DesignerBee.build

Project guides

Guides, build logs, and project ideas for first-time makers: laser cutting, 3D printing, and getting the most out of Designer Bee's free tools.

The Designer Bee mascot writing maker guides at a sunlit desk with a laptop, books, and a potted plant
The same orange 3D-printed text flip held in two hands, twice: from the front it reads TRICK with a pumpkin, from the side it reads TREAT with a ghost

Maker Guide

How to Make a 3D-Printed Text Flip: TRICK From the Front, TREAT From the Side

One 3D print that reads one word from the front and another from the side. Design it free in your browser, print it as it is, and turn it. Halloween edition.

A black 3D-printed Spirograph ring with a toothed wheel inside it on a sheet of paper, beside the flower patterns drawn with it in pencil

Maker Guide

How to Make Your Own Spirograph: Pick the Pattern, Then Print or Cut the Set

Choose the pattern first, then 3D print or laser cut the ring and wheels that draw it. A free Spirograph designer in your browser, made for classrooms.

Left: engraved plywood strips showing the DeeBee mascot on a laser cutter bed. Right: the finished agamograph held in a hand outdoors, a row of thin engraved strips standing on an engraved board

Maker Guide

How to Make a Laser-Cut Agamograph: Three Pictures, One Sheet of Plywood

Upload three pictures, download three laser files, and build a plywood agamograph that changes as you walk past it. Free, in your browser, no glue needed.

A parent and child reading the open picture book 'DeeBee and Milo Climb the Hill', showing DeeBee the bee riding in Milo, a smiling red car, climbing a green hillside road past two trucks

Storybook

"DeeBee and Milo Climb the Hill": A Free Read-Along for Families and Classrooms

A free picture book about kindness and the loads we can't see, starring the Designer Bee mascot. Read it online, print it, or use it as a classroom discussion starter.

A 3D-printed lithophane glowing on a bedside table at night, a couple's photo revealed in soft warm light through the printed panel, lit from behind by a small light in its stand

Maker Guide

How to Make a 3D-Printed Lithophane From a Photo (A Glowing Gift You Finish Yourself)

Turn a loved one's photo into a lithophane that glows when you light it from behind. Design it in your browser, print it, add a candle or LED, and you've made a real keepsake.

A purple 3D-printed keychain reading 'Maker' with a raised heart, held in a hand in a library makerspace, the same design open on a laptop and a 3D printer working behind it, with blue 'Create' and green 'Build' keychains on the bench

Maker Guide

How to Make a Custom 3D-Printed Keychain (The Perfect First Makerspace Project)

Design a personalized 3D-printed keychain in your browser, no CAD. Small and fast enough for a whole class to design, print, and take home in one session.

A laser-ready jigsaw puzzle export from the Designer Bee tool: the bee mascot engraved in a single clean blue across sixteen interlocking pieces, with orange cut lines and the board size labeled

Maker Guide

How to Make a Laser-Cut Jigsaw Puzzle From Any Photo (No Glue, No Software)

Turn any photo into a real wooden jigsaw puzzle in your browser: the laser engraves the picture and cuts the pieces in one job, so the image never peels off mid-cut.

An everyday first-time maker at a bright public-library makerspace, using a desktop 3D printer with a freshly made part in hand and library shelving behind them

Maker Guide

How to Find a Free Makerspace Near You (Library 3D Printers & Laser Cutters)

Don't own a 3D printer or laser cutter? Use the free map of public-library makerspaces, now ranked by how close they are to you, to find one nearby.

A laser-cut plywood bird house mounted on a garden post with two Eastern Bluebirds: one perched at the round entrance hole and one on the gabled roof

Maker Guide

How to Make a Laser-Cut Bird House (No Design Software Needed)

A beginner-friendly walkthrough for designing an Audubon-spec, laser-ready bird house in your browser: pick a species, set the box, and export a clean SVG.

The DesignerBee mascot reading a maker ideas book in a cozy maker's living room, with a custom laser-cut wooden wall clock on the wall

Maker Guide

How to Make a Custom Clock Face for Laser Cutting (No Design Software Needed)

A beginner-friendly walkthrough for designing a laser-ready clock face in your browser: pick a style, tweak the markers, and export a clean SVG in minutes.