An elegant holiday decoration created by overlapping diamond patterns over a basic ball with stem. The ornament is printed as a single piece. It requires some infill, but only in certain places.

The ornament prints very well with the standard 0.4mm nozzle but prints even better with a 0.25 nozzle.

I've provided my PrusaSlicer 3mf file (for 0.4mm nozzle), which includes all the height adjustments to minimize weight while providing the necessary top, bottom, and infill needed for a beautiful print. Some supports are needed, but not a lot. I used organic supports.

I included GCODE in my 3MF file to reduce the nozzle temp at key places to avoid having the filament overheat. The nozzle starts at 200c and decreases at key points down to 180c. You may need to adjust these based on your filament.

The filament shown is MatterHackers Quantum Purple Gold. The design will look good in a variety of filaments, from single color silky or glitter filaments to rainbow and 2 or 3 color filaments.

Have fun and if you like how it turns out, please post a make.

Happy holidays!

Christmas Ball with Intersecting Diamonds

Quad Four Point Diamond Ball Final.stl

Here's a collection of spiral-shaped ornaments that I designed in Blender. You can get beautiful results by switching colors as they print.

Festive Christmas Ornaments

The Mushroom Skull is support free the cap is not. This model makes great décor, planter, bowl, and candy jar.

Mushroom Skull Jar

Mushroom Skull Jar.3mf

Here's a fun festive design for the holidays. It's a bit of a challenge to print, but well worth the effort.

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**CHALLENGING PRINT**
If you just got your first 3D printer and are looking for your first thing to print, this isn't it. Using the settings I recommend below, an experienced maker should be able to get a good print without many failed attempts.

**COMMON PRINTING PROBLEMS**
Assuming you use the print settings I recommended below, here are some common problems and possible fixes:
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp.
* Comes off bed: Increase raft size. Reduce print speed.
* Print looks rough: Reduce print speed.
* Breaks during printing: Reduce print speed and print temperature. If you can, increase cooling. Add more supports.

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it took about 3.5 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.8mm. If you want to go thinner to reduce weight, consider using Cura's “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer. That may prevent gaps in the print.
* Top/bottom thickness: 0.3mm

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously. 

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce chance the bell is pulled off the plate curing printing.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 30mm/s
* Inner wall: 40mm/s
* Travel Speed: 65mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
The first layer of the bell is just a thin circle. I've found that a raft works well to provide bed adhesion. It also separates more cleanly than a brim for this model. 

*Supports*
This print absolutely requires supports to keep the spiral arms from breaking. By setting the overhang angle to 45 degrees, you get support exactly where you need it: at the base where the arms touch the rim and then curve, and at the roof of the bell. It's a lot lower angle than you might normally use, but it's needed for this design.

* Support placement: Touching buildplate
* Support overhang angle: 45 degrees
* Support pattern: Gyroid
* Support wall line count: 1
* Support density: 10%

Open Spiral Christmas Bell

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**CHALLENGING PRINT**
If you just got your first 3D printer and are looking for your first thing to print, this isn't it. Using the settings I recommend below, an experienced maker should be able to get a good print without many failed attempts.

**COMMON PRINTING PROBLEMS**
Assuming you use the print settings I recommended below, here are some common problems and possible fixes:
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp.
* Comes off bed: Increase raft size. Reduce print speed.
* Print looks rough: Reduce print speed.
* Breaks during printing: Reduce print speed and print temperature. If you can, increase cooling. Add more supports.

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it took about 3.5 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.8mm. If you want to go thinner to reduce weight, consider using Cura's “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer. That may prevent gaps in the print.
* Top/bottom thickness: 0.3mm

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously. 

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce chance the bell is pulled off the plate curing printing.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 30mm/s
* Inner wall: 40mm/s
* Travel Speed: 65mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
The first layer of the bell is just a thin circle. I've found that a raft works well to provide bed adhesion. It also separates more cleanly than a brim for this model. 

*Supports*
This print absolutely requires supports to keep the spiral arms from breaking. By setting the overhang angle to 45 degrees, you get support exactly where you need it: at the base where the arms touch the rim and then curve, and at the roof of the bell. It's a lot lower angle than you might normally use, but it's needed for this design.

* Support placement: Touching buildplate
* Support overhang angle: 45 degrees
* Support pattern: Gyroid
* Support wall line count: 1
* Support density: 10%

Here's a fun, quick, simple print to brighten up the holidays. The design is clearly a bell, but it also references Renaissance architecture. 

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**EASY PRINT**
If you just got your first 3D printer, this might not be the first thing you print, but it can be one of your earliest prints. Using the settings I recommend below, you should be able to print it with little difficulty.

**COMMON PRINTING PROBLEMS**
Assuming you use the print settings I recommended below, here are some common problems and possible fixes:
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp.
* Comes off bed: Increase raft size. Reduce print speed.
* Print looks rough: Reduce print speed.
* Breaks during printing: Reduce print speed and print temperature. If you can, increase cooling. 

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it took about 3 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.8mm. If you want to go thinner to reduce weight, consider using Cura's “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer. That may prevent gaps in the print.
* Top/bottom thickness: 0.3mm

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously. 

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce chance the bell is pulled off the plate curing printing.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 30mm/s
* Inner wall: 40mm/s
* Travel Speed: 65mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
The first layer of the bell is just a thin circle. I've found that a thin (4mm extra margin) raft works well to provide bed adhesion. It also separates more cleanly than a brim for this model. The raft only adds about 10 minutes to the print time.

