Small Urn - with swappable emblem and nameplate

This is a small share urn, sized for keepsake portions of ashes rather than a full primary urn. It works just as well for a beloved pet as it does for a family member, the emblem inset is the perfect spot for a printed photo disc of a dog, cat, or other companion.

The portrait photo and metal nameplate shown in the example images are not included in the download. Those are personalizations you make yourself. The download does include a 3D-printable name badge, plus instructions if you want to laser engrave a metal nameplate on anodized aluminum like I did. See the sections below for all the options.

This memorial keepsake urn was originally designed for a friend whose brother passed away unexpectedly. He was a lifelong Arizona Cardinals fan, and she wanted each member of the family to have a small share of his ashes in something that honored who he was. Custom sports-themed urns were out of reach financially, so I designed and printed eight of these for her family.

I'm sharing the design here in case it can help another family the same way. The emblem area and nameplate are fully customizable, swap in any team logo, military insignia, faith symbol, hobby icon, family crest, or a photo portrait of the person or pet you're remembering.

- Three separate parts: base, lid, and name badge, each on its own plate
- The lid requires supports — they're light and clip off cleanly by hand, no tools needed
- The base and lid print profiles have fuzzy skin enabled, which gives the soft stippled texture shown in the photos. If you'd prefer a smooth surface, turn fuzzy skin off in the profile before slicing — both options look great
- The base prints upright with no supports needed
- PLA works great. I used PLA Basic for the body and lid, and PLA Matte for the accent colors on the emblem and badge
- Slicer profile is set up for Bambu Lab A1 with a textured PEI plate, but should adapt easily to other printers

Personalizing the emblem inset

The front of the urn has a recessed circular area sized for a custom emblem token. A few ways to fill it:

- Print the included Cardinals token as-is, if you want it or replace with your own.
- Design and print your own multi-color emblem — team logo, military branch, faith symbol, hobby icon, etc.
- Drop in a flat printed photo disc of the person or pet — this works beautifully and makes each urn deeply personal
- Laser-engrave or photo-etch a custom disc on metal or wood
- Use any other ~circular keepsake that fits the recess

Personalizing the nameplate

Below the emblem is a shaped recess for the name and dates. 

1. Print the included name badge STL — edit the text in your slicer, print in two or more colors, and glue it into the recess
2. Print as a single color and paint or vinyl-letter the text yourself
3. Add text directly on to the side of the urn, multi colored or recessed or embossed
4. Laser-engrave the design onto a piece of anodized aluminum (red, copper, black — whatever fits your color palette) and punch or cut it to shape. 

This is what I did on the original eight, and the result is what you see in the photos. Instructions for this method are included in the download

Assembly

The lid sits onto the base — no hardware required. Glue the printed nameplate and emblem token into their respective recesses with a small amount of super glue or epoxy once everything is dry-fit and centered.

A note on intent

If you print one of these for your own family, I hope it brings a small measure of comfort. Please feel free to share photos in the gallery — I'd love to see how others personalize theirs.