3D Evergreen Trees

Trees add interest to your holiday village, and 3D trees add depth. You can glue them onto your bases, or scatter them around between your houses. Many people like to use pre-made sisal trees. While you can get them in various sizes, every tree looks the same to me. I want more variety. So I started to make 3D trees by taking 2D tree cutting dies and folding and gluing them together. They are super simple to make and I like the look I get from them.

If you subscribe to Cricut Access you will find many different tree patterns you can use. You will just need to add your own score lines. Not everyone subscribes to Access, however, and each cutting die you buy only gives you one shape and size. I decided to make a few free 3D evergreen tree SVGs that you can use to add to your village. I’ll keep adding more trees with every season.

I used several different construction materials for the examples of my trees. No laughing at my paint job on the cardboard. I always said I couldn’t paint! As soon as the picture was taken I quickly glittered over the paint job, and now it looks fabulous. I did like how sturdy the cardboard made the tree, too.

3D Evergreen Tree in Auntie B’s House Front Yard

How You Make the 3D Evergreen Trees

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Materials to Make 3D Evergreen Trees

My free pattern for the 3D Evergreen Trees from the A Cottage in the Forest Library – get the password for free by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.
Green Cardstock, Green Glitter Cardstock, Patterned Cardstock, Cardboard or aluminum cans – your choice! If you use Patterned Cardstock, I love tiny green patterns. Buy solid core cardstock if possible. Otherwise you will need to color your edges with a green sharpie.
Brown Cardstock. At first I cut all of my trees out of just green. Then one time I made the trunk brown. It is so much more realistic. I’ve never gone back. I am suggesting solid-core Kraft colored cardstock here as it is very versatile and you can use it for many future patterns – including gingerbread houses and rustic cabins. Use Ranger Distress Inks to give it more variations in color.
White Glitter and/or fine artificial snow. I really like Woodland Soft Flake Snow, but a cheaper alternative is the Buffalo Snow Extra-Fine Flurries from Michaels. Unfortunately, it is nowhere as fine as the Woodland Soft Flake Snow.
White glitter tape – I use to sandwich between the sides of the tree with the snowflake cutouts.
Glue – If using cardstock, I suggest Art Glitter Glue. If using Cardboard, I like Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue. For aluminum cans, I use Aleene’s The Ultimate Glue.
A Cutting Machine like a Cricut Maker or Cricut Explore or X-Acto knife or Cricut TrueControl Knife. I know the Cricut TrueControl knife looks expensive next to an X-Acto knife. I have both on my work desk, the X-Acto for aluminum cans and the TrueControl Knife for cardstock and cardboard. I really like the TrueControl knife because the blade doesn’t twist loose while you are working. I am constantly having to tighten my X-Acto knife.
An Embossing Machine and folders. Embossing your tree gives it a lot more depth. Look for embossing folders with tight swirling patterns like the Kwan Crafts Leaves Embossing folder, or my always favorite Crackle folder by Darice .
If using a Cricut Maker, I like using a Scoring Stylus instead of a scoring wheel. It creates deeper lines.
Bone folder (optional – for cardstock or cardboard) A bone folder helps you make sharp folds when you are using cardstock or cardboard.
Folkart Multi-surface satin finish acrylic paints in green (optional, if painting cardboard.)
Green glitter and Modge Podge (optional – for cardboard.) Use if you want to glitter your cardboard trees.

Steps to Make the 3D Evergreen Trees

Download the 3D Evergreen Trees pattern from A Cottage in the Forest library
Import the 3D Evergreen Trees pattern into your design software and cut. Emboss if desired.
Fold and glue your trees together. Sprinkle with glitter or snow.

How To Make The 3D Evergreen Trees

Download the 3D Evergreen Trees Pattern

Download the 3D Evergreen Trees pattern from A Cottage in the Forest Library. Don’t forget to unzip it. The pattern is available in multiple formats – as a SVG (scalable vector graphics), DXF (drawing eXchange format) or PDF file. Currently, I do not have a Silhouette or Brother Machine to test the corresponding files. If you have problems using those files please let me know so I can troubleshoot what might be going wrong.

Import the 3D Evergreen Trees Pattern into Design Software and Cut

You no longer need to worry about changing and attaching the score lines if you use Cricut Design Space!

Decide how many sections of trees you want to glue together. The more sections, the bushier your trees will look. You need a minimum of 2 front and 2 back pieces. For a bushier tree, add at least one more front and back. For the model below, I used 6 pieces.

Vary the height or width of the tree patterns to make even more trees that look different from the ones you already have.

Cut out all of your cardstock, cardboard or aluminum can pieces using my pattern. Emboss as desired.

How To Make the Trees

Glue the trunk onto each of the corresponding tree pieces.

Fold each of the tree pieces towards the front (valley fold.)

Find the corresponding matching sides, and glue together. I like to glue the pieces together to make two halves, and then glue the halves together. One of the tree designs has snowflake cutouts. I trap white glitter tape between the sides when I glue them.

Dab with a bit of glue and sprinkle with glitter and/ or fake snow if desired.

From left to right – cardstock, glitter cardstock, patterned cardstock, painted cardboard, aluminum can

That’s it! Enjoy adding your 3D Evergreen Trees to your Holiday Village! I would love to see pictures of your village using the trees. Please share a photo of it with me by emailing me at Jackie@acottageintheforest.com.