*Supports*
I recommend printing with supports to ensure the roof of the bell prints cleanly. Ok, it doesn't show when it's hanging up, but I'm a perfectionist. With these settings, you'll only get supports where you need them.

* Support placement: Touching buildplate
* Support overhang angle: 71 degrees (this really is all you need)
* Support pattern: Gyroid
* Support wall line count: 1
* Support density: 15%

Open Lattice Christmas Bell

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**EASY PRINT**
If you just got your first 3D printer, this might not be the first thing you print, but it can be one of your earliest prints. Using the settings I recommend below, you should be able to print it with little difficulty.

**SUMMARY**
Here's a fun, quick, simple print to brighten up the holidays. The design is clearly a bell, but it also references Renaissance architecture. 

**COMMON PRINTING PROBLEMS**
Assuming you use the print settings I recommended below, here are some common problems and possible fixes:
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp.
* Comes off bed: Increase raft size. Reduce print speed.
* Print looks rough: Reduce print speed.
* Breaks during printing: Reduce print speed and print temperature. If you can, increase cooling. 

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it took about 3 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.8mm. If you want to go thinner to reduce weight, consider using Cura's “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer. That may prevent gaps in the print.
* Top/bottom thickness: 0.3mm

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously. 

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce chance the bell is pulled off the plate curing printing.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 30mm/s
* Inner wall: 40mm/s
* Travel Speed: 65mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
The first layer of the bell is just a thin circle. I've found that a thin (4mm extra margin) raft works well to provide bed adhesion. It also separates more cleanly than a brim for this model. The raft only adds about 10 minutes to the print time.

*Supports*
I recommend printing with supports to ensure the roof of the bell prints cleanly. Ok, it doesn't show when it's hanging up, but I'm a perfectionist. With these settings, you'll only get supports where you need them.

* Support placement: Touching buildplate
* Support overhang angle: 71 degrees (this really is all you need)
* Support pattern: Gyroid
* Support wall line count: 1
* Support density: 15%

After creating a bell with this pattern (see Diamond Christmas Bell, I wanted to see what it would look like as a ball. I loved it, so I had to share it with you. It printed easily for me with just a little support. It looks great with multi-color PLA, but it'll also look great in solid colored PLA (opaque or transparent).

If you look at the community uploads, one photo shows the ornament printed with Matterhacker's Quantum Raspberry Gold. The other shows Matterhacker's Translucent Red.

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

***PRINT SETTINGS***
* Walls: 0.4 - 0.8 mm (I made the walls of the ball 2 lines thick and the walls of the stem 1 line thick).
* Layer Thickness: 0.15 mm recommended. Anything from 0.1 - 0.2 mm should look good.
* Infill: None. Seriously. It doesn't need it. It just adds weight and print time.
* Rafts/Brim: I didn't use either. 
* Supports: I added normal supports with an overhang angle of 56 degrees. It holds the ball to the printing plate and supports the extreme overhangs at the base without adding a lot of time to the print.

Diamond Christmas Ball

After creating a bell with this pattern (see Diamond Christmas Bell, I wanted to see what it would look like as a ball. I loved it, so I had to share it with you. It printed easily for me with just a little support. It looks great with multi-color PLA, but it'll also look great in solid colored PLA (opaque or transparent).

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

***PRINT SETTINGS***
* Walls: 0.4 - 0.8 mm (I made the walls of the ball 2 lines thick and the walls of the stem 1 line thick).
* Layer Thickness: 0.15 mm recommended. Anything from 0.1 - 0.2 mm should look good.
* Infill: None. Seriously. It doesn't need it. It just adds weight and print time.
* Rafts/Brim: I didn't use either. 
* Supports: I added normal supports with an overhang angle of 56 degrees. It holds the ball to the printing plate and supports the extreme overhangs at the base without adding a lot of time to the print.

Both versions of the design are equally good. The only difference is the loop, which I rotated 45 degrees to have a different part of the pattern face forward.

I designed this using Affinity Designer to create cross-sections and then did everything else in Blender. 

I designed theis to print easily, to be light, and to look elegant when printed in one color. I recommend using a metallic or silky filament (or spray paint the final print with a metallic paint). The metallic or silky highlights will catch the light and show off the complex geometry of the ornaments.

At 100%, this is 80mm wide, which is a nice size for trees 1.5 meter and larger. However, I scaled it to 60% and it looks great. At that size, it will work well on trees as small as 0.5 meter high. You may be able to scale this down slightly smaller than 60%, but I haven't tried it. If you do and it works, please post a comment.

PRINT SETTINGS

To make the print as light as possible, I printed at just 0.4mm walls and 0.45mm top/bottom thickness. I also used Cura's Support Blocker and Per Model Setting's "Modify Settings for Overlaps" to add 20% infill - but just for the bottom 6mm of the ornament. I recommend a layer height of 0.15mm.

You won't need a raft, but I recommend using a brim.

There are other parts of the ornaments that appear to need infill, but they are self-healing and do not show in the final print if you leave out the infill. Infill is really only needed to the bottom of the inside of the ornament. Adding infill everywhere will really increase the weight, which means it may not work on all Christmas trees.

