I may be opening myself up to a lot of jokes here, but I’m just going to say it, I think small and tiny things are adorable. Whether it’s a tiny dog, a tiny car, a tiny tool, a tiny toy or a tiny person, I think tiny things are always adorable, and I’m probably going to want to have it in my life. I don’t know why, the giant meaty stumps that I call hands generally can’t use anything that’s too small. And miniature versions of things that don’t actually do anything serve no purpose other than to just clutter up my house, but I still think they’re all adorable and I want to shove all of them in my pocket.
I realize that there are about five or six potential double entendres hidden in that last paragraph, but I’m actually not joking in the slightest. I have always liked tiny things, ever since I was a kid. I think it started when I was young and my mother used to build and assemble miniature dollhouses and fill them with miniature doll furnishings and doll-sized things. Despite being tiny and clearly sized to be used by my G.I. Joes, my mother’s doll houses were always off limits to me. God, it always comes down to our mothers, doesn’t it?
Anyways, while I try to ignore my ongoing first world childhood traumas, I decided to find ten of the most adorable teeny tiny, itty bitty 3D printable things around. Here are Ten 3D Printable Tiny & Miniature Things:
Mini Atari VCS 2600 Heavy Sixer by RabbitEngineering
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
Since I started this off by peeling away one layer of my fractured psyche, I might as well risk another. Being a child of the late 70’s/early 80’s means that, like many, my first video game system was the Atari 2600. I wish there was some other deep-seated reason for me to want an adorable, little, mini, completely non-functional version of the video game system that I grew up playing, but I’m not sure there is much more to it than that. And if you’re a bit younger than I am, but afflicted with the same tiny thing obsession that I am, then here is a mini Nintendo Entertainment System for you.
TINY TAPE GUN-SHAPED TAPE DISPENSER
Mini Tape Gun – Tape Dispenser by brycelowe
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
At least this little thing actually serves a purpose other than being an object to clutter up my bookshelves. This tiny tape gun is perfectly sized for a standard roll of scotch tape. Not only can this diminutive tape dispenser sit on your desk, it can also be used just as you would use a larger tape gun. It’s actually perfect for wrapping gifts, which isn’t always easy to do while trying to tear off a piece of tape one handed. Of course I wish it was the useful aspects of this model that drew me to it, but it isn’t; I like it because it’s just a tiny tape gun. There is something wrong with me.
Tiny hurricane lamp by bobtato
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
I feel like if you have been reading my Weekly Roundups for a while then you’d know why this tiny lamp is so irresistible to me. Yes, I like lighting, probably a lot more than I like tiny things, but when you mix the two together I’m making a squee noise right now. Maybe it’s just my lizard-brain that loves things that light up mixing with my love of tiny things, but this lamp is just too darn cute. It is also a really simple 3D printing project that only needs a small LED bulb, a watch battery and a bit of brass shim. But what little effort would be needed to make this tiny lamp is totally worth it.
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
I could hardly put together a list of adorable tiny things without including tiny 3D printers, now could I? Whether you’re making these for your kids, as giveaways or just because it’s worth having a tiny 3D printer that doesn’t jam or make funny noises when it prints, this is a model that you need to have printed at least once. And if the generic 3D printer design from designer Renobot just doesn’t do it for you, then you can 3D print a mini version of a Solidoodle or a 3D Systems Cube. I mean, you probably didn’t want a full size version of either of these 3D printers when they were available to purchase, but a mini version couldn’t possibly be less useful.
MINI SPOOLS OF 3D PRINTING FILAMENT
Mini filament spool and earring carousel stand by CreativeTools.se
Found on: MyMiniFactory
Cost: Free
How useful would a mini 3D printer be without a bunch of mini spools of 3D printing filament? About as useful as a real 3D Systems Cube of course. These are technically earrings, with the hook being the strand of filament tail coming off of the spool, but there is no reason that you can’t just print them to have cute little spools of filament. The STL files also include a 3D printable carousel stand that will hold the spools, or any earrings with a hook that you want to hang on it.
Here is a video of the spools being 3D printed and assembled:
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
I mean. Come on. I really shouldn’t have to explain why this is awesome. This fun little 3D model is also really well designed; not only is it 3D printable as a single part, but the designer has figured out the exact layers at which the print can be paused to print the model in multiple colors. The lightsaber blade will extend all on its own; however, you may need to clean off a little bit of support material in order for it to open and close. If you don’t have a 3D printer that lets you pause, or if you’re lazy like me and just don’t want to bother, then it is easy enough to paint it the colors that you want. I’d recommend 3D printing the entire thing in a transparent material like red, blue or green and then painting the handle with a metallic paint. No one will ever know that you cheated except you and I, and I promise not to tell.
TEENY TINY SWISS ARMY KNIFE
Swiss army knife Earring by Schorhr
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
You guys, look at this tiny thing, I just can’t even! It really opens up and closes! It’s so cuuute!
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
How can you not love this? Are you dead inside??
The best part is that they are really, really, really tiny, so you can print a bunch and keep them on hand the next time your house gets overrun with ants. Or you could leave the corpses of any dead ants in coffins as a warning to the other ants because that is totally how ants work.
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
I can’t really think of anything much more Freudian than dangling a pair of testicles from an over-sized truck, but I can’t stop giggling like a middle schooler whenever I see a pair of these in real life. So the idea of people putting them on tiny remote controlled cars makes me laugh even more. What does that even say about you and any potential issues with your masculinity that you may have? I’m very confused, but very amused at the same time. I’m Comused.
And don’t worry, if you really need a set of these guys for your real life “it’s a good size!”-mobile then the STL is easily scaled up. I guess you could also turn these into earrings if you really wanted to, but that’s a dark corner of your subconscious that i’d rather not venture into today, thanks.
MINI GINGERBREAD HOUSE COOKIE TEMPLATE
Mini Gingerbread house cutter by supermange
Found on: Thingiverse
Cost: Free
Okay, back to adorable stuff to finish off this week’s list, and it doesn’t get much cuter than a tiny gingerbread house. An enterprising maker 3D printed out some simple templates for gingerbread cookies that makes it super easy to cut out the correct sized parts to build tiny little gingerbread houses. This is a great way to quickly make Christmas decorations, sweet holiday treats or put together a fun activity for a house party. Just bake off the parts, use some icing to assemble the house and then give your guests colored frosting and candy and let everyone go to town. And it looks like it would also be pretty easy to bump up or down the size of the cookie cutters a bit in order to make slightly larger or slightly more adorable mini gingerbread houses, so you could make these really adorably tiny if you wanted to.
Well that’s the Weekly Roundup and I had a great time looking for tiny things for you to 3D print this week. As always, if you 3D print anything from my list, or just feel like sharing what you’re working on this week with me, please feel free to email me or send me a tweet @SJGrunewald. Happy 3D printing!
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