DIY LEGO Minifigure Display Case
Create a unique LEGO minifigure display case for kids that is both a great place to display your favorite minifigures AND a fun new place to play! This is a fun DIY LEGO display case you can create!
Hello Crafty Friends! Today I have a really fun craft project to share with you – a LEGO minifigure display case. I made this for my daughter last summer and it has been such a big hit with her I wanted to share the tutorial with you. I made it to help her keep track of her favorite minifigures which were always getting lost. This display case creates a fun place for her to store her minifigures when she is done playing with them.
The display case is made from an old wood box I saved from a Melissa and Doug toy my kids had. Melissa and Doug toys always come in these wonderful wooden boxes but they don’t have lids so we rarely keep the toys in those boxes. They are such. nice boxes I usually save them hoping to repurpose them! This box was perfect for making a display case, especially with all of the fun cubbies!
When I originally made this display case for my daughter, she only had Princess minifigures so I chose papers that matched the princess minifigures she owned. Now the display case is used to hold many other minifigures, including some of her Mega Construx figures which fit perfectly in the taller cubbies at the bottom.
The picture below shows the case filled with just her Princess minifigures. You can see the papers we chose to match them.
The best part of this DIY display case is that the top and sides which are covered in LEGO plates. These plates create endless opportunities for play! Creating vertical play spaces with LEGO is so much. A few years ago I made a DIY maker space board and my kids still use it for all sorts of creative play with LEGO. The plates on the top of this case also create more places to display minifigures.
When this display case isn’t being used to display minifigures, it transforms into a fun “dollhouse”, mall and I’ve even seen it used as a giant pet store! It really is just another fun way to think about LEGO playtime.
Below is the tutorial for creating your own LEGO display case DIY. Even if you use something different to create the case, hopefully this will give you some fun LEGO display case ideas for you to create your own!
More DIY LEGO Crafts from Crafting Cheerfully
Supplies Needed for DIY LEGO Display Case
- Wooden case – I upcycled a wooden case from a set of Melissa and Doug toy cars. You can also use bamboo silverware drawer organizers like I did for my Harry Potter Display Case!
- Strong double-sided tape or glue adhesive.
- Acrylic Paint – I used DecoArt Multi-surface in Iris.
- LEGO plates. I ordered my plates from Brick Owl and spent less than $11 for all of the plates.
- Plates for the cubbies: I used 4×12 plates for the cubbies. Some of my cubbies were pieced together to equal 4×12. For example using two plates that were 4×6.
- Plates for outside of the case case – I used purple plates that were 4 studs wide.
- Scrapbook paper in different colors and prints. We searched through our paper stash for prints. Below are some of the papers we used, the rest I’m not sure of.
- Rose paper – DCWV Once Upon A Time Stack
- White glitter paper – DCWV Glitzy Metallics
- Pink and white glitter floral – DCWV Unicorns & Rainbows
- Gem paper used on the back – DCWV Rainbow Splash Stack
How to Make a DIY LEGO Minifigure Display Case
Step One: Start by painting the wooden case using acrylic paint. You don’t need to paint the back of each cubby since these areas will be covered with scrapbook paper.
Choose if you want to paint the back of your case, or cover it in scrapbook paper.
Step Two: Fill the back of each cubby with scrapbook paper. Lay a sheet of paper over the cubby opening and mark the height and length of the cubby with pencil.
Use tape or glue to adhere the paper to the back of each cubby.
My daughter helped me pick the papers for each cubby. We tried matching her Princess figurines. For some we found the perfect paper like water for Moana, a stained glass rose for Belle and white glitter paper for Elsa and Anna!
Step Three: Add LEGO base plates to the bottom of each cubby. We used 4×12 LEGO plates for each cubby, picking colors we felt matched out princess theme. For some cubbies we needed to use smaller plates, that when put together measured 4×12. It doesn’t matter what combination you use, as long as the plates fit your cubby!
Use adhesive or double-sided tape. We used 1/2″ Scor-Pal double-sided tape. It’s really strong, but not permanent, so if we want to take this apart one day we can remove the plates and add them to our LEGO collection. If you don’t ever plan to take this apart, use stronger adhesive.
Place your plates close to the front of each cubby. This will make it so LEGO pieces can hang over the edges.
Step Four: Add LEGO plates to the outside of the case on the top and sides. This step isn’t necessary to create a display case, but it makes the case SO much fun! My daughter loves playing with this case, adding LEGO to the top and sides.
Make sure when you add plates to the sides of the display case, that you start at the top and position them so LEGO pieces can connect from the top of the case to the sides. This will make playing with the case more fun! Use LEGO pieces to help you decide where the first plate at the top should be positioned.
The LEGO case is complete and ready to display your favorite mini figures!
I hope you enjoyed this craft! Since I upcycled the wooden case this ended up being a pretty cheap LEGO display case for me to create. It cost me less than $11 which is far cheaper than the cases I saw online to purchase. This case is perfect for kids and ideal for minifigure collections that are still being played with – as opposed to an adult collection which may want to be admired rather than played with. It has held up well these last 6 months of play and my daughter still enjoys using it and displaying her minifigures in it :)