For supports, I used:

- Support Placement: Touching Buildplate
- Support Overhang Angle: 65 degrees
- Support Pattern: Concentric
- Support Density: 15%
- Enable Support Brim: Yes
- Support Brim: 3mm
- Support Roof Density: 75%
- Support Floor Density: 50%

Originally, I placed supports everywhere, but I found it printed cleaner without the supports on the inside of the ball and it eliminated the possibility that the supports would break in the middle of the print. It also makes it print faster and makes clean-up much easier. I've also changed the overhang angle frmo 60 to 65 degrees.

If you print with 0.4mm walls and you wind up with holes in your print, I recommend increasing the flow rate slightly and maybe reduce travel and print speeds.

Kaleidoscope Christmas Ball 2

Model originally uploaded to Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5100757.

I designed this using Affiinity Designer to create cross-sections and then did everything else in Blender. 

I designed theis to print easily, to be light, and to look elegant when printed in one color. I recommend using a metallic or silky filament (or spray paint the final print with a metallic paint). The metallic or silky highlights will catch the light and show off the complex geometry of the ornaments.

At 100%, this is 80mm wide, which is a nice size for trees 1.5 meter and larger. However, I scaled it to 60% and it looks great. At that size, it will work well on trees as small as 0.5 meter high. You may be able to scale this down slightly smaller than 60%, but I haven't tried it. If you do and it works, please post a comment.

PRINT SETTINGS

To make the print as light as possible, I printed at just 0.4mm walls and 0.45mm top/bottom thickness. I also used Cura's Support Blocker and Per Model Setting's "Modify Settings for Overlaps" to add 20% infill - but just for the bottom 6mm of the ornament. I recommend a layer height of 0.15mm.

You won't need a raft, but I recommend using a brim.

There are other parts of the ornaments that appear to need infill, but they are self-healing and do not show in the final print if you leave out the infill. Infill is really only needed to the bottom of the inside of the ornament. Adding infill everywhere will really increase the weight, which means it may not work on all Christmas trees.

For supports, I used:

- Support Placement: Everywhere
- Support Overhang Angle: 60 degrees
- Support Pattern: Concentric
- Support Density: 15%
- Enable Support Brim: Yes
- Support Brim: 3mm
- Support Roof Density: 75%
- Support Floor Density: 50%

If you print with 0.4mm walls and you wind up with holes in your print, I recommend increasing the flow rate slightly and maybe reduce travel and print speeds.

Version 2 of the ornament with built-in supports to make printing easier and reduce the amount of slicer-generated supports you need. With this, I got good results with an overhang angle of 67 degrees (for the slicer-generated support).

Christmas_Balls_v3.7_with_supports_v3.stl

Version 1 of the ornament with built-in supports to make printing easier and reduce the amount of slicer-generated supports you need. With this, I got good results with an overhang angle of 67 degrees (for the slicer-generated support).

Christmas_Balls_v3.6_with_supports_v3.stl

Here's a dimensional snowflake ornament for the holidays. It looks great in either solid or translucent materials.

Snowflake Ornament

**Update**
I've sliced both balls and successfully printed them using PrusaSlicer and my Prusa MK3S+. I printed the versions with built in supports and used Paint-on Supports to add Organic supports to the base and the inner dome. The Organic supports added about an hour to each print since the last time I printed them, but the results are great. I've shared my 3MF and GCODE files as well as photos of the new prints. The supports are a bit delicate. If they break during printing, you could erase the supports in the dome or add more supports to make them stronger.

I was surprised to find in PrusaSlicer that the Classic Perimeter Generator works much better for these two models than Arachne (the default that most people probably never change).

**Summary**
These are a quick, fun, and are very lightweight. Each ball has the same cross-section and twist. The main differences are the size and number of arms.

Large ball: 80mm diameter, weighs about 14g, takes about 7 hours to print
Small ball: 56mm diameter, weighs about 8g, takes about 4.5 hours to print

I designed these using Affinity Designer (for cross-sections), Blender (3D modeling), and Fusion 360 (combining the meshes).

The arms need support at multiple points to keep from warping and breaking if you're using an FDM printer. To make this quick and easy, I provided a version of each ornament with built-in supports. I still had Cura add supports, but only where the balls touch the build plate. 

**Print Settings for PrusaSlicer**
I recommend you download my 3MF files and work from them. I used Height Range Modifiers to strengthen the print where it eeded it via increased perimeters, infill, and Top/Bottom. Everywhere else, ther eis no infill, 1 perimenter, and minimal Top/Bottom. 

**Print Settings for Cura**
**Basics**
Layer Thickness: 0.15mm
Walls: 0.4mm (1 line)
Top/Bottom thickness: 0.45mm (3 layers)
Build Plate Adhesion: Brim

If you have holes in your print (from the thin walls), I recommend increasing flow, print temperature or adjusting your seams. You might also decrease print speed and travel speed (I use 30mm/second and 80mm/second).

**Infill**
Infill is optional. They should print OK without it, but I added some just at the bottom of each ball. I used Cura's Support Blocker and Per Model Setting's "Modify Settings for Overlaps" to add 20% infill (Lines pattern) for the first 51mm for the large ball and 37mm for the small ball.

**Supports**
I recommend using the versions of the balls with built-in supports. You'll still need a little support for the first few layers (where the ball touches the build plate), but my supports make printing the arms of the ball easy. You can remove my supports with your bare hands (no tools) and they leave little or no marks on the print.

I recommend printing these with Cura-generated supports "touching buildplate" with a 60-65 degree overhang angle and a brim for the supports.

