Summary

I modified the original 13cm Herrnhuther (plastic) mini star for a subtle LED illumination

How I Designed This

Update 12/25: I added a threaded version. Use that if you don't trust the press fit between the two parts. The thread is equivalent to an M10 threaded bolt.

This is a modification of the commercially available Herrnhuther Ministern (13cm) - if you want to print a complete star you need to look elsewhere.

The original 13cm plastic star is available as part of a light chain of 10 (or a spare star for the light chain) or as a single illuminated star. In both cases, the illumination/hanger part looks a bit clunky, since they are using E10 Edison sockets for their lamps - even though the lamps are LED-based these days.

For this modification you need to remove the top spike/hanger which is quite easily done by scoring it with a knife around the bottom end of the spike and carefully breaking the spike off. I was afraid I would destroy the star, but this procedure has worked multiple times for me now with no casualties.

My model is a bit more in keeping with the star's dimensions and includes a tiny socket piece that is glued to the star with a drop of superglue (and replaces the spike you just removed) and a hollow spike/LED and cable mount that can house a 5mm LED (flat-head or straw-hat type preferred) and a resistor.

At the top, use the smallest zip-tie you can find to attach the cable. The zip tie acts as strain relief here. The new spike is a press fit into the socket.

Please only build this, if you know how to solder and how to adapt your LED to your supply voltage. My modified stars are powered with 5V (from a USB power supply) with a suitable resistor wired in series. I used a white ASA (Formfutura's rApollo), that matches the white plastic stars quite well.

modified illumination for Moravian Star (mini)