Designing a Shaggy Love Monster Cookie Cutter from Scratch

I wanted to make another Love Monster cookie cutter, but with a twist (see my previous one and download the STL here). In my mind, this one would be shaggy, playful, and roughly heart-shaped. He’d be fun to decorate and flexible enough to reuse beyond Valentine’s Day.

Instead of starting with a finished illustration, I built this monster entirely from basic Canva elements (all free!), then turned it into a 3D-printable cookie cutter using Cookie Design Lab. This approach is one of my favorites because it gives you full creative control while still resulting in a cutter that’s easy to print and decorate.

Here’s exactly how I made it (follow along on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inSK_G6luqM).

Step 1: Creating the Shaggy Heart Base in Canva

I started in Canva by searching Elements for a heart shape and found a great one for free! To give the heart a shaggy, furry look, I used Canva’s pixel eraser tool to add indents along just the left side of the heart. I intentionally worked on only one side so both sides could end up perfectly symmetrical later.

After erasing the indents, I cleaned up any leftover red areas and clicked Done. Next, I pulled the right side of the heart inward to the midpoint, effectively cutting it in half. Then I:

• Copied the half-heart,

• Flipped the duplicate horizontally, and

• Aligned the two halves.

With a quick alignment, I had a perfectly symmetrical, heart-shaped shaggy monster base.

Step 2: Adding Monster Details (Horns, Feet, and Face Spacing)

With the base shape complete, it was time to add character. First up, heart “horns.” I added a free small heart from Canva Elements, resized it, and tilted it to match the monster’s shape. Once I liked the placement, I copied and mirrored it on the left side so both heart horns matched perfectly.

Next up were the feet. For those,  I used a simple oval shape, again from free Canva Elements. I resized it, adjusted the color to help visualize the design, and copied it so both feet were identical.

Then, I wanted a visual guide for decorating later. This is also a good way to check that the proportions are on track for my future cutter. So, again using Elements, I added a set of eyes and a curved line for the mouth. This also let me see that there would be space to add teeth and even rosy cheeks. In fact, if I wanted to add some additional “hair” with some extra piping consistency lines, there will be space for that too. I could even make this a personalized option and add a name.

These elements aren’t part of the cutter itself, but they help me confirm spacing and proportions before moving into Cookie Design Lab to create the STL to 3D print at home. Once everything looked good, I saved and downloaded the image.

Step 3: Turning the Design into a Cookie Cutter with Cookie Design Lab

Because this monster was designed from scratch with cutter-friendly shapes, it converted into an STL beautifully in Cookie Design Lab.

After uploading:

• The cutter outline was already smooth,

• The number of points was high enough that no outline editing was required, and

• The design translated exactly how I expected.

This is one of those moments where good prep pays off. Of course, if it hadn’t worked so well, I could have edited the points and changed the outline in Cookie Design Lab. 

Step 4: Sizing, Saved Settings, and Cutter Customization

I switched to sizing by height and found that at 3.25 inches tall, the cutter measured 3.35 inches wide which felt like the perfect size for me, since my cookie dough spreads a bit. This will be a nice sized cookie that I can sell as a single cookie for $6-8 depending on the final level of detail. 

From there, I ran through my usual final steps of adding the cutter name, adding a rounded handle, and checking the cutting edge and wall thickness. I used Cookie Design Lab’s default cutter settings, which create a very sturdy, professional-feeling cutter similar to the cutters I used to buy.

That said, sturdier cutters take longer to print. If you’re in a rush or only need a cutter once, remember that CDL lets you reduce the wall thickness and the cutter depth.

One of our newer features that we added after a user requested it is saved cutter settings. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this one but I love it! It’s a game changer because you can create an unlimited number of saved profiles, such as:

• Fast print settings for one-time use,

• Heavier, long-lasting settings for cutters you’ll reuse often, or

• Different edge types for different types of dough.

For this monster, I stuck with the default because I like my cutters to feel durable and substantial but having options makes a huge difference.

Decorating the Shaggy Love Monster

When it comes time to decorate our lovable shaggy monster, I’ll probably hand-pipe the base and then use Eddie (or another edible ink printer) to add eyes and the mouth. This is one of my favorite shortcuts. The printed features can act as the final design or a guide for adding icing details like teeth or dimension. Since I don’t own a projector, edible ink prints are a great workaround for precise and uniform placement. Click here to download the image file and here for the STL file.

And yes, this Love Monster will absolutely be making appearances beyond Valentine’s Day. See my other love monster post for ideas!

Welcome to the Lab blog! Here we talk all things bakery business and 3D cookie cutter and stamp printing. Check out our posts on ways to leverage your 3D printer into a money printing machine, step-by-step tutorials for creating your own cutters, and freebies like STLs and matching images. Or if you prefer videos, check out our YouTube channel. Want to try Cookie Design Lab yourself? Email us at [email protected] and we’ll send you a coupon for one free week!