For support infill, use Concentric pattern, 10% density. Roof density of 75%, floor density of 50% works well and releases cleanly.

The small ball doesn't need any supports for the inside roof. I found it printed very cleanly.

The large ball printed well enough for my taste without supports for the roof. It print was a little rough, but it only shows if you pick the ornament up and look up from the bottom of the ornament. When it's hanging on a tree, you'll never see that part of it. There's enough space between the arms of the ornament that you could get tools in to cut up and remove supports if you want to add them, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

Spiral Christmas Balls

#Summary
These are a quick, fun, and are very lightweight. Each ball has the same cross-section and twist. The main differences are the size and number of arms.

* Large ball: 80mm diameter, weighs less than 17g, takes about 6 hours to print
* Small ball: 56mm diameter, weighs less than 9g, takes about 3 hours to print

These are part of my [Christmas Collection](https://www.thingiverse.com/dazus/collections/christmas-collection).

I designed these using Affinity Designer (for cross-sections) and Blender (everything else).

The arms need support at multiple points to keep from warping and breaking if you're using an FDM printer. To make this quick and easy, I provided a version of each ornament with built-in supports. I still had Cura add supports, but only where the balls touch the build plate. For details, se the print settings below.

#Print Settings
##Basics

* Layer Thickness: 0.15mm
* Walls: 0.4mm (1 line)
* Top/Bottom thickness: 0.45mm (3 layers)
* Build Plate Adhesion: Brim

If you have holes in your print (from the thin walls), I recommend increasing flow and/or print temperature. You might also decrease print speed and travel speed (I use 30mm/second and 80mm/second).

##Infill

Infill is optional. They should print OK without it, but I added some just at the bottom of each ball. I used Cura's Support Blocker and Per Model Setting's "Modify Settings for Overlaps" to add 20% infill (Lines pattern) for the first 51mm for the large ball and 37mm for the small ball.

##Supports

I recommend using the versions of the balls with built-in supports. You'll still need a little support for the first few layers (where the ball touches the build plate), but my supports make printing the arms of the ball easy. You can remove my supports with your bare hands (no tools) and they leave little or no marks on the print.

I recommend printing these with Cura-generated supports "touching buildplate" with a 60-65 degree overhang angle and a brim for the supports.

For support infill, use Concentric pattern, 10% density. Roof density of 75%, floor density of 50% works well and releases cleanly.

The small ball doesn't need any supports for the inside roof. I found it printed very cleanly. 

The large ball printed well enough for my taste without supports for the roof. It print was a little rough, but it only shows if you pick the ornament up and look up from the bottom of the ornament. When it's hanging on a tree, you'll never see that part of it. There's enough space between the arms of the ornament that you could get tools in to cut up and remove supports if you want to add them, but I don't think it's worth the effort.

This version is 80mm, has 10 arms, and is designed to print easily.

Large_Spiral_Christmas_Ball_with_supports.stl

This version os roughly 55mm, has 8 arms, and is designed to be easy to print.

Small_Spiral_Christmas_Ball_with_supports.stl

This version is roughly 55mm, has 8 arms, and no built-in supports. To print this, you will need to add your own supports.

Small_Spiral_Christmas_Ball.stl

Large Spiral Christmas Ball v4 with Supports - Remesh.3mf

Squirrel with a Hat Ornament

SquirrelOrnament.stl

These are new variations on my Christmas Balls with Integrated Stems. They're relatively easy to print. 

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**RESIZING**
These should scale up well, but I'm not sure how much smaller you could print them using a consumer FDM printer. Using a resin printer, you could probably print them much smaller.

**PRINT TIME**
About 5 hours each.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
The trickiest parts to print are the tops of the stems. Using FDM, if you don't temp, speed, flow, and cooling right, the thin parts of the stem will melt as you print. Thinner walls help. If that's not enough, try increasing the layer height.

*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15 mm
* Wall thickness: 0.4 – 0.8 mm (I printed 0.4 mm and checked “alternate extra wall” so it alternated between 0.4 and 0.4 mm walls with each layer)

*Infill*
I would use 100% infill for the first 2mm. After that, infill doesn't improve print quality. 

*Speed*
* Outer Wall: 35 mm/sec
* Inner Wall: 40 mm/sec
* Travel Speed: 60 mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
I used a brim. With the supports, you shouldn't need a raft.

*Supports*
You will probably need supports for both bed adhesion and the overhang on the first few layers. You shouldn't need supports for the loop at the top. Adding them would just increase the chances the supports broke and caused the print to fail. So, I used a support blocker to ensure the only supports were below the balls.

* Support Structure: Tree
* Support Placement: Touching Buildplate
* Support Overhang Angle: 57 Degrees

For the spiral ornament, I added custom supports for the arms that receive the least support from the counter-rotating arms. You may not need it the extra supports. In case you do, I've included a screenshot of my set-up and support settings in Cura.

Spiral and Fine Lattice Balls with Stems

Spiral Ball 2022.stl

This is the third in this year's Christmas bell series. It prints quickly and easily. Use a nice medium toned silky, metallic or multicolored filament to show off the geometry - or use translucent filament to make it glow.

This is based on my closed lattice, spiral and open lattice bells. It's roughly the same size (slightly taller) with a new loop at the top and a new lattice pattern. 

