Augmented Reality (AR) offers novel opportunities for creative engagement in education, cultural heritage, and participatory design, yet many applications remain limited to passive content consumption. This study investigates how scaffolded support can enhance creativity in novice-oriented AR authoring environments. Following an Action Design Research (ADR) approach, we iteratively designed and evaluated a voxel-based AR authoring tool in two configurations: an unstructured baseline and a semi-structured, example-based scaffold. The design leverages principles from Scaffolding Theory and the Paradox of Choice to balance structural guidance with creative freedom, enabling users to create, manipulate, and reflect on digital content in situ. Evaluation results demonstrate that the scaffolded environment achieved higher creativity ratings from external experts, while participants’ subjective perceptions of creativity were similar across conditions. Cognitive load analyses indicate that scaffolds may simultaneously increase germane load, supporting meaningful engagement, and introduce extraneous load, highlighting the nuanced effects of structural guidance. These findings provide empirically grounded design principles for AR authoring tools, showing how partial, example-based scaffolds can actively shape creative processes, support novice users, and promote higher-quality creative outcomes without constraining perceived autonomy.