Building "Totoro" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" Themed Tissue Box Covers

While thinking of ideas for Christmas presents, I saw those ugly tissue boxes on our kitchen counter. That reminded me of a plan I had long ago, to cover those in some pretty wooden cases.
With the laser cutter at hand, I liked the idea of having some of our family favorites on there - which brought me to "Totoro". And while I was getting started, also the "2001: A Space Odyssey" movie cme to mind. So I built two of each.

Size and Design

I checked some of the tissue boxes that we had around from Kleenex, Puffs, and Great Value. They are all slightly different, but they all fit inside the following size: 4 3/4" x 4 7/8" x 5 1/4" (high). Their oval openings also differ, but all could be used with an opening of 3 3/4" (long diameter) and 2 5/8" (short diameter). I used two different approaches for the "Totoro" and the "2001" boxes: For the Tototro box, the figures a glued onto the box surface, so they stick out, while for the 2001 box, the figures are made as inlays.

CAD Files for the Laser Cutter

Step one is getting the laser cutter files done, using librecad. First comes the shape for the box.

And here are the two cutouts for the Totoros.

The "2001: A Space Odyssey" designs are cut into the sides of the box. These are an ape with a bone, Dave Bowman walking in his red space suit through the corridor while carrying the AE-35 unit, HAL 9000, and the Discovery One spaceship.  

Assembling the Pieces

Once everything is cut, the sides are cleaned from the burnt dust, ...

... glued, and held by rubber bands while the glue is drying.

The next step (not shown here) is to round the corners. I started with a disk sander and finished doing the details by hand. 

The painting is then the fun part. First some beige for the box, then grey, white, green, black, and purple for the Totoros and their tiny details. 

And here is the final Totoro Box cover.

And here are the same steps for the "2001" box.

The only difference between the two boxes is that the 2001 figures are made as inlays. This requires gluing some thin cardboard behind the box openings.

And here are the two 2001 box covers with their four different sides.