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**PRINT SETTINGS**
* Walls: 0.4 - 0.8 mm (I used 0.4 mm for the clear bell and added an alternating extra line for the opaque bell)
* Layer Thickness: 0.15 mm recommended. Anything from 0.1 - 0.2 mm should look good.
* Infill: None. Seriously. It doesn't need it. It just adds weight and print time.
* Rafts/Brim: I didn't use either. However, the first layer is just a single width circle, so you may need to add a brim or raft.
* Supports: None. I designed this to print cleanly without them.

Diamond Christmas Bell

This is the third in this year's Christmas bell series. It prints quickly ad easily. Use a nice medium toned silky, metallic or multicolored filament to show off the geometry - or use translucent filament to make it glow.

This is based on my closed lattice, spiral and open lattice bells. It's roughly the same size (slightly taller) with a new loop at the top and a new lattice pattern. 

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**PRINT SETTINGS**
* Walls: 0.4 - 0.8 mm (I used 0.4 mm for the clear bell and added an alternating extra line for the opaque bell)
* Layer Thickness: 0.15 mm recommended. Anything from 0.1 - 0.2 mm should look good.
* Infill: None. Seriously. It doesn't need it. It just adds weight and print time.
* Rafts/Brim: I didn't use either. However, the first layer is just a single width circle, so you may need to add a brim or raft.
* Supports: None. I designed this to print cleanly without them.

Introducing the Arctic Glow Christmas Lantern, here to transform your holiday decor! Simply switch out the decorative panels to create a whole new look for your lantern. And with new designs added regularly, you'll never get tired of the same old holiday decor.

The panel template is available for the community to remix as they wish.

-  Effortless Printing: No support material needed for printing, making it a hassle-free experience.
- Works seamlessly with Bambu Lab's LED lamp kit and a generic LED strip.
- Assembly Made Easy: Snap together with ease - no glue or extra hardware required.
- Everything is printable on all Bambu lab printers including the A1 mini
- Fully compatible with my mystic lamp panels collection. 
- Lids are compatible with my other Christmas lamp and other future designs will also be compatible.

**Print instructions:**
colored 3MF Files with perfect print settings are available for all models!
**Main structure:**
Designed to be 100% support free.
Layer height: 0.2
Infill: 10%
Bottom/top layers: 4
Walls: 2 walls for the base and 4 walls for the top
**Panels:**
Print directly with from the print profile and easily change colors. I separated each color change to a separate object. 
   **Instructions for custom lithophanes and More panels can be found on my [Makerworld profile](https://makerworld.com/en/models/66428#profileId-69770)**

You can choose green for example instead of Blue by just changing the second layer object.
**or**
Use the Non AMS 3MF files with pre programmed pauses for color changes. This method works without the AMS.

**Lighting:**

Compatible with the  Bambu Lab Led lamp kit 001

Print the LED channel if you don't have the Bambu lab LED kit.

More panels available [here](https://makerworld.com/en/models/66428#profileId-69770) 

 



Arctic Glow Christmas Lantern

Arctic Glow Lantern.3mf

AMS Arctic Glow Lantern .3mf

Christmas tree.3mf

frozen forest.3mf

led channel .3mf

NON-AMS Christmas tree.3mf

NON-AMS snow kid.3mf

NON-AMS snow man.3mf

NON-AMS Window symbols.3mf

snow kid.3mf

snow man.3mf

Window symbols.3mf

I originally designed this as a mini ornament. It looks great at that size (1X), but looks even better at 1.5X and 2X. At 1X, it's about the size of a golf ball. At 1.5X, it's a standard Christmas ball size. At 2X, it's about the size of a grapefruit. It will scale up even more if you want to. I assume most people will print this at 1.5X, so that's what I've used the the time estimate.

The cover photo shows it at 2X. 

I've provided a couple versions of the ball - in 2 pieces and in 1 piece (not including the cap). I recommend printing it as 2 pieces. It's a lot smoother that way and the ball prints without supports. I've provided my PrusaSlicer 3MF files and MK3S+ GCODE for the 2 piece print at all 3 sizes. I've provided the ball as 1 piece mostly in case someone wants to experiment with cutting it in a different place or you want to print the ball as 1 piece using a 3 color filament.

You might think this needs infill everywhere, but it really doesn't. I used height range modifiers in PrusaSlicer to add a few layers of infill (25 - 30%) in 5 places where something starts to print unsupported. It printed really well and it's light. Printing the 1.5X ball with 25% infill everywhere increases the final weight by 50% and adds 2.5 hours to the print time.

I printed most of the ornament with just 1 perimeter. At the bottom of each half, where the halves later get glued together, I used 2 perimeters. I used 2 and the top of the top half and 3 at the top of the  bottom half. The cap is printed with 2 perimeters everywhere.

I printed the 1.5X and 2X balls with supports to get a cleaner print on the dome, but that part of the print is just about impossible to see when the ornament is glued together. I'm just a perfectionist.

I used custom seams to put as many as I could on the inside of the ball where they don't show.

I printed the 1X ball with 0.1mm layer height and the other sizes at 0.15mm.

Christmas Ball - Fine Diamond Lattice 

Christmas Ball Fine Diamond Lattice.stl

I've provided my PrusaSlicer 3MF file and GCODE for Prusa MK3S+ at 100%. It provides a nice balance of print quality, speed and weight. If you want even better quality, you may want to increase the supports or use 2 perimeters everywhere.

