Christmas Box Ornament

For our 3D printing class, we were assigned a group project: write an Instructable about something 3D-printing related. Our group- Janelle, Sam, Chris, Justin, and Jessica- decided to write an Instructable over how we 3D printed a Christmas ornament. So, here's how we did it.

Open Tinkercad

Tinkercad is a free, 3D CAD design tool. You can access the site at: www.tinkercad.com. Either sign in or sign up to access your dashboard. From there, click on "Create new design."

Place a Ruler

Now that you have started your design, place a ruler down for better measurements.

Creating the Box

Create and resize your box.

Example dimensions: 50mm×50mm×50mm.

Creating the Hole for the Box

Create a box-sized hole just a little smaller than the original box. Also, raise the box up off the ground 2 or 3 millimeters.

Example dimensions: 47mmx47mmx47mm

Putting the Box Together

Center and top align the two boxes and group them together.

Creating the Lid

Set the grouped shape aside, and then create and resize an additional box.

Example dimensions: 55mm×55mm×25mm

Creating the Hole for the Lid

Basically resize step 4 (the box-sized hole) with different dimensions.

Example dimensions: 51mmx51mmx22mm

Putting the Lid Together

Align the the hole and the lid just like before and group them together.

Flipping the Lid

Rotate your lid 180 degrees.

Creating the Ring

In order to hang our ornament from our Christmas tree, we will need a place to attach our string. Create a torus shape.

Example dimensions: 20mm×20mm×5mm

Cutting the Ring in Half

Rotate the ring 90 degrees. Cove half of the ring with a box-shaped hole and group the object together to cut the shape in half.

Printing the Finished Product

Place your half-ring next to the box and the lid. For the sake of easy/quick printing, we will glue the ring on after the ornament is printed. Now it is time to print!

Printing (Cont'd)

First, export your file as an .stl. For our project, we uploaded the ornament and printed it from the printing program Print Studio, which is connected to our 3D40 Dremel Idea Builder. The material we used to print was Octave PLA filament in the color red.

Putting the Ring On

Glue the ring to a corner of the lid.

Preparing to Tie the Bow

For our ornament, we picked up simple white ribbon from Walmart. We measured out two pieces of ribbon long enough to wrap around the box, placed them in a cross shape across the top of the lid, and then glued the ribbons down

Tying the Bow

For our Christmas ornament, we tied a bunny ear bow and then glued it to the top of the lid

To tie a bunny ear bow:

At the center of the ribbon form 2 evenly sized loops in each hand. This should create the bunny ear shape.
Take the right loop and cross it over the left one.
Fold the right loop behind the left and thread it back through the center.
Feed the right loop through the center and pull both loops away from each other creating a tight knot.
Adjust the length of each loop. You can also cut the ends of the ribbon in a diagonal or V shape for a more finished look.

Here's a great video we found that also shows how to tie a bunny ear bow: Bunny Ear Bow

Adding the Ribbon to Hang the Ornament

We used left over white ribbon, looped it through the ring, and tied the ends together. Now we can hang our ornament from our tree.