3D printing is currently a big buzz word in the design, arts and crafts, and technology worlds. We make all of our jewelry with 3D printing, and in the time we've been make 3D printed creations, we've learned a lot about ways to manipulate the material to change its color and appearance. 3D printing is also known as additive manufacturing and produces objects from CAD files by building up material layer by layer to create the final form. You can 3D print in a wide range of materials from squishy rubber to hard metals.

Have you created something with 3D printing? A lot of design students and hobbyists now have access to the technology thanks to 3D printing services like Shapeways and Ponoko. If you printed your object in polyamide, you can dye them at home to whatever color you want. Polyamide is a porous material that accepts color really well. Some companies offer dying of your prints for you, but that adds extra processing time and is only available in a small range of colors.

If you're tired of the boring white that many 3D prints come in, we will show you how to add color to your prints. This is a tutorial for dying nylon (or polyamide) 3d prints with fabric dye. This material is known by different names at different printing companies. Shapeways calls it White Strong and Flexible, Ponoko calls it Durable Plastic, Sculpteo White Plastic, and iMaterialise Polyamide. We'll use Rit brand dyes in our tutorial since it is easy to find in craft, fabric, and grocery stores. You can also dye your 3D prints with Jacquard brand acid dyes in a similar process, but that will require carefully measuring vinegar to change the acidity of the solution and constantly heating the solution.

This process is similar to dying fabric with, and we learned a lot about how dye 3D prints by reading this article on dyeing techniques by Rit.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

The first thing that you will need to do is gather your materials. You'll need your nylon 3D prints, your desired color of fabric dye, a bowl to do the dyeing in, measuring spoons, and boiling water (not pictured). We also recommend having access to a microwave to reheat your solution while dying as need.

Decide which color you would like to dye your prints. Rit has a great guide to tell you which colors you can dye your prints with their dyes and other brands of dye will have similar guides. Nylon absorbs the dye really quickly, and we usually use slightly less dye than the guides recommend. For this batch of bike planters we will be dying them using Rit's Sunshine Orange. We're using 1.5 tsp of powdered dye to 1.5 cups of boiling water.

Remember that you are working with fabric dye that will stain clothes and shoes. So if you care about the clothes that you are wearing wear an apron or change into something that you don't love so much. Fabric dye can also stain your skin, so wear latex gloves if you don't want tinted hands. Rit dye will come off easily with scrubbing, so if you do get some on your skin, it can be easily removed.

Step 2: Soak Your Pieces

Before you begin the dying process, soak your prints for at least 30 minutes. We recommend doing this overnight if you have the time. Having your prints saturated will allow the dye to color the piece more evenly. This will also help remove any dust on the surface of your prints left over from the printing process. If there is residual powder on the surface of your prints, it will affect the color of piece. The powder will be dyed, and will come off easily when the piece is dry, leaving a white spot underneath.

This piece had some leftover powder stuck to it when it was dyed, and you can see the large white area left behind from removing the powder.

Step 3: Add Color

Carefully measure your required amount of dye and add your boiling water. Stir it really well so all of the powder is dissolved in solution.

Add your prints to the the solution and stir. Agitate the solution frequently to ensure that your prints are colored evenly. The longer that you leave your prints in the solution, the more saturated the color will be. These prints stayed in the dye for about 6 minutes to achieve the color. If you need to leave your prints in the solution longer, microwave it at 15-30 second increments to reheat the water to near boiling temperatures. We've noticed that some dyes require higher temperatures to stay in solution than others. In our experience pink and blue dyes require hotter temperatures and longer dying times to achieve their desired colors.

Step 4: Rinse

Rinsing your prints is very important. You can rinse it with cold water to remove the excess dye. We also like to let the pieces sit in boiling water for a few minutes for any excess dye to soak out. If you're going to be dying jewelry or anything that will be worn close to the skin, this is a very important step as excess dye could stain the skin or clothes.

Step 5: Dry

Step 6 (Optional): Seal

Nylon is a porous material that will readily absorb particles and dirt it is exposed to. We recommend sealing your prints with a polymer varnish (like liquitex) or clear acrylic paint to protect the color and your piece from getting dirty.