One of my larger Christmas ornaments, it scales down nicely to 75%. I've now tested my PrusaSlicer 3MF file and GCODE at 75% and they print very well. If you want to print a different size and use my 3MF files, you'll need to adjust the range settings for the height range modifiers. PrusaSlicer doesn't adjust them when you scale the model they're linked to. Hopefully, they'll add that in a future release. I added it to their wish list.

I used 2 perimeters for the first 2mm and for the stem at the top. For the rest, I used just 1 perimeter. There are 4 places in the bottom of the ornament that need a few layers of infill (I used grid), but there's really no need to put infill everywhere. I set top and bottom to 3 everywhere except where the arms converge at the top. There, I increased them to 8 to get a clean, solid print. 

The ornament needs quite a lot of supports. I used paint-on supports set to organic. 

Christmas Spiral Teardrop 2023 

Christmas Spiral Teardrop Ornament 2023.stl

This is a fun Christmas tree ornament that would also make a fun suncatcher if it's printed with transparent filament. It's reminiscent of a cross, a star (it actually has 8 points), classical western architecture, and more. Using my settings, it's a nice weight at 100% and extremely light at 75% and smaller.

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**EASY PRINT**
If you use my settings, you shouldn't have any problems getting this to print. If you print this with your printer's default settings, you'll get a paperweight with a mushy top.

**RESIZING**
At 100%, the ornament is a nice size for larger trees – especially for the base of the tree where you'd expect larger ornaments. However, you can scale this down to 50% and still get nice prints. At that size, the ornament looks good on miniature trees. I haven't tried printing it larger than 100%.

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it will take about 4.5 hours to print at 100% scale. At 50%, it takes a little over an hour.

**COLOR-CHANGE PLA**
I used TTYT3D's quick color change PLA. If you print one ornament with it at 100% with it, you'll get a subtle color change. For a more dramatic change, like in the size comparison photo, print several ornaments at once. To go all the way from gold to blue, you'll need the estimated print weight to be at least 75 grams (4 ornaments at 100%).

**HOW DO YOU HANG IT?**
I've concealed attachment points one the back of one of the points of the star. Just tie a piece of coat thread to them to create a loop.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
You'll generally want to print this at the lower end of your PLA's temperature range. I print TTYT3D PLA at 180 degrees, which is well below their recommended temperature. Maybe my printer just runs hot, but that temp prints more accurately with less stringing.

*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.4mm and choose the “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer (if you're using Cura – other slicers may not have this option). The alternate extra wall seems to prevent gaps in the print while minimizing the overall weight of the ornament. If you print below 75% scale, I suggest printing at 0.4mm without the alternate extra wall. I would also print without the alternate extra layer if you're using transparent filament.
* Top/bottom thickness: 2 layers 
* Initial bottom thickness: 3 layers

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously.

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce the pull on the thin arms of the topper.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 40mm/s
* Inner wall: 50mm/s
* Travel Speed: 100mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
I printed with just a skirt and it worked well every time. If you have difficulty getting the details of the first layer to adhere to your bed, try adding a raft.

*Supports*
I added supports to get the outer points of the ornament to print better, but you can do without them. The supports I added made little difference in print time or the amount of filament used. I found that adding supports on the side with the attachment points (for strings) was problematic (attachment points broke before supports separated) and unnecessary (model printed fine without the supports). So, I added a support blocker to that corner. Support settings:

* Placement: touching Buildplate
* Overhang: 69 degrees
* Pattern: Lines
* Density: 12%
* Enable Support Brim: Yes
* Brim Width: 4mm

*Common Problems*
* Uneven print: Reduce print speed or try scaling the print up in the Z dimension only. Scaling disproportionately may impact how the ornament hangs.
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp, increase cooling, or print more than one ornament at a time. 

Star Christmas Tree Ornament

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**WHAT IS IT?**
This is a fun Christmas tree ornament that would also make a fun suncatcher if it's printed with transparent filament. It's reminiscent of a cross, a star (it actually has 8 points), classical western architecture, and more. Using my settings, it's a nice weight at 100% and extremely light at 75% and smaller.

**EASY PRINT**
If you use my settings, you shouldn't have any problems getting this to print. If you print this with your printer's default settings, you'll get a paperweight with a mushy top.

**RESIZING**
At 100%, the ornament is a nice size for larger trees – especially for the base of the tree where you'd expect larger ornaments. However, you can scale this down to 50% and still get nice prints. At that size, the ornament looks good on miniature trees. I haven't tried printing it larger than 100%.

**PRINT TIME**
With my settings, it will take about 4.5 hours to print at 100% scale. At 50%, it takes a little over an hour.

**COLOR-CHANGE PLA**
I used TTYT3D's quick color change PLA. If you print one ornament with it at 100% with it, you'll get a subtle color change. For a more dramatic change, like in the size comparison photo, print several ornaments at once. To go all the way from gold to blue, you'll need the estimated print weight to be at least 75 grams (4 ornaments at 100%).

**HOW DO YOU HANG IT?**
I've concealed attachment points one the back of one of the points of the star. Just tie a piece of coat thread to them to create a loop.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
You'll generally want to print this at the lower end of your PLA's temperature range. I print TTYT3D PLA at 180 degrees, which is well below their recommended temperature. Maybe my printer just runs hot, but that temp prints more accurately with less stringing.

