Emoji Communication Keyrings – FreeCAD Quick-Craft with Purpose (Version 2!)

This project started as a simple but heartfelt idea. My partner supports elderly individuals and people living with dementia, and she shared how hard it can be when someone can’t express how they feel. That conversation sparked something — and 30 minutes in FreeCAD later, the first version of these emoji keyrings was born.

They’ve already found use beyond their original intent — from supporting people in the neurodivergent community (especially those who are non-verbal), to just being a fun way to show emotion. I even gifted sets to a local primary school — the children love them, and they’ve become a gentle tool for emotional expression in the classroom.

I also use them in everyday life — my VW definitely earns the angry emoji from time to time! 😅 They make great keyrings, and with a quick resize, they double as shopping trolley tokens.

🎉 Version 2 – Now Personalised, Double-Sided, and Perfectly Aligned

After seeing how well the first version worked, I wanted to take the idea further — by incorporating words to help even more with emotional clarity. That meant designing the keyrings to be double-sided, which came with a new challenge: when using cutouts, the reverse side showed through, making the text hard to read.

To fix that, I introduced a blank insert between the front and back — and by making it a contrasting colour, I realised it could also become a way to personalise each keyring.

The insert started as a circle, but that caused alignment issues. So I switched to a keyed design, which makes assembling the three layers simple and ensures perfect alignment every time.

It's easy to make:

Print your chosen emoji faces (front and back).

Pick your blank colour to match your style or mood.

Glue them together — and enjoy your own one-of-a-kind, double-sided emoji keyring.

Check out the photos to see just how much personality you can pack into these little tokens!

💡 Update: Now with smoothed edges for comfort and safety.

If you like this design, please consider giving it a like, following me for more, and leaving a comment with any ideas, feedback, or suggestions for improvements — I’d love to hear from you! If you’ve made one yourself, it would mean a lot if you could post a make with a photo — it’s always amazing to see how these designs are used in real life, and it helps others get inspired too. Let’s keep making useful, inclusive tools together!

👉 Check out the original model that sparked this version here: Creality Cloud – Emotion Tiles Keyring, Communication Aid

https://www.crealitycloud.com/model-detail/67ca143be328eec71baec429

Emoji Communication Keyrings – Craft with Purpose (V2)

0.2mm layer, 2 walls, 15% infill