How to Make a DIY Rustic Snowflake Ornament

Make Your Own Wood Snowflake Ornament

This wood snowflake ornament uses multi-layer snowflakes to add dimension and natural wood veneer to create a rustic look.  Follow this step-by-step tutorial to learn how to make your own snowflake ornament this holiday season.

The ornaments we hang on our tree every year tell a story about our family and the memories we make with one another.  In my household, we love to make our own ornaments to help tell those stories.

These rustic snowflake ornaments are made using my snowflake bundle cut files and natural wood veneer.  The wood veneer material is made from genuine wood and showcases the wood's natural color and grain.

I love the two-toned rustic look using the maple and walnut colors.  You can leave them as is or even stain or paint them.

I've been crafting more with wood veneer because my Cricut Maker can cut more designed designs with this material.  It's very thing but also very durable.  The natural wood veneer can also be used to add a decorative finish to your projects.

Let me show you how to make a rustic snowflake ornament in Cricut Design Space natural wood veneer.

This post contains some affiliate links (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you). 

Materials & Supplies

• Free Snowflake Bundle Cut Files
• Cricut Maker, Cricut Explore, or another cutting machine
• Cricut Cutting Mat - StrongGrip
• Deep-Point Blade
• Natural Wood Veneer - Maple and Walnut
• Painter's Tape
• Wood Glue or Pop Up Dots
• Satin Ribbon

Instructions

Follow these easy steps to make the Snowflake Ornaments using Cricut Design Space.

Open Cricut Design Space and click the + to create a new project.

In the Design Panel on the left, select “Upload.”

Click Upload Image, then Browse, and navigate to the SVG files on your device to upload them to Cricut Design Space.  Here you can change the name and add tags. Click “Save.”

Once you uploaded the file, select the design and click “Insert Images” to bring it onto your canvas.  

Below is what the design will look like when you add it to Cricut Design Space.

First, make sure you have the colors the way you want them.  Each snowflake has three different colors.  For my ornament, I'm going to make the 1st and 3rd layers the same color (maple veneer), and the middle layer a second color (walnut veneer).

To easily change the colors, select Color Sync at the top of the Layers Panel.

These layers are not in order.  The middle light blue row is actually the 3rd layer (bottom layer) of the snowflake.  To make that layer the same as the top layer, simply drag that row to the top row.

Now the 1st and 3rd snowflake layers are the same color and the middle layer will be the accent color.  You can, of course, use any color combination you'd like.  Click Layers at the top of the Layers Panel to get back.

Each snowflake is 5 inches tall but can easily be resized using the Edit Toolbar at the top of the canvas.  I resized mine to 4 inches.

To do this Ungroup the snowflakes by selecting Ungroup at the top of the Layers Panel.

Then select each snowflake and resize it using the Edit Toolbar.  Do this for the remaining snowflakes if you're using all four designs.

Once you have it at your desired size, you’re ready to cut it.  Click Make It in the upper-right hand corner and you’ll be taken to the prepare screen.  

Leave the material size ass 12" x 12" if you're using the Cricut natural wood veneer sheets.

Now it's time to connect to your machine and select your material.  For this project, you'll want to select Natural Wood Veneer as the material.

Before cutting it's always good to do a test cut to ensure the blade cuts through the material.  If needed you can change the material settings by clicking Browse All Materials and then selecting Material Settings in the bottom left-hand corner.

Search for Natural Wood Veneer and you can update the cut pressure and how many times it cuts.  I increased my cut pressure to 350 and the multi-cut to 7.

Before cutting, don't forget to tape down the Natural Wood Veneer using painters tape to make sure it doesn't move during the cut.  (I used a StandardGrip mat for this project but Cricut recommends the StrongGrip for the veneer material).  

IMPORTANT: Before removing the mat, make sure the veneer has been cut through.  If you push the Cricut C on the machine again it will do another pass.

There also may be some spots that didn't cut through.  Veneer can be difficult to cut so just use a craft knife to cut through any pieces that may need some help.

Assembling the Layered Snowflakes

After you cut the design, use the wood glue to put them together.  You can also use clear 3D adhesive pop up dots if you want to give it more of a 3D look.  

Cricut Design Space doesn’t cut out the layers in order so it can get confusing to piece together.  Head back to Design Space to see the layers as a reference for how to put them together.

The image below shows you from bottom to top how the layers should be placed.

Once you have all of the snowflakes layered together add a decorative satin red ribbon and you're ready to decorate your tree!

Here's a look at my finished snowflake ornament. The two colors of wood veneer really give it a beautiful and timeless rustic look.

Making your own ornaments every year is a fun holiday tradition that you and your family can share together.

Ready to make your own?

DOWNLOAD THE  ‘FREE LAYERED SNOWFLAKE BUNDLE’ CUT FILES HERE

Want more holiday project ideas using the Snowflake Bundle cut files?

Check out these tutorials to make a Seasonal Snowflake Wreath and Magical Snowflake Garland.

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Make Your Own Wood Snowflake Ornament