Step 7: Show it Off!

You just put all of this hard work into your 3D Printed object- show it off and tell everyone about it!

MAKE YOUR OWN SEED BOMBS

April 3, 2013DIY, What We're Makingcolleen jordanComment

Seed bombs have become very popular recently. They're a fun way to try your hand at gardening without a lot of prep work. Making them is a fun activity that you can do to welcome in spring and is great to do with kids.

These seed balls are made with recycled and biodegradable paper and wildflower seeds. We receive a lot of kraft paper in shipments from our suppliers, and we needed a creative way to reuse it. The paper around them protects them from being eaten by birds and insects while the seeds germinate. Throw them in a space that you think needs some greenery, or in your own yard to start a small garden.

Step One: Gather Supplies and Tools

To make seed bombs, you'll need to first gather your supplies and tools for the job. You'll need:

Recycled Newspaper or kraft paper

water

seeds

mixing bowl

blender or immersion blender

ice cube trays

tea towel

A tray or plate for the seed balls to rest on while they dry

Seeds can be expensive if you buy them in small packets. If you're planning on making more than one batch of these, we recommend buying them online from a store like American Meadows

Step Two:

Shred paper and let it soak in water for 5 minutes or more. This allows the fibers in the paper to absorb enough water to lengthen so it is easier to blend. Add the paper and water mixture to the blender and blend it into a pulp.

Step Three:

Add the seeds to the pulp mixture and stir. To make ours we use a blend of wildflower seeds, but you can use any type of seeds you like, like vegetable seeds or ivy. There's no exact measurement for the amount of seeds you need to use, but we use about 1/4 cup of seeds to 4 cups of the paper pulp mixture.

Step Four:

Strain the pulp through the tea towel. We put ours over a separate mixing bowl to reuse the water to create a second batch later in the day. Wring out the pulp mix in the tea towel to remove more water so the seeds don't germinate prematurely.

Step Five:

Place the paper and seed pulp into your molds. You can make your seed balls as small or as large as you like. Carefully remove from their molds and rest them on a tray or board to dry.

Step Five:

Let dry in a warm and sunny place. You want to make sure that your seed bombs dry quickly so that the seeds don't start to germinate while your seed bombs are still drying.

Step Six:

Spread! Throw your seed bombs in your garden, on your windowsill, or in an ugly lot that you think needs some color.

NEW LOOK AND NEW ITEMS FOR SPRING

March 13, 2013Announcements, What We're Makingcolleen jordanComment

We would like to share with you our new items for Spring and Summer 2013! We had a great holiday season, and in the small bits of free time that we had, we got to create some new products with new ways to carry plants to bring to you for this spring!

A lot of the feedback we heard from customers was that they wanted to see more lapel pins. We brought the form of one of our more popular necklaces to a lapel pin, and we're really thrilled with the way it turned out.

We've also been playing around with some more classical shapes than just the simple modern ones we usually create. The Amphora necklace is inspired by vases seen on a recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

We're also bringing out new colors for this spring like purple and bolder blues than we've used in the past. We're adding to our line of bag planters, so now you have a way to carry some fresh picked flowers on your tote.

Also, if you've visited our site in the past few days, you've probably noticed some changes to the appearance. We've updated the look and feel of the site. We've made some cosmetic improvements and fixed a few kinks, and we've also made some usability changes that we hope will make your experience on the site better. We've added a new way for you to checkout directly on our site with our new credit card processor Braintree, so now you don't have to worry about trying to use PayPal.

PROTOTYPING WITH MAKERBOT

September 12, 2012DIY, What We're Makingcolleen jordanComment

In our studio, we have a MakerBot Thingomatic that is used to prototype new products. The objects that we create on it are not production quality, but they help us get an idea what a final product will look and feel like. We created a time-lapse video of the bot in motion to give you a better idea of what it does and how 3D printing works. The movie doesn't have any sound, and I wish that I could share with you the cute little electronic chirping noises the machine makes.

