Free paper star SVG files

Three ways to raise a star

The folded stars are single flat pieces. Every fold line runs from the middle: fold up along the lines to the points and down along the lines to the notches, and the star lifts into relief. Nothing is glued, so these are the ones to make in quantity.

The ornament and the wall star are nets of a star whose middle stands above its rim. Their faces fill slightly less than a full turn, so there is one slit from the middle to a notch, and the sliver of card beside the slit is the tab: fold everything, slide the sliver under the face next to it and glue. The rim then lies flat, which is why two halves meet edge to edge. The five-piece star and the lantern are built the other way, from separate pyramids that each make one point; it is the way to make a star bigger than one sheet.

Sizes and card

The files are 100 mm on their longer side; each note gives the finished size at a sensible cut size. The ornament cut 250 mm wide makes a star about 110 mm across, and the five-piece star with each point cut 250 mm wide makes one about 235 mm across. Double the cut size and every figure doubles.

Use card of 180 to 250 gsm. The fold lines are rows of short slits, so nothing needs scoring, and they fold either way, up or down. On the glued stars, crease every line before you glue anything, and glue the slit first. Tacky glue gives time to line the edges up; clothes pegs hold the rim tabs while it dries.

How to open the files

• Cricut Design Space: choose Upload, pick the SVG, and add it to the canvas. Set the width you want; the shape is already welded.
• Silhouette Studio: Designer Edition and above open the SVG. The free Basic Edition does not, so open the DXF instead.
• LightBurn, xTool Creative Space and Glowforge: import the SVG, then set the layer to cut, score or engrave.
• Inkscape, Illustrator and Affinity: open the SVG. It is a plain filled path, so you can recolour it, add a stroke or combine it with your own work.
• Printing or sublimation: use the PNG, which has a transparent background.

Each design page lists the file’s narrowest part at seven sizes, so you can tell whether it will survive at the size you plan to cut.

Questions