3D Printing for the Whole House

My Dad gave me one of the most amazing gifts imaginable. A 3D printer! The first time I remember seeing a 3D printer, was in Jurassic Park 3. Remember that? They printed the resonance chamber of a velociraptor. Wasn't called a 3D printer back then though. Okay, nerdy moment over. The next time I saw a 3D printer, was when I worked for Target. They were donating one to the School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine. We did art with the kids there. They would draw a picture that would be scanned in, and then it would 3D print it for them to feel their creation. I loved seeing what they wanted to make! Fast forward to now. I have my own. Thankfully, it does not rely on my artistic skills. There is this great website where people have already done the CAD work or scans and created the file to input into the printer. Though I wish I had remembered my Dads training in using CAD... There have been things I wished I could create. Thingiverse.com has become one of my favorite places to browse through. I've even made gifts for family from it. 

When we first received it, we were printing little things. My husband made extensions to add to the printer. I printed various things for the girls' and I to use with our dolls. Since then, our collection of prints has just grown!

Since moving, I have been printing upgrades to this old house of ours. Starting with a different light switch cover in every room.

Yes, this switch flips like a mad scientist one and even makes a clicking noise while doing so. I have walked by my husband just in time to hear him switching it on while crying out, "We have light! Muhahaha" 

Painting is out of our budget right now. So these walls are getting just a temporary beautification until we have a little more funding to change the cosmetics. Ugly orange from the... what? 70's? Meet Star Wars!

I really can't wait to redo the kitchen. Especially the cabinets. *shudders* Why they thought orange was a cool color back in the day, I'll never understand. However, at the very least, my kitchen has been taken over by Star Wars. Salt and pepper shakers, oven mitt gloves, knife set - I have pulled out all my Star Wars aesthetics to really make it home in there. And this plate cover just adds icing to the cake for me.

And then my second love, Steampunk, is also being introduced. How could I not have some of that in our new home? Sadly, not all prints work as well as they are claimed to. This one is stuck in this position. Not functioning, despite my husbands efforts to adjust it. But it works out. This one controls a fan that is left on all the time to keep the kitchen cool. 

This one is still a work in progress as we have to adjust how to hang it better. For now, this was the engineers fix my husband came up with. There is nothing to attach it by except command strips. My husband is waiting for the day when he can use it to prank someone.

One by one, our light switch covers around the house are slowly being shifted from plain to nerdy! I have a Nintendo controller plate for the game room. The girls have a unicorn. Boys have a lovely Legend of Zelda plate. We even have a key ring hook for the first time ever in Zelda theme.

I've printed stands to hold my sons geode slices, and plan to print another one for a hand-painted plate that my husbands Great Grandpa gave me. 

This is just around the home. There are so many other amazing things you can 3D print. Like Christmas gifts! This year, Christmas is not going to be the same. One, we are in a town at least 6 hours from anyone we know. Two, we be broke. Let me rephrase, before I get frantic phone calls and my husband revokes my blogging rights - we have what we need to get by paycheck to paycheck. Not for extras. I really miss having that small cushion we had before the move. However, I'm glad to have the home of my dreams. So I'd say it is a fair switch off. But that means that unless I make the gift myself or find something super cheap for a person on our list, they are getting nothing more than a card this year. Which isn't so bad. I have plenty of filament in various colors. The trick has been finding something for each person. The second trick will be getting the gifts either mailed or delivered to them... I'm still working on a plan for that. 

There are so many ideas on there! I even found things that are customized to have unusual names on there. That is something you hardly find in stores. 

My son loves the Halo game ships. So I printed these and hung them from the ceiling for him. See that gas station set he has? For his birthday, we are giving him accessories to add to it. Including a car lift like they would have in the garage to lift the car and work under it. 

What do you think? Are you impressed where technology has gone? I know I am! I can't wait to see what other creations I can make.

BasToy Photo Acrylic Review (Discount included)

I posted about BasToy Photo and his latest endeavor of selling his prints. Well, I have since purchased one of the acrylic prints. Now, it's time to review! 

As I mentioned previously, he is selling 3 types of his prints. You can get the regular print which comes on high quality card stock, the holographic prints which have a nice sheen to them, or the acrylic prints which don't even need a frame. I chose acrylic. Although I have to admit that some of the prints in holographic are amazing! Check out the Joker one to see what I mean in his video.

I love the anime Attack on Titan. And my all-time favorite hero is Mikasa. So I had to get that one! 

Ordering prints is incredibly easy. You choose the print, select the type of print, and add to cart. I placed my order on August 15th, and it shipped out the 22nd! Two days later, it was on my doorstep. 

I'm sharing my unboxing video here. Just know, I mistakenly said BasToy. It is BasToy Photo! I wanted you to see how well they package it for the trip to your home. 

The quality is amazing. Clear, shiny finish. White, shiny backing. Easy to hang with command strips. No frames necessary. Here you can see the print on the left with a framed poster on the right.

