How to make personalized 3D printed Christmas ornaments

The easiest personalized Christmas ornaments to 3D print are a name ornament, a stained-glass ornament and a photo lithophane — each one takes a few minutes to design and prints in under a couple of hours. Below are all three, with the exact settings, how to add a hanger, and how to get two colors even without a multi-material printer.

Which ornament to make

• Name ornament — a name (or a name and a year) with a loop for the tree. Quick, cheap, perfect for a whole family set or gift tags.
• Stained-glass ornament — a star, snowflake or word frame with windows you can fill with colored resin, so it glows on the tree.
• Photo ornament — a lithophane: a thin plate that looks plain until light shines through it and reveals the photo.

You could draw any of these in CAD, but I made all three with 3DGEN generators — each one is a few settings in the browser, no CAD, and the file is ready in seconds.

1. Name ornament

Open the keychain generator — a keychain with a loop is exactly what a name ornament needs.

1. Type the name. A name, initials, or a name with the year all work. Pick a bold, rounded font — thin script fonts look lovely but snap more easily.
2. Choose the style. Letter outline wraps the letters in one solid outline and fuses a ring to the first letter — the classic name-ornament look. Geometric plate puts the name on an oval, rectangle or rhombus with a hole.
3. Make it ornament-sized. Raise the Text size above the 14 mm default so the name reads from across the room, and keep the Thickness around the default 3 mm so it stays light on a branch.
4. Size the hanger. Set Ring size (outline mode) or Hole diameter (plate mode) to fit your ribbon, cord or ornament hook.
5. Pick the colors. Set the text, body and optional frame colors — red letters on a white body, or gold on green.

Two colors without an AMS

With a multi-material printer, export the 3MF: the body and the letters come in as separate objects, so you just assign a filament to each. On a single-extruder printer you can still get a clean two-tone result, because the letters sit on top of the body:

1. Slice the model and drag the layer slider to the first layer of the letters — that's just above the body thickness you set.
2. Add a filament change there: in PrusaSlicer, click the + on the layer slider; in Bambu Studio, right-click the + and choose Add Pause; in Cura, use the Filament Change post-processing script.
3. Slice again and print. When the printer pauses, swap to the second color and resume.

2. Stained-glass ornament

Open the suncatcher generator. It prints a single-color "lead" frame with open windows.

1. Choose the design. In SVG mode, upload a simple vector star, snowflake, tree or bauble (black = frame, white = windows). In Text mode, type a short word like a name or "NOEL".
2. Shrink it for the tree. The default width is 100 mm — around 60–80 mm is a typical ornament size.
3. Keep the frame sturdy. Leave Leading width around the 3 mm default; thinner leading looks delicate but is harder to fill and easier to break at small sizes.
4. Add the hanger. Turn on the hanging ring, choose 1 — Top, and set the Hole diameter (5 mm by default) to fit your ribbon. In SVG mode you can set the ring Inside so it's built into the frame line.
5. Print the frame flat in the color you want the leading to be — black, gold or silver all look festive. No supports needed.

You can hang it as a cut-out ornament straight away, or fill the windows with tinted UV resin or epoxy for the full stained-glass glow — the backing, sealing and filling process is covered in how to make a resin suncatcher.

3. Photo ornament (lithophane)

Open the lithophane generator and upload a photo — faces and pets with good contrast work best.

1. Set the size. Bring Width down from the 100 mm default to about 60–80 mm for an ornament.
2. Tune the image. Use Contrast and Brightness, and check the result in the Backlit preview.
3. Add a border. Turn on Raised border. Make the Border width generous (6–8 mm) — it frames the photo and gives you room for the hanger.
4. Plan the hanger. The lithophane generator doesn't add a hanging hole, so add one after printing: glue a small ribbon loop or ornament cap to the back of the top border, or carefully drill a small hole through the border with a fine bit.

Print lithophanes in white PLA with a fine layer height and full infill — the details are in how to print a lithophane. A lithophane only reveals the photo when light comes from behind, so hang it in front of the tree lights, or make a second one to stand in a sunny window.

Printing and hanging tips

• PLA is fine for indoor ornaments — light, cheap and available in festive colors and silk or metallic finishes.
• Mind the heat. PLA starts to soften around 60 °C. Keep printed ornaments away from fireplaces, radiators and old incandescent bulbs; modern LED fairy lights run much cooler.
• Hang them light. A thin ribbon or a standard ornament hook through the loop is plenty — these ornaments weigh only a few grams.
• Batch them. Name ornaments for the whole family fit on one bed. Arrange them in your slicer and print the set in one go.

FAQ

What filament is best for Christmas ornaments?

PLA — it's easy to print and comes in silk, metallic and glitter finishes that look great on a tree. Use white PLA for lithophanes so the photo shows clearly.

Can I make a two-color name ornament on a single-color printer?

Yes. Add a filament change in your slicer at the layer where the letters start, swap the filament when the printer pauses, and resume.

How big should an ornament be?

Around 60–80 mm across is a good tree size. Bigger reads better from a distance; smaller suits gift tags and mini trees.