So, What Did Santa Make You?
We’re dying to hear what some cool and interesting makery our readers got for presents. Erik Utter’s lucky 2 1/2 year old got this awesome Pluginator 5000, switch, patch, and plug box, built by dad.
Toys and Games
Tinker, Tinker, Little Star
We hope you and your are having a fantastic holiday in whatever tradition you celebrate. Speaking of tradition, last year we posed this depression-era Fleischer brothers cartoon, “Christmas Comes But Once a Year.” It got such a positive response, I think we’ll make it a tradition. It so delightful, inventive, and a perfect holiday message the maker spirit.
Toy Wooden Knight is Ready to Duel
Over at Made by Joel, the eponymous author’s son just acquired a noble knight made by Lego with a moveable arm for pretend sword-fighting. Not one to be excluded, Joel made his own version from wood, and the two staged an epic battle on video.
Paper Doll Kit
Gifts that foster creativity and encourage fun are, in my opinion, the very best gifts to give and to receive. Lisa from Grey Luster Girl created this handmade paper doll kit for her daughters, and it’s sure to bring hours of imaginative play. Customizing my dolls was one of my dearest wishes when I was […]
Build Your Own RFID Teddy Bear
Science communication designer David Harris wanted to make a unique toy for his nephew Charlie, who was born with cerebral palsy. Charlie’s vision is poor but he’s very tactile and auditory, so David designed a location-aware teddy bear that reads RFID tags and plays different customizable sounds depending on where it is or what object […]
The 5 Best Toys of All Time
I really enjoyed this surprising and clever post by Jonathan Liu on the GeekDad blog. When I saw the headline I immediately started thinking of all the plastic toys in my house, and then saw #1: a stick. This versatile toy is a real classic — chances are your great-great-grandparents played with one, and your […]
Sweet FDM/FFF 3D Printed Wargaming Minis
Until I saw these recent Warhammer 40K designs from Thingiverse user 3dYeti, however, I thought good-looking gaming minis were beyond the capabilities of hobby-scale desktop FDM/FFF (Fused Deposition Modeling, which is a trademarked term AKA Fused Filament Fabrication, which is not legally encumbered) printers like those from MakerBot, MakerGear, Ultimaker, etc. Guess I was wrong!