*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15mm
* Wall thickness: 0.4mm and choose the “alternate extra wall” option so it alternates between 0.4 and 0.8mm walls with each layer (if you're using Cura – other slicers may not have this option). The alternate extra wall seems to prevent gaps in the print while minimizing the overall weight of the ornament. If you print below 75% scale, I suggest printing at 0.4mm without the alternate extra wall. I would also print without the alternate extra layer if you're using transparent filament.
* Top/bottom thickness: 2 layers for opaque filament, 1 for transparent filament
* Initial bottom thickness: 3 layers

*Infill*
This doesn't need any infill. Seriously.

*Speed*
You'll want to use slow printer settings to that the print is accurate and to reduce the pull on the thin arms of the topper.

* Overall: 60mm/s
* Outer wall: 40mm/s
* Inner wall: 50mm/s
* Travel Speed: 100mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
I printed with just a skirt and it worked well every time. If you have difficulty getting the details of the first layer to adhere to your bed, try adding a raft.

*Supports*
I added supports to get the outer points of the ornament to print better, but you can do without them. The supports I added made little difference in print time or the amount of filament used. I found that adding supports on the side with the attachment points (for strings) was problematic (attachment points broke before supports separated) and unnecessary (model printed fine without the supports). So, I added a support blocker to that corner. Support settings:

* Placement: touching Buildplate
* Overhang: 69 degrees
* Pattern: Lines
* Density: 12%
* Enable Support Brim: Yes
* Brim Width: 4mm

*Common Problems*
* Uneven print: Reduce print speed or try scaling the print up in the Z dimension only. Scaling disproportionately may impact how the ornament hangs.
* Mushy print: Reduce print temp, increase cooling, or print more than one ornament at a time. 

Here's a set of three open lattice Christmas balls. The difference between the three is just the amount of twist. All three are remarkably easy to print even though they're spherical. Each took about 7-8 hours to print.

These are a bit larger than the balls I published last year. These are 80mm wide (3.15 inch).

If you print them with the recommended settings, they will be very light.

These are part of my [Christmas Collection](https://www.thingiverse.com/dazus/collections/christmas-collection).

Lattice Christmas Balls 2021 (Set of 3)

I wanted to create a spiral version of my Teardrop ornaments that was smaller. This is 87mm tall. 

I've provided versions with and without supports. I recommend starting with the version with supports. With the recommended settings, the ornament prints in 3.5 hours and the final ornament is 8.5 grams, though it takes 22 grams worth of material to print the version with supports. It's well worth the filament for the supports. They make it easy to print, keeping the model from warping much during printing (preventing the arms from breaking) and yet you can remove them using your bare hands with almost no pressure and leave little or no marks on the ornament.

**PRINT SETTINGS**

- Layer Height: 0.15mm
- Walls: 0.4mm (1 line)
- Top/Bottom Thickness: 0.45mm (3 layers)
-  Overall Speed: 60mm/sec
- Outer Wall Speed: 30mm/sec
- Travel Speed: 80mm/sec
- Infill: 25% - but just for the area of the lower roof (inside bottom) for this, I added it for about 13mm, starting 15mm from the bottom so there's about half a cm support below the roof and about half a cm on the sides so it doesn't break free before it merges with the outer wall.

**Adding Infill to Part of an Object in Cura**
1. Set the main infill density setting to 0%. You'll override this for the area that needs infill in the steps that follow.
2. Select your model, then press the E key (or select "Support Blocker" - 6th tool from the top on the left toolbar), and click anywhere on your model. It should add a transparent blue cube.
3. Select the cube, scale it, then move it to the part of the model where you want infill.
4. Select "Per Model Settings" (5th tool from the top of the toolbar on the left) and select "Modify Settings for Overlaps" (3rd from left).
5. Choose Select Settings.
6. From the list, select "Infill Density". If you are printing a ball (or any object that requires supports) you must also select "generate support".
7. Set the infill density.

Spiral Teardrop Christmas Ornament

Spiral Teardrop.stl

**ABOUT THE DESIGN**
This is a new variation on my Christmas Balls with Integrated Stems and diamond patterns.

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**RESIZING**
These should scale up well, but I'm not sure how much smaller you could print them using a consumer FDM printer. Using a resin printer, you could probably print them much smaller.

**PRINT TIME**
About 4.5 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
The trickiest parts to print is the top of the stems. Using FDM, if you don't temp, speed, flow, and cooling right, the thin parts of the stem will melt as you print. Thinner walls help. If that's not enough, try increasing the layer height. I decreased the print temp from my usual 200 to 190 for this, decreased the flow from 115 to 105, and increased the outer wall speed from 20 to 30 mm/sec. That was enough to go from stem that was molten goo to one that printed perfectly.

*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15 mm
* Wall thickness: 0.4 – 0.8 mm.

I had the best results using Cura setting the default width to 0.4 mm with an alternate extra wall. 

*Infill*
There are a couple places that could really use infill, though you may be able to get by without it. You'll probably wind up with soe holes, but they also probably won;t show unless you look closely. I recommend using support blockers to add infill just where you want them. 

I've given up on printing this in transparent. I just needs too much infill to get it to look good that way. To get it to print well in opaque, I added 3 support blockers and set them to use line infill set to 25%. I also gave them an extra wall to make sure the infill didn't show through.

