite a few questions about where to find a similar one. So I went searching online, but while I found lots of stars, none had the beautiful 3D shape my star has.
So this year I decided to finally sit down and figure out how to make a Christmas star just like mine. And I’m super proud to report that I did it! I did a bit of math and a bit of experimenting and figured out how to make a gorgeous Moravian star exactly like the one I found.
This DIY Christmas star is super cheap and easy to make. You can make it using any color and type of paper you want to match your own Christmas decor. And best of all, you don’t need a Cricuit or any other cutting machine to make it – just a pair of scissors and a hot glue gun!
I’m sharing the step-by-step tutorial for making this DIY paper star along with a free printable template that makes it super easy to put together.
Want more DIY Christmas tree topper ideas? I have a post filled with 25 unique DIY tree toppers that you might want to check out next!
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Materials
- 10 sheets of 8.5″x11″ cardstock – You can use plain white cardstock or get fancy with gold glitter cardstock, silver glitter cardstock, or some other pretty pattern.
- Decorative paper – This is optional, but if you are using plain cardstock, you may want to jazz your star up with wrapping paper, book pages, sheet music, scrapbook paper, or some other type of pretty paper.
- Glue stick or Spray adhesive – To attach your decorative paper to the cardstock.
- Printer – For printing the provided template onto your cardstock.
- Scissors
- Ruler – To help get nice, crisp fold lines.
- Hot glue gun – For assembling your star.
How to Make a DIY Paper Christmas Tree Star
Choose your paper
As I mentioned above, you have a few different options when it comes to picking paper for your star. The main body of your star needs to made from cardstock. Cardstock is both flexible enough to fold into shape and strong enough to maintain that shape. But plain white cardstock doesn’t really make the nicest Christmas tree star.
Instead you can use a more decorative cardstock. You can order gold glitter and silver glitter cardstock online and you can also find lots of different fancy cardstock options at your local craft supply store.
Another option is to combine plain cardstock with a decorative paper to create your star. For my own star, I used a glittery silver wrapping paper along with plain cardstock. Along with the endless wrapping paper options out there, you could also use sheet music, book pages, old maps, or any other decorative paper.
How to get an aged gold finish
If you want to create a beautiful aged gold finish like the one on my original star, I would use a slightly shimmery gold cardstock similar to this. Then I would dab on some antique gold craft paint with a rag or brush to give it that aged look. Or if you want to take it up a notch, you could use a gold cardstock as the background and then cover it with sheets of inexpensive faux gold leaf.
Print the free template onto your cardstock
What makes these stars so easy is I’ve already done all the work and figured out exactly what size and shape to cut your paper. All you need to do is print the free template onto your cardstock.
Download your free Moravian star template here.
You will need 19 star points to form a Christmas tree star. The template includes two points per page, so you will need to print out ten copies of the template.
If you are using a decorative cardstock, be sure to print the template onto the plain, back side of the cardstock. That way the printed lines won’t show on the finished star.
If needed, attach your decorative paper to your cardstock
If you are using a separate decorative paper, this is the time to attach it to your cardstock. Using spray adhesive or a good glue stick, attach the decorative paper to the back of your cardstock. You want the printed template to show on one side and your decorative surface to show on the other.
Cut out and fold the star templates
Now you are ready to cut out each of your star points. Cut along the outer edges of each template.
You can then fold along the interior lines. It helps to use a ruler or other straight edge to help get nice straight fold lines.
Then run your fingers along each fold again to make sure you have nice, crisp fold lines.
After taking these photos, I added instructions to the template showing where to fold in and where to fold out so it should be super clear.
Hot glue into points
Next apply hot glue along the long side flaps and tuck them into place to form triangular points.
Build your star
Now you are ready to put your star together. You’re going to attach all your cardstock points using the bottom flaps. You’ll apply hot glue to one of the flaps and then slide it into the free side of an adjoining point.
Start with one central point and use the flaps to attach another point to each of it’s sides.
From there, simply continue to build your star, adding on more and more of the points you’ve made.
As you are putting your star together, most of the time it will be obvious where the next point should go.
If you start to get confused, take a step back and look at your star’s shape. You want it to be nice and roundish with the points all about the same distance apart. You should see a five pointed star shape like this repeated throughout your 3D star.
As you are attaching your points together, you may find that you occasionally end up with two flaps at the same seam. If that happens, simply cut one off with scissors so that everything can neatly tuck together.
In the end you will be left with one final hole in the bottom of your star.
I left this hole open so that the star can easily slip right over the top branch of your Christmas tree.
If you would like to make this a hanging star rather than a Christmas tree topper, you can simply add one final star point here to finish out the shape.
Finished DIY Christmas Tree Star
Here is my finished paper star. I’m pretty thrilled with how similar the shape is to my original star.
And here it is in it’s spot on top of the Christmas tree.
I think it looks pretty darn sweet considering it’s just made from cardstock, wrapping paper, and hot glue!
Want more DIY Christmas ideas? You can see all my Christmas posts here or you can check out these posts next:
I’d love for you to pin this post on Pinterest!
Terry says
Thank you! It’s beautiful! I’m really in to paper crafts the last couple of years. I want to try this one. Thanks for doing the hard part!
Merry Christmas!
Cheryl Atkinson says
All i have to say is you are amazing. I don’t think i could put this together even with the template. I get confused quite easily. This star is amazing. Bravo!!