Star Wars Snowflakes Are Taking Over the Galaxy!

Five years ago, California graphic designer Anthony Herrera found some Star Wars-themed snowflake patterns online to cut out with his daughter. “We had a fun time with it and she asked for some other characters,” he tells Yahoo Movies. From there, an annual tradition was born. Herrera shares new batches of free, downloadable patterns with his growing online following every year. Read on for Herrera’s commentary, check out his creative designs, and see how fans are sharing his work.
(GIF animated by Imma Almourzaeva/ snowflake design by Anthony Herrera)

“I don’t remember not being a Star Wars fan,” says Herrera. “I grew up with it always having known the movie and having toys as a kid.”
(Photo: Bike-Ready/Facebook)

“I have it down to about 15, 20 minutes,” says Herrera of the time it makes to cut out one of his flakes. “It definitely takes a while and depends on the complexity of the snowflakes and the type of tools you have.”
(Photo: Shanna Schlitz/Instagram)

“I’ve seen some comments from people saying it takes a while, but they keep doing it so they must be having a good time.”
(Photo: Anthony Herrera, 2015 designs featured)

“I recently saw someone mount them to metallic ornaments [seen above]. They probably did some type of laser cutting. They’re really well done.”
(Photo: Diana Flagg/Instagram)

“A lot of offices get decorated with these in their windows. Some people will hang them on their Christmas trees.”
(Photo: Anthony Herrera, 2014 designs featured)

“There was a school in Georgia that did a Star Wars-themed STEM night, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. They wanted to include snowflakes as a craft people could do. They even reached out to me and did a Skype interview to play during the evening.”
(Photo: Elizabeth Brooks)

“They get really intricate. With the AT-AT Imperial Walker [pictured top, center], I wanted to make something that looked like a battle scene. When I designed it I thought I need to put in a snow speeder and all this craziness. I’ve seen so many people doing a great job cutting that one.”
(Photo: Valerie Johnson/Twitter)

“Another one I think is pretty difficult is the TIE Advanced Fighter with a Star Destroyer attached below it [pictured, upper left]. That snowflake is hard because all the pieces are really thin once you cut everything out. If you mess up you’re going to cut off whole sections of it.”
(Photo: Anthony Herrera, 2013 designs featured)

“As for my personal favorites, I like a lot of the Bounty Hunter ones I did.”
(Photo: Traci Sickels/Facebook)

“A friend of mine saw my snowflakes on a deployed naval ship in somebody’s barracks. They cut them out and even colored them and hung them up on a bunk on the ship.”

(Photo: Anthony Herrera, 2012 designs featured)

“People get really stoked on them. I like seeing the places they show up on social media, showing where people have hung them.”
(Photo: Greenwood Branch Seattle Public Library/Instagram)

“I always recommend using an X-Acto knife or a very sharp blade. You have to be super careful when you’re doing that. This is probably not for the little little kids. I’m guessing an appropriate age is 9 or 10 and up with some supervision, just for those inner details.”
(Photo: Jennifer Jones/Instagram)

“I’ve had parents tell me they’ll help their kids. They’ll have the kids do the outside cutting and the parents will do the inner work. Or they’ll just supervise.”
(Photo: Sherri Earl/Instagram)

“I decided to put a video together basically to show people how to fold them,” Herrera says. “There’s a trick to it. Once you get it folded correctly it makes cutting it out much easier. The unfolding is a nice reveal after you have it cut out.”
(Image: From Anthony Herrera)

“I have seen some people take my designs and do 3D printouts with them. I’ve experimented with a laser to cut them out of acrylic.”
(Photo: Build_3d_printer/Facebook)

“The acrylic ones were something I tried this year,” says the designer, who’s selling ready-made Star Wars snowflakes on his Etsy page. “That was something I wanted for my own tree and I made a few extra! It’s pretty popular, though not nearly as popular as people using the free downloadable designs.”
(Photo: Anthony Herrera)

“We’re getting another Star Wars movie next year: Rogue One. I know we don’t know a lot about the characters yet but I’m sure I’ll be inspired to design something around that or other characters from The Force Awakens that we’ve finally just learned more about.”
(Photo: Anthony Herrera, 2011 designs featured)

Now that you’ve learned all about them, go slice your Star Wars snowflakes!
(Photo: Matters of Grey/Facebook)