From an idea in your head to a thing in your hand — in four hours.
A hands-on 3D printing workshop where you'll design something using simple AI tools — no CAD, no experience, no design background — then watch it print live and take it home with you. If you can describe an idea out loud, you can build it here.
Saturday, August 22
2026
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM
4 hours
Newark, CA
5804 Biddle Ave
$30 per person
Ages 12+
Please bring your own laptop. It's the one thing we need from you — you'll be designing on your own machine so you keep everything you make. Any Mac, Windows laptop, or Chromebook works. Everything else (printers, filament, software, materials) is provided.
We cover every step. Nothing skipped.
Most workshops hand you a file someone else made and let you press print. Not this one. You'll go the whole distance — from a vague idea to a finished object — and understand every step along the way.
STEP 1
Your idea
Described in plain English
STEP 2
AI designs it
No CAD, no experience
STEP 3
You refine it
Make it actually printable
STEP 4
It prints live
Watch it come off the bed
STEP 5
You take it home
A real object, yours
Designing used to take years to learn. Now it takes a sentence.
The reason most people never make a physical product isn't the printer — printers are easy. It's the design. Traditional CAD software is genuinely hard, and learning it takes months you don't have.
That barrier is gone. We'll teach you the AI tools that turn a plain-English description into a real 3D model. You say what you want; the software models it. Then we show you how to take that output and make it genuinely printable — the judgement that AI can't do for you yet, and the part that separates a nice render from a real object.
The tools we use are free or have generous free tiers, so you can keep making things the moment you get home.
What this looks like
YOU SAY
“A holder for my headphones that clamps onto the edge of my desk.”
YOU GET
A 3D model on your screen. You tweak it, we make sure it prints, and it comes off the printer before you leave.
No CAD. No modelling. No experience.
The four hours, hour by hour
2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday, August 22, 2026. Hands on keyboards for most of it.
2:00 — 2:30
How a 3D printer actually works
Meet the machines. We break down what a 3D printer is doing when it turns a digital file into a physical object — layers, filament, and why some designs print beautifully and others fail.
2:30 — 3:15
Designing with AI, from a plain-English idea
The core of the workshop. You describe what you want in ordinary words, and we show you the AI tools that turn that description into a real 3D model. No CAD experience, no math, no design background needed.
3:15 — 4:00
Refining your model so it prints
AI gets you 80% of the way. We cover the last 20%: fixing wall thickness, adding tolerances so parts actually fit, and the handful of checks that separate a model that prints from one that flops.
4:00 — 4:45
Slicing and sending it to the printer
Turn your model into instructions a printer understands. Supports, infill, orientation, and the settings that matter — explained in terms of what they do to the object in your hand.
4:45 — 5:30
Watch it print, live
Your design goes on the bed and runs. We talk through what is happening as it builds, and troubleshoot in real time when something goes sideways — because it always does, and that is the useful part.
5:30 — 6:00
Finishing, and take your goodie home
Remove supports, clean up the print, and leave with the thing you designed today. We finish with where to go next if you want to keep making.
You leave with the thing you made.
Not a photo of it. Not a file to print later. The actual object — designed by you, printed on the day, in your bag when you walk out. It's included in the ticket, not an upsell.
That's the whole point of the four hours: proving to yourself that the gap between “I had an idea” and “I'm holding it” is now a single afternoon.
What you take away
- A finished 3D printed object you designed yourself — yours to take home
- A repeatable process for going from an idea to a physical product
- Hands-on fluency with the AI design tools we use, and free/low-cost ways to keep using them
- The judgement to tell a printable design from one that will fail — before you waste four hours of print time
- Slicer settings explained in plain language, not jargon
What you need to bring
Short list. We handle the rest.
Bring your own laptop — this is hands-on, and you will be designing on your own machine. Any Mac, Windows, or Chromebook that can run a browser is fine.
Age 12+. Under 16 is welcome and encouraged, but should be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
No experience required. Zero design, CAD, or 3D printing background is assumed.
Everything else — printers, filament, software, and materials — is provided.
Register
10 seats, because everyone gets real printer time and real attention. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Date
Saturday, August 22, 2026
Time
2:00 PM – 6:00 PM (4 hours)
Price
$30 per person — includes your printed goodie
Don't forget your laptop. One per attendee.
Questions
I have never designed anything in my life. Is this really for me?+
Yes — that is exactly who this is built for. The whole point of using AI tools is that you describe what you want in plain English and the software does the modelling. If you can explain an idea out loud, you can do this workshop.
Do I need to bring a laptop?+
Yes, and it is the one thing we genuinely need from you. You will be designing on your own machine so you can keep everything you make and pick it back up at home. Any Mac, Windows laptop, or Chromebook that runs a modern browser will work. If bringing one is a problem, email us before the workshop and we will try to sort something out.
Do I need to bring a 3D printer or buy software?+
No. We provide the printers, the filament, and the software. The AI design tools we use are free or have generous free tiers, so you can keep working after the workshop without paying for anything.
What do I actually leave with?+
A physical object that you designed during the session — printed on the day, in your hands when you go. It is included in the ticket, not an upsell.
What is the age requirement?+
The workshop is for ages 12 and up. Younger teens are very welcome; if the attendee is under 16 we ask that a parent or guardian comes along. Parents do not need a separate ticket to accompany a child, but do need one to participate and print.
Can I register more than one person?+
Yes. Choose the number of seats on the registration form and pay for all of them at once. Each attendee gets their own seat, their own design time, and their own printed object — so please make sure each person brings a laptop.
What if I need to cancel?+
Email us at appysstudioca@gmail.com at least 7 days before the workshop and we will refund you in full. Inside 7 days we cannot refund, since materials are bought and the seat is hard to fill — but you are welcome to send someone else in your place.
Four hours from now, you could be holding it.
Saturday, August 22, 2026 · 2:00 PM–6:00 PM · Newark, CA. $30 a seat, 10 seats, everything included.