3D Printed and Decoupaged Puzzle Box Lid Stand


Our 3D printer has been a bit unreliable lately, so I haven't been making too many projects. One of the last things I printed was this great puzzle box lid holder. When the print didn't turn out perfectly, I took the opportunity to try decoupaging on printed PLA. 


I used standard print settings (.2 resolution and 20% infil) using some purple PLA. The print took about 12 hours on our little printer.


When it was done, it looked stringy, but otherwise not too bad. When I pulled it off the bed, the base layer was discolored and full of the hairspray I used to help with bed adhesion. I was able to clean up the stringy bits without any issues, but the base level remained marked up no matter how much I cleaned (and lightly sanded) it.


Since I used some Tacky Glue to attach some felt to a 3D print project in the past and it has held up really well, I was pretty sure Mod Podge (which has the same base--PVA glue) should work well too. I found a piece of scrapbook paper in my craft stash that I thought would work well with the purple PLA. I traced the shape of the front of the lid holder onto the scrapbook paper. Since it was an irregular pattern, I cut a few rectangles out and picked the one I thought looked the best.


In the picture above, you can see some of the discoloration on the base plate (there's also a bit of acrylic paint that I did a spot check on to see if that could be a solution to the discoloration, but it scraped off in places). I gathered up a jar of mod podge, a foam brush, and a paper plate (to catch any drips).


I painted on a thin coat of mod podge onto the lid stand and then smoothed the scrapbook paper onto the stand.


I rubbed the paper down to make sure it was stuck and let it dry for a little bit.


After the glue had set a bit, but hadn't fully dried (I'm impatient), I used a craft knife (and my trusty fish cutting board), to trim off most of the excess paper. I left a tiny edge of paper on most areas so that I wouldn't tear the paper before it had fully set and I set it aside to dry for a couple of hours.


After it was fully dry, I used an emery board and the craft knife to trim and sand off the excess paper until it was smooth.


Then I painted on two thin coats of Mod Podge (letting it dry about 20 minutes between the coats) to seal it.


It turned out awesome! The scrapbook paper is bright and colorful and seems to be well glued down so far. I'll keep you posted on how it holds up. I tested a few different-sized puzzle boxes from a fairly small 500-piece box lid (below) to a large 4-puzzle box lid and they all sat well in the holder. The designer did a great job making it just sturdy enough to do the job!

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