Originally I wanted to do some kind of "Nookduino in a Bottle" or at least a DIY card in a bottle for packaging to mimic the in-game DIY card in a bottle. I was hoping to find some plastic bottles that I could modify to allow me to get the Nookduino/card in there, or print my own. I was looking at something like Polysmooth as a possible printable solution.
However as I started researching shipping costs, I came to the conclusion that my cheapest option was going to be a small flat rate box from usps. The dimensions of the box pretty much stopped the idea of a bottle right there.
After little pondering I decided to look for some white boxes that would fit in the flat rate box. Jewelry boxes ended up being exactly what I needed and with a little ribbon, we've got a mis-proportioned approximation of the in-game treasure box. In keeping with the wrong proportions (and shipping constraints) I thought it would be fun to attach a tiny 3D-printed balloon. Wade came up with the idea of putting an LED in it for your first Nookduino project.
My intent was to also put the DIY cards in the box, but that didn't work out. I bought 2 kinds of boxes, both claiming to be 3.5". But when buying on amazon you're lucky to get any dimensions, let alone what those dimensions actually reflect. The first box, advertised at 3.5"x3.5" x 1 was actually bigger than the one advertised at 3.5"x3.5"x1.25" because of where those dimensions where measured. But alas, even the bigger ones were to the point that I could barely get the DIY cards in there. Between that and already having some of the smaller boxes as well (which the DIY cards had no chance of fitting in), I decided the boxes would only be for the Nookduinos.
Instead of having the Nookduino rattling around in the box, I wanted to make an insert. I've done a couple of inserts before, but the product just needed a couple of holes, so I could get away with printing a single perimeter insert and handle my holes in the base layer. I could have probably saved some time and headache just making an insert like I had done before and using some nuts/bolts to mount the Nookduino, but for this project I wanted something a little more substantial.
My final design Isn't a true 'vase' mode print, but I got away with a single perimeter ad no infill to cut down on time. There's a little bit of support material required, but not much.
I went with PLA since that's what I had on hand in a color I liked. Ideally I would have gone with some anti-static plastic from 3DXtech, but since the insert has minimal contact with any of the pins and because the Nookduino isn't particularly static sensitive, I skipped it. Plus my budget for this project was just about tapped.