Gallery: 3-D Printing Reinvents the Advent Calendar
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Advent calendars first appeared in the middle of the 19th century as a way to mark the holiday season. Early revelers would count down the days by drawing chalk lines on their doors; by the early 1900's, printed calendars with hidden bible quotes were all the rage; and today Advent calendars are part of the commercial juggernaut of Christmas, used to [sell Legos](http://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-City-Advent-Calendar-4428) or [candy in a themed, holiday package](http://www.cadbury.co.uk/products/Advent-Calendar-2713?p=2713). Minnesotan maker [Peter Leppik](http://www.vocalabs.com/) is doing his part to carry this tradition into the modern day. Instead of opening up little doors to receive a present, his [Advent calendar](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:36554) requires makers to fire up a 3-D printer and build the calendar piece by piece. He says "I'm always looking for interesting projects to work on. My inspiration for the Advent calendar was simply that we were getting out all the Christmas decorations, and we have an Advent calendar which was given to us when our kids were born. So naturally my thinking went from there to, 'I wonder if I can 3D print an Advent calendar?'" *Photo: [Peter Leppik](http://www.thingiverse.com/pleppik)*
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[Leppik's calendar](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:36554) is made up of numbered, 3-D puzzle pieces that link together to form a Christmas tree. Each of the puzzle pieces contains a trinket to mark the day. The little toys mix new and old motifs. Plastic Christmas presents sit below an mini X-Wing from *Star Wars*; A snowman and gingerbread house are complemented by a miniature MakerBot. *Photo: [RichRap](http://richrap.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-printing.html)*
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Leppik is a bit surprised by how popular the project has become and says "Of course I started the project with the idea that someone could do this, but I don't think I really expected anyone to be crazy enough to do it. I've also gotten a lot of great suggestions for new designs (I can't possibly use them all), and it's been amazingly participatory. It's almost like a little sub-community within the Thingiverse community of people who are printing these designs, offering suggestions and ideas, uploading improvements, etc." *Photo: [Kietcallies](http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:46965)*
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Leppik launched his calendar a little behind schedule on December 5th, but has received an enthusiastic response from the creative community at Thingiverse since then. Some are offering ideas for future printed parts, printing the calendar in crazy color schemes, while some are forking the design. For instance, RepRap enthusiast [Richard Thorne](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/design/2012/08/3-d-printer-produces-eye-popping-color/) transformed the sled model into a candy cane, adding a spot of color to an otherwise overwhelmingly green model. *Photo: [RichRap](http://richrap.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-printing.html)*
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After spending the better part of December working on this project Leppik has visions of petrochemicals dancing in his head, with just a little bit of Grinch mixed in for good measure. He says "I think I deserve a kickback from all the companies selling green filament." *Photo: [Peter Leppik](http://www.thingiverse.com/pleppik)*
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The Advent calendar is a cultural tradition, but the project fits into the Leppik family history of being early adopters. He says "I was a kid when the first real personal computers came out, and everybody was all excited about them but nobody knew what they were good for. My dad bought one, basically to figure out what all the fuss was about, and we all know what happened over the next few decades. I bought my 3D printer a year ago, for much the same reason my dad bought his first computer. 3D printing has historically been very specialized, commercial-scale technology but is coming within reach of the average consumer. I wanted to learn what all the fuss was about, and try to figure out where this technology is going." *Photo: [RichRap](http://richrap.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-printing.html)*
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The only downside in proposing a new design for an Advent calendar is, well, working against the calendar. Leppik says "The biggest challenge has been coming up with enough good ideas. The design criteria are pretty limiting. For each day I need to come up with something which is: a) Recognizable at the scale and level of detail I can provide b) Somehow holiday/winter/Christmas themed c) Printable by most people on their printers, preferably without support and in a single piece d) Easy to design in the software I am already familiar with (I budget about an hour per design)" *Photo: [Peter Leppik](http://www.thingiverse.com/pleppik)*
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Leppik's stint as an elf, crafting toys, has met with mixed results. He says "So far, I think I'm most pleased with how the toy train and the X-Wing turned out. Both were designed with a relatively small number of geometric shapes connected together, but manage to be instantly recognizable. It's sort of like a cartoonist figuring out the minimum number of lines he can use to draw a duck and still have it look like a duck." *Photo: [Peter Leppik](http://www.thingiverse.com/pleppik)*
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Leppik is less pleased with his Christmas tree design which is a bit more Le Corbusier than Currier and Ives. He says "It's a little too stylized, plus the only contrasting shade of green I had to print with is 'nuclear green' So I wound up with a radioactive, modernist tree-like conical thing. Meh." *Photo: [Peter Leppik](http://www.thingiverse.com/pleppik)*
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Leppik says "Since I bought the printer, I have found it to be a wonderful creative tool. I've been printing like mad, making things for myself, for my kids, for my friends, for my kids' friends, etc. I also find it interesting to experiment with techniques--this is all so new that there are a lot of things which simply haven't been tried yet." He's also put out a call for ideas on the [Thingiverse page](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:36554) for the project for anyone that wants to put some last minute items on the Christmas list. *Photo: [Mrigsby](http://www.thingiverse.com/derivative:47306)*
