Cardboard Christmas Decorations: Stars, Trees and Ornaments

Plain kraft brown with a little white paint has a quiet, natural look that suits winter greenery, and that is the idea behind these cardboard Christmas decorations. There are three projects: a tabletop tree that slots together without glue, a layered star drawn with a compass, and a set of flat ornaments on twine.

All three are drawn from measurements, so you can scale them up or down. One medium shipping box is enough for the set.

Materials for All Three Projects

• Clean single-wall corrugated cardboard, roughly 1/8 in (3 mm) thick, for the tree and star
• Thin paperboard (cereal-box weight) for the ornaments, if you want to cut them with scissors
• Metal ruler, pencil and a compass
• Craft knife and cutting mat, plus scissors
• White (PVA) glue
• White acrylic paint and a small brush
• Hole punch and twine

Slot-Together Tabletop Tree

Two identical triangles cross at right angles and hold each other up. The finished tree is 9 in (23 cm) tall and 6 in (15 cm) wide.

1. Draw a rectangle 6 x 9 in with the flutes running along the 9 in side. Upright flutes keep the tree stiff.
2. Mark the center of the top edge, 3 in (7.5 cm) from each corner. Join that mark to the two bottom corners. This is the tree.
3. Draw the center line from the tip straight down to the base. Mark its midpoint, 4 1/2 in (11.5 cm) from either end.
4. Cut out the triangle, then cut a second one exactly the same.
5. On the first triangle, cut a slot along the center line from the tip down to the midpoint. On the second, cut a slot from the base up to the midpoint. Make each slot as wide as your board is thick, about 1/8 in.
6. Slide the second triangle down over the first until both bases sit level on the table.

The two slots add up to the full height, 4 1/2 + 4 1/2 = 9 in, which is what lets the bases line up. If the fit is tight, widen a slot by a sliver instead of forcing it.

For a tree with branches, cut three shallow V-shaped notches into each sloping side before you cut the slots. Keep the notches at least 1 in (2.5 cm) away from the center line so the middle stays strong. To resize, keep the height at about one and a half times the width and make each slot half the height.

Layered Five-Point Star

Three stars of decreasing size are stacked into one relief star about 6 in across. Each star starts as a circle with five evenly spaced points on it.

To space the points without a protractor, set the compass to the step in the table and walk it around the circle. The step is the radius multiplied by about 1.18.

1. Draw the circle with the compass. Mark one point at the top.
2. Reset the compass to the step. Put its point on your mark and make a small arc across the circle. Move to that arc and repeat until you have five marks.
3. The fifth step should land back on the first mark. If it falls short or overshoots, adjust the compass very slightly and step around again.
4. Join every second mark with a ruler: first to third, third to fifth, fifth to second, second to fourth, fourth to first. The five lines form a star.
5. Cut around the outline of the star only, ignoring the lines that cross inside it.
6. Glue the three stars together with their centers and points lined up. The compass holes mark the centers.

For deeper shadows, glue a small square of scrap cardboard between each pair of layers. A loop of twine glued between the back and middle layers at the top point turns the star into a hanging decoration.

Flat Hanging Ornaments

These are simple silhouettes with a punched hole. Draw each one directly on the board:

• Circle: set the compass to 1 1/2 in for a 3 in circle.
• Bell: draw a rectangle 3 x 3 1/2 in (7.5 x 9 cm) and a center line down it. Sketch half a bell on one side: narrow at the top, flaring out to the full width at the bottom. At three or four heights, measure from the center line to your curve, mark the same distance on the other side and join the marks, so both halves match.
• Small tree: draw a rectangle 3 x 4 in (7.5 x 10 cm) and join the center of the top edge to the two bottom corners.

Cut the shapes out, then punch a hole about 3/8 in (1 cm) below the top edge of each. Thread an 8 in (20 cm) length of twine through the hole and knot the ends to make a loop.

Adding White Accents

Good places for white are a border about 1/4 in (6 mm) wide around each ornament, the top layer of the star, and dots or short dashes along the sloping edges of the tree.

Use paint straight from the pot, in thin coats, and let the pieces dry flat. Paint the tree halves before you slot them together. The guide to painting cardboard explains how to stop flat shapes from curling as they dry.

Displaying Them Safely

Cardboard burns, so these decorations belong well away from open flames, heaters, stoves and fireplaces. If you want lights nearby, use battery-operated LED string lights only, and switch them off when you leave the room.

Kept dry, the whole set stores flat in an envelope for next year: just slide the two tree halves apart.

More Decorations in the Same Style

A row of small decorative cardboard houses makes a winter village to stand beside the tree. For something more sculptural, the faceted shapes in the guide to geometric cardboard decor can be made small, threaded with twine and hung as three-dimensional ornaments.