Are you tired of those endless Christmas shopping trips? The crowded malls, long queues, and empty wallets?
With all the Christmas craze and a neverending list of gifts you are yet to buy, it’s easy to just give in and buy random gifts in bulk so you can finally finish your Christmas shopping.
But there’s a way to cheat on Christmas shopping and make everything extra special at only cost a fraction of what you usually would! All you need is just your trusty 3D printer and a resin of your choice!
In this article, we will share tons of 3D-printed gift ideas that will make you the best gift-giver of the year. It can be as easy or as personalized as you want it to be! Check them out:
- Super Easy Ideas for 3D-Printed Christmas Gift
- Add More Personal Touch to Your 3D-Printed Christmas Gifts
- Intimate and Next-Level Christmas Gifts for Your Loved Ones
Super Easy Ideas for 3D-Printed Christmas Gift
First, it’s important to at least know what your loved one like and what they’ll love to receive as a gift. Then, you can easily browse through digital 3D model platforms like Thingiverse, Cults3D, or My Mini Factory to find the right 3D models for them. It can be their favorite movie and cartoon characters, or if they are into decorating their Christmas tree with some personalized ornaments, you can definitely try to find some of these characters in ornament form as well.
Check out Your Little Christmas Tree by FloppyFist here.
Some people are also keen on building an extravagant Christmas village every year and gradually adding more stuff to their collections. If they are your recipients, then it’s probably a great idea to 3D print some iconic buildings like the church, school buildings, some icons from your local area, and many more. Random city objects like the city fountain, some cute little dogs and cats, and random pedestrians would also add to the merriness of the Christmas village.
Check out Christmas Elves Village by Harley here.
If you are giving gifts to those who still love some classic nativity scene decorations to welcome Christmas, but feel like the traditional porcelain ones are not a great fit for their home aesthetics, this is your time to shine. There are a lot of modern and more contemporary takes of the nativity scenes that could be easily replicated with a 3D printer.
What if they are not decorating their home in any way for Christmas? Well, you can still use 3D printing to create the best gift ever. You can find various models of gadget accessories like cute little phone stands or home decor items, such as vases, planters, candle holders, or lamp covers. The options are endless with 3D printing.
Some excellent and super easy 3D-printed Christmas gift ideas:
- Figurine or miniatures of their favorite characters.
- Buildings or decorations for Christmas village.
- A modern take on the nativity scene.
- Useful daily tools and all-year-round home decor.
Add Personal Touch to Your 3D-Printed Christmas Gifts
Now let’s say you are an avid 3D printer and have a little more knowledge in 3D modeling software or are willing to learn, then you can create an even more personalized gift with just a few little touches! With so many modeling software for you to choose from like Tinkercad, SketchUp, Blender, and Fusion 360, every possibility is at your fingertips.
Check out Christmas Pikachu by JayMull420 here.
You can take all the ideas that we’ve mentioned before and import them into your favorite 3D modeling software. From there, make small modifications like adding their initials, their name, or even a short message. If the designers allowed for any remixes or adaptations, adding a little Christmas hat on a figurine or miniatures of their favorite characters would definitely add to the festivity too!
Check out Christmas Fred! by Xx_SushiCat_xX here.
Another idea is to print out lithophane sheets that have recently gained popularity in the 3D printing community as they can easily be printed in both FDM and resin 3D printers. Lithophane is typically a flat image with varying thickness that will reveal its picture once backlit.
Hundred years ago, lithophane was an intricate piece of art made with porcelain and could only be created by artists with decades of experience. Yet now, all you need is a 3D printer and some automated lithophane generators like LithophaneMaker or ItsLitho. Just upload the pictures you want (preferably a picture that your recipient would love), choose the shape, and print it. It’s easy, and you get super personalized and unique gifts for your loved ones almost in no time. Even more, LithophaneMaker also allows you to experiment more with your lithophanes like creating a lamp cover, light box, or even your classic Christmas tree baubles.
Check out Modular Festive Christmas Ornaments by dazus here.
3D-Printed Christmas gift ideas that are more personalized:
- Christmas remixes or personalization to everything mentioned in the previous section.
- 3D-printed lithophane.
Meaningful Christmas Gift Ideas for Your Loved Ones
For those who are proficient with 3D modeling software, there are even more options! You can, not only modify already available models, but you can create one from scratch, exactly to their liking.
Some meaningful and personalized Christmas tree ornaments and decorations can be a great way to go. Perhaps print out an ornament of your family home as a little gift for your parents, print out a miniature of your aunt’s pet kitten for her, or even a whole toy set from your niece and nephew’s imaginations.
Another cool gift would be 3D-printed miniatures of the recipients themselves. A 3D scanner is definitely a great tool to have if you are planning to go in this direction. However, your trusty camera is also great for the job. There are a lot of tutorials online on how to 3D print yourself with both a camera and a 3D scanner, in case you need more guidance. Of course there are other aspects that you need to pay attention to apart from the 3D printing, like the camera quality, the lighting settings when you are taking the pictures, and how well you can fix these scanned models in the modeling software. Although this is considerably way more complicated than all gifts mentioned before, a 3D-printed replica miniature is a one-of-a-kind gift that could easily boost you as the best gift-giver of the year.
Last but not least, a metal cast 3D printed jewelry. This one requires a lot more equipment and skill that are not limited to 3D modeling. You can create one-of-a-kind pendants, brooches, and rings with their acronyms or their favorite things. Shape it exactly the way they like it. This is the gift that everyone would still talk about even years after, it might even be your next family heirloom! If you are curious about 3D-printed jewelry, check these articles for more information.
Fully customized 3D-printed Christmas gift ideas:
- Heartfelt and personalized ornaments and decorations.
- 3D-printed miniatures of the recipients.
- Metal cast 3D-printed jewelry
These 3D-printed Christmas gift ideas will get you through, not only this busy holiday season, but pretty much any gift-giving occasions! Let us know if you use any of our ideas or if you have more ideas that we have yet to cover so we can add them to the list!
Special thanks to dazus, Harley, JayMull420, FloppyFist, and Xx_SushiCat_xX for the models and pictures.
