Have a 3D Printed St. Patrick’s Day with These Downloadable Designs!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, all! It’s one of my favorite holidays – my giant Irish family always has a giant Irish dinner and to me, it signifies the real start of spring no matter what the weather’s like. Just about everyone has their own way of celebrating St. Paddy’s, and a lot of it involves drunken debauchery, so, as always, remember that Uber is your friend. If you’re looking for some decorations and attire a bit more interesting than the oh-so-classy shot glass Mardi Gras beads, giant hats, and shamrock sunglasses you’ll undoubtedly see wherever you go today, we’ve found a few 3D printable things that will set you apart from other Paddy’s Day revelers. Read on!

While it’s not traditional to give presents for St. Patrick’s Day, you may want to start after seeing this Shamrock Present Box from Thingiverse user GameHippie. It’s actually a remix of a Christmas design, the Lockable Present Box by jijimath. The box features an actual locking mechanism, printed in two pieces, that seals the box tightly until the matching key is inserted and turned. It’s a brilliant Christmas idea, but GameHippie modified the design for an Irish friend simply by adding shamrocks to the key and ribbon. Voila – a St. Patrick’s Day present! Stumped as to what to put in it? There’s always those gold-wrapped chocolate coins; it could be a fun game to put some of those in there, wait until your recipient has had a few drinks, and then present him with the box with the stipulation that he must defeat a leprechaun to get to the gold inside. Offer the key only when your friend is feeling good and defeated himself. As an additional kindness, maybe include some aspirin with your stash of gold coins.

For a more traditional gift – if we’re on board with the whole St. Patrick’s Day gift-giving thing now, which I totally am – check out this 3D printed Celtic jewelry from gabrielguzman, another Thingiverse user. These Celtic Triskelion earrings are a beautiful way to honor your Irish heritage (or the “Irish for a day” heritage that many claim on St. Patrick’s Day). The triskelion, also known as the triskele or triple spiral, has many possible meanings dating back ancient Celtic culture, and it’s also appeared in the relics of other cultures, but it’s been revived as a popular motif in Irish-themed jewelry and clothing. Guzman has also designed an equally lovely set of earrings and matching pendant in the shape of a Celtic cross.

How about a pot of shamrocks? There are real ones, of course – I have a nice pot of them on a shelf by my door, and they look great despite all they’ve been through; my cat has eaten the entire pot of them several times, but they keep stubbornly coming back (even after I planted something else on top of them).

Apparently you can’t keep an Irish plant down, but if you don’t want to deal with live shamrocks, you can always adorn your home with these 3D printed ones from tc_fea. Featuring four bright green shamrocks sprouting from a pot, it’s a nice St. Patrick’s Day decoration that you can pull out once a year or leave up all year round if you so choose.

And now for something completely different, we have a shamrock drone shroud from Konstatin P. at MyMiniFactory. This was actually an entry submitted for last year’s MicroDrone 3.0 design competition, but as Konstantin P. points out, it can also be “useful for Saint Patrick’s Day or can be used for some pub activities.” I’m picturing a shamrock-shaped drone zooming around a pub or bar full of St. Patrick’s Day partiers, and I love it so much.

Also – if you don’t feel like printing anything yourself today, you can still take advantage of Shapeways‘ St. Patrick’s Day Flash Sale! Today only, you can get 20% off all items printed with green Strong & Flexible filament by entering the code STPATTYS at checkout. Celebrate responsibly, everyone. Sláinte! Tell us about your St. Patty’s Day maker plans in the 3D Printing for St. Patrick’s Day forum over at 3DPB.com.