Now you can get your own! Using the code NERDUNI10, by August 31st, you can get 10% off your order. He has even added more to his selection. What do you think? Let me know in comments below! Remember, Christmas is coming! And nerds like cool things too.

Don't forget to check out BasToy Photo too. Let me know what you think is his coolest work! https://bastoyphoto.com/

Bonding Over Barbie

I have never been the best at playing Barbies with others. I would most often go with a friend to a church to play while her mother worked as the secretary. But she would often tell me what my dolls were supposed to do or say. For the sake of keeping the peace, I would sometimes follow along. Other times I just had to come up with the better idea for our playing. Especially when she wanted the dolls to play "dirty", if you know what I mean. 

Fast forward to now. I have two little girls who love playing with their dolls. And to listen to them, they are often telling each other what to do. Instead of just reacting to the other player. So when they ask me to jump in... I usually do not want to. 

During the pandemic, however, I found something fun that makes playing with them easier to handle. Grandma Gets Real and My Froggy Stuff gave me the inspiration. Oh and Bella_Belladoll! They are my favorites by far. I have gotten ideas for making doll accessories, clothing and furniture without having to pay a ton of money. As well as ideas for posing and taking photos of the dolls. This is something the girls have been enjoying doing with me. 

We now take our dolls around town. The library and parks are a favorite for us all. The local library in the town we lived in was having a summer reading program when we took these. As well as a Find the Mermaid Tails treasure hunt. You find a tail, you win a prize! The last time we went, the girls' both found a tail and we couldn't help but take some quick pictures.

We pretend together with our respective dolls, and I don't have to go crazy with someone trying to tell me how to play! I'd call that a Mom win for sure.

Bonus part is that we (older daughter and I) are also both learning to take better photos. She has helped me take pictures when I was busy with other things.

We even had fun having the Barbies pack for our move! After all, not all the dolls should move in the boxes. We had to save out a couple dolls and props for the photos to come before the move, during the move, and as we entered the new home. It just adds to the adventure for us girls. So our dolls had quite the discussion on what to pack away and what to put in our suitcases to take in the car with us. We were so excited about making the trip! 

However, the best part has been collaborating with my girls. They are so full of ideas. We talk about what would be considered important in our pretend houses. Then Mom gets to try to recreate those things. I'm not always successful at it. But I like to think I do pretty good. My youngest made my day recently when she ran up to give me a hug and said," Thank you for being such a good Mommy!" It really is the little things. (Get it? Little, as in the dolls....) 

Your turn! Tell me what you think every dollhouse needs. I can't wait to get some new ideas. Drop a comment below. And who knows? I might actually build it! 

Israel Favorites: Part 8 - Genesis Land

If you want a fun experience that will take you back in time, in Israel, you need to make a stop in Genesis Land. A long ride out to a place that I refuse to pronounce in English, but it will take you back.

Way back. To Abraham leaving his family on God's command. To being served a delicious meal in a tent, much like they had back in his days. All this to show the biblical hospitality of Abraham. Just as he served the angels from the Lord, we were served.

You start with Abraham's servant giving you some information on his 'master'. He then hands out your stylish garb. I wouldn't look too closely. These were in need of some serious washing...

There is a camel ride involved. Sadly, I did not have my phone unlocked for others to take photos and I couldn't get to our camera in time as I forgot that my husband had it around his neck when we were climbing on.

So I'm sharing photos of what that process looked like with another couple instead. 

First, you have camels. These camels are actually ornery. One did NOT want to give rides. She was the lead camel. Ours wanted to eat the whole time so we did a LOT of leaning back.

                                Climb on - heaviest person on the back.

                 Lean back, as far as you can, but hold on tight too.

                      Brace yourself, as it is about to get a little bumpy!

                                                  Almost there....

Don't forget to have someone holding your camera so you can pose and make  it look painlessly smooth! 

I'm so glad I held off posting this one! As it turns out, someone was taking our photo while we were on the camel. We might not look as photogenic as the others I showed you, but we definitely enjoyed it! As I mentioned before, ours kept wanting to eat and had to be hauled back up to finish the ride. My husband was afraid he'd lose his hat the entire time. That or fall too far forward and send me head first over the camels head.

Now, that you have made it to Abraham's tent, you need to wash your hands for the feast that is to come. 

After a meal like we had, you definitely should take in the sights. There are bathrooms available here, so you haven't completely gone back in time. However, the untouched look of the land that lies before you is breathtaking to say the least.

                               Definitely bring your sunglasses though...

I was amazed to find these bright red flowers blooming in such rocky terrain. But they were sprinkled everywhere, adding color to the greens and browns that surrounded us.

Now, as you find yourself returning to the present day, watch your step. Camels don't have potties indoors, you know. Nor do the many goats that roam around.

Back in the present, you can check out some of their wares as well as get your license to ride a camel. Not to drive or own one! So don't get confused. In the gift shop, we were able to buy date honey, that I have since been able to make the wonderful date honey chicken they served us. It is fantastic! I shared their link above in the post. They should have an online shop you can check out.