One of the neat things about 3D printing is that I was able to print an iPhone mount from Thingiverse to capture this process. We didn't end up using the iPhone footage because of video compression issues, but if you don't have access to a camera, using your phone is still a great way to create a timelapse video.

In the video our bot is making a small desktop planter that we would like to print in ceramics. We printed this prototype to see if this size planter would comfortably hold a larger air plant. While the machine we use to prototype with is far from perfect, it's a great low cost and quick way to get a feel for new objects.

If you have a MakerBot or access to a 3D printer, you can check out our Thingiverse page and download some of our files to print for yourself.

HOW TO PLANT GUIDE, PART 2: AIR PLANTS

June 21, 2012DIY, What We're Making, How to Plantcolleen jordanComment

Bromeliads, better known as tillandsia, are one of the easiest plants to care for. These plants are found naturally in warm tropical places, but also do well indoors elsewhere. They can be easily found at most nurseries and online. We like to use air plants in our planters not only because they are so easy to care for, but because they look really cool, too.

Today we bring you the second of many installments in our How to Plant Series, and show you how to plant one of our favorite plants, the exotic and always interesting air plant. Since we have a few planters that call for using air plants, we thought showing you a visual guide is the best way to explain what to do once you get your planter. These instructions also apply to attaching tillandsia onto other objects, too, so you can follow these instructions to attach them to (almost) anything. Please note that we refer to using a hot glue gun in this tutorial, so pay attention while you're using this tool, and supervise any children who want to try this craft.

To start out, you’ll need a planter, an air plant, and a hot glue gun (or another adhesive like epoxy or E6000). For this tutorial we used this planter, which is designed to be used with air plants. These are the easiest plants to use in our planters, and these instructions will be really short and straightforward.

Start by plugging in your hot glue gun, and wait until it gets hot enough for the glue to be ready to use. While you wait for your glue to heat, play around with how your plant fits best in the planter if you haven't already.

You’ll add a drop of glue into the planter where you want your plant, and then position your plant inside where you want it. You’ll have to act quickly on this step before the glue sets, so have your plant nearby. After this, you’re all set!

You might be worrying about the effect of the hot glue on the plant, but it won’t hurt the plant. Other glues work well, too if you have access to them, like E6000 or other epoxies, but don’t use super glue.

Caring for your airplant once you’ve mounted it is very simply. A small spray of water a few times a week will be enough to keep it healthy, and make sure it gets indirect sunlight when you’re not wearing it.

And that’s it! Now you’re ready to wear an airplant!

HOW TO PLANT GUIDE, PART 1: SUCCULENTS

May 30, 2012What We're Making, DIY, How to Plantcolleen jordanComment

In the first part of our How to Plant series, we're going to show you how to plant a succulent in your wearable planter. We get this question a lot, and while we include directions in each planter on what to do, we thought a visual guide would help everyone out best. Planting a succulent in a planter is actually really simple, and shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

To start out, we recommend getting everything together first. You'll need the planter you've chosen, some soil, a plant, water, and a pen or a pencil. For this tutorial, we're using a type of succulent called sedum that grows as a ground cover in many places. You should be able to find it at any nursery or home improvement center, but you can also find it growing in many places if you know what to look for.

Before you start, check your plant clipping for roots. Most succulents will begin growing roots a few days after they are cut. If they don't have roots, your plant will still grow them, and just plant enough of the stem below the top of the soil.

Step One: Insert plant clipping into the planter.

Step Two: Add soil. You'll only need a few pinches of soil, and make sure that the roots are fully covered.

Step Three: With your pen or pencil, gently compact the soil down to make sure it stays in place.

Step Four: Add a few drops of water to the planter.

And now you're done! Clean any excess soil and water from your planter, and it is ready wear. After a few days the roots will be more stable. Proper care is still needed to take care of your plant, and make sure it gets sunlight when not being worn. Of course you don't need to use these directions in just our planters. You can use these same steps for planting a succulent in a larger vessel, or even adding a little bit of charm to any other small object you can find.