Creating and Using Shapes in Tinkercad

/ Sarah Collins / Leave a comment

The way I design in Tinkercad changed on July 20, 2022, when I learned that I could create shapes from my 3D Designs. For a lot of my designs such as the Cow Depot, Saloon, Mill, Barber Shop, Houmas House… anytime I wanted to reuse a shape I would save it out as an STL file and import a copy back into the design. Now, if the design is not to complicated, I can save it as a shape in Tinkercad and use it over, and over, and over again.

Since I am so excited about this feature, I wrote an instructable on Creating and Using Shapes in Tinkercad.

Here are some of the new shapes I have created:

The Chicken: This design answers the question of which came first, the Chicken or the Egg. The answer is the egg. Because only egg shapes were used to create the chicken, except when I used the cubic hole to cut the egg in half.

The Sheep: To create the sheep, first I made a fluff ball and saved it out as a shape and used the fluff ball to create the sheep. I also used the fluff ball to make a tail from my bunny.

The Mouse: There is nothing really special about the mouse, except a little cuteness.

I have created a Youtube video on Creating a Shape in Tinkercad.

As I was typing this, I realized some of my buildings are not covered in the blog. So, more posts about Tinkercad are coming.

Creating an Umbrella using Tinkercad

/ Sarah Collins / 2 Comments

I am currently working on two projects in Tinkercad. One of the projects is huge and needs lots of parts. During the planning for this big project, I decided to create an umbrella. Not only did I create the umbrella, I also wrote instructions on how create an umbrella in Tinkercad. The instructions are available at on Instructables: Creating a Colorful Umbrella

The process is simple:

Add a Cone Shape
Duplicate the Shape
Change the Colors
Create a Hole
Create a Handle
Align the shapes
Add a little flare. You have an umbrella.

Okay, maybe it is simple for me. The video on how I created the umbrella is available on my YouTube channel.

How to Make Googly Eyes in Tinkercad

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According to Wikipedia Googly Eyes are: “Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeballs. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disk. The combination of a black circle over a white disk mimics the appearance of the sclera and pupil of the eye to humorous effect. The inner black disk is allowed to move freely within the larger clear plastic shell, which makes the eyes appear to move when the googly eyes are tilted or shaken.”

Tinkercad has some amazing 3D Designs created by some talented people. Looking at these designs, you can’t help to say “Wow!” Instead of trying for the “Wow” factor, I went with the “Fun” factor. Googly Eyes are fun, but they can also be spooky. It all depends on how they are used.

Instructions are available on Instructables on how to create Googly Eyes in Tinkercad and place them on existing designs. Link: Creating Googly Eyes with Tinkercad

Sunflower Created the Tinkercad Codeblocks

Previously, I created a sunflower using Tinkercad Codeblocks. (You may copy the Codeblock Sunflower file.) This would be a good design for the Googly Eye instructions. I exported as a Shape to be used in 3D Design.

Googly Eyes in Tinkercad

I created a new design and place the sunflower into the design, by selecting the shape from Your Creations on the Shape Panel.

The four shapes used for Googly Eyes

Next, I created the Googly Eyes. These Googly Eyes consist of 4 shapes: three half spheres and one sphere.

Sunflower with Googly Eyes

I moved the resized and moved the Googly Eyes into position. It looked so strange with just the eyes, so I created it a mouth.

Smiley Sunflower with Googly Eyes

The mouth is a flatten sphere hole that was group with the sunflower. The Googly Eyes Sunflower file is not available for copying, because creating your own is usually fun and will be a learning experience. See the instructions or watch the videos to create you own.

There are two designs available for copying: Shape Bots and Googly Eyes on Shapes

Shape Bots with Googly Eyes

Googly Eyes on Shapes

Notice how the Googly Eyes are different shapes and sizes, and looking in various directions. How fun creating your own Googly Eyes.

Five Small Drawings

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Sakura came out with new color pens, so I decided I had to test them. Below are a few of the small drawing I created recently using the new colors and some of the old colors. This is the first time ever I tried to draw a peacock, cottage, and gazebo.

Summer Flowers
Tiny Cottage
Gazebo Among the Foliage
Peacock
Soaking in the Sun