* 75 x 75 x 15 mm (10 layers thick) at 17.15 mm height
* 75 x 75 x 30 mm (20 layers thick) at 33.7 mm height
* 75 x 75 x 15 (10 layers thick) at 43.15 mm height

If you use alternating extra walls with added wall thickness where you add infill and you print inner walls before outer, **make sure** your first layer with infill doesn't have the extra wall or it will be unsupported. One layer of infill should be enough to support the extra wall.

You could just print the whole thing with 2 walls and 15% infill everywhere, but that would increase the weight by 75%. It would also take 8 hours to print. So, it's your call.

*Speed*
* Outer Wall: 25 mm/sec
* Top/Bottom Speed: 30 mm/sec
* Travel Speed: 50 mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
I relied on the supports for build plate adhesion. 

*Supports*
You will probably need supports for both bed adhesion and the overhang on the first few layers. You shouldn't need supports for the loop at the top. Adding them would just increase the chances the supports broke and caused the print to fail. 

* Support Structure: Normal
* Support Placement: Touching Buildplate
* Support Overhang Angle: 49 Degrees

I added a support blocker 75 mm x 75 mm x 110 mm set 15 mm above the build plate so that the supports would only be added to the bottom of the ornament.

Diamond Lattice Christmas Ball

**ABOUT THE DESIGN**
This is a new variation on my Christmas Balls with Integrated Stems and diamond patterns.

**NOT TO BE SOLD**
**I'm sharing my files so that you can make them for yourselves or give them away as gifts. I hope you enjoy them. I do not authorize sale of my work by anyone. Please don't ask me.**

**RESIZING**
These should scale up well, but I'm not sure how much smaller you could print them using a consumer FDM printer. Using a resin printer, you could probably print them much smaller.

**PRINT TIME**
About 4.5 hours.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
The trickiest parts to print is the top of the stems. Using FDM, if you don't temp, speed, flow, and cooling right, the thin parts of the stem will melt as you print. Thinner walls help. If that's not enough, try increasing the layer height. I decreased the print temp from my usual 200 to 190 for this, decreased the flow from 115 to 105, and increased the outer wall speed from 20 to 30 mm/sec. That was enough to go from stem that was molten goo to one that printed perfectly.

*Thickness*

* Layer thickness: .15 mm
* Wall thickness: 0.4 – 0.8 mm.

I had the best results using Cura setting the default width to 0.4 mm with an alternate extra wall. 

*Infill*
This does not need any infill. JUST DON'T DO IT.

*Speed*
* Outer Wall: 30 mm/sec
* Inner Wall: 30 mm/sec
* Top/Bottom Speed: 30 mm/sec
* Travel Speed: 50 mm/sec

*Build Plate Adhesion*
I relied on the supports for build plate adhesion. 

*Supports*
You will probably need supports for both bed adhesion and the overhang on the first few layers. You shouldn't need supports for the loop at the top. Adding them would just increase the chances the supports broke and caused the print to fail. 

* Support Structure: Normal
* Support Placement: Touching Buildplate
* Support Overhang Angle: 49 Degrees

I added a support blocker 75 mm x 75 mm x 110 mm set 15 mm above the build plate so that the supports would only be added to the bottom of the ornament.

This has been designed to make printing easy. Just follow the detailed steps outlined in the printing instructions below.

In addition to the picture frame insert, I've included a snowflake design.

The basic ornament takes about 7 hours to print with my settings (using the version with supports).

Each picture frame inset takes about 1.5 hours to print.

Each snowflake insert takes about 0.5 hours.

You'll need to print two inserts.

**PRINT SETTINGS**
All parts printed with 0.15mm layer height.

**Ornament**

You might be able to print it without the built-in supports using tree supports, but it's not likely to print as well and will take longer to print. It will also take much longer to remove the tree supports than the ones I've provided.

- Walls: 0.8mm (2 lines)
- Top/Bottom: 6mm (4 layers)
- Infill: None
- Print outer walls before inner

**Supports**

- Placement: Touching Buildplate
- Overhang Angle: 67%
- Support Pattern: Triangles
- Support Density: 15%
- Support Roof Density:75%

You could try to reduce the weight by making the walls just 0.4mm (1 line) thick, but it will reduce the strength of the ornament. It may be difficult to remove the supports without breaking the ornament.
Picture Frame

- Walls: 0.8mm (2 lines)
- Top/Bottom: 4.5mm (3 layers)
- Infill: 10% lines
- Supports: None

**Cutting Guide**

The cutting guide is just there to make it easy for you to crop your photo down to the right size circle. Just print it solid. It's only 0.9m thick. The print quality doesn't matter much, since this isn't part of the ornament.
Snowflake

-  Walls: 0.4mm (1 line)
- Top/Bottom: 4.5mm (3 layers)
- Infill: None
- Supports: None

**POST-PRINTING**

Place the cutting guide over your photo to select which part to include and use a pen to draw a circle around it. Then, just use scissors to cut it out.

The inserts fit loosely inside the ornament. If you want to be able to change the ornament, just add a couple tiny pieces of thin double-sided tape to the rings the inserts fit in. If you want to make it permanent, use a couple drops of medium CA.

The two sides of the picture frame snap together and fit tightly. You won't need to glue them together. The picture frame includes slots so you can easily separate the two halves to change pictures. Just slide a screwdriver into a slot, then twist.


Picture Frame Christmas Ball Ornament

Version of the ornament with no built-in supports. I recommend printing the version with built-in supports before trying to print this version.

HomeOther

Categories

Popular

Personalize

Trending