Last-minute shopping? Check out these construction-themed gifts to give to others or add to your own wish list.
Idea Builder
3D printing is gaining traction in the construction industry, as high-tech printers are creating everything from coffee mugs for the back office to concrete panels for use in energy-efficient walls.
The Dremel 3D Idea Builder won’t help you build a house, but it could help you decorate one. The manufacturer says the device, which Dremel calls “this year’s hottest – and hardest-to-find – gift,” can make a vase in three hours; a toy race car in five hours; or a golf tee in 15 minutes, among dozens of other options.
The Home Depot sells the Dremel 3D Idea Builder printers for $999.
Building blocks
Magnets can’t hold the pieces of a skyscraper or apartment building together, but they’re the secret “glue” inside the Original Magnetic Block sets by Tegu. The sustainably forested wood building blocks allow children—young and not-so-young—to create gravity-defying designs. Some come with their own protective pouches for stylish storage.
Buy them for $20 to $1,500 at tegu.com.
Indoor turf
Landscapers will get a kick out of a 23-inch-long dish-drying rack whose prongs look like healthy, green sod. The faux grass is sturdy enough to hold plates and mugs upright and keep them from clinking into each other. And you’ll never need to mow it.
Order it online from Finell fir $140.
Take it anywhere
The Prop Power Pro is an extension cord encased in bendable plastic so you can twist it to wrap around a ladder, table leg or sawhorse. The nine-foot cord has three outlets, which you can keep close to you as you climb a ladder or crawl into a tight space.
Find it online for $24.99 at Quirky.com.
Front-loader
From Best Made Co, this fire-engine red tool box drops open from the front or lifts open from the top, so you have the option of retrieving tools from the lower tray without having to remove the top, lift-out tray. It’s made from durable powder-coated steel and has heavy-duty side handles and two latches on the front panel.
The Front Loading Toolbox costs $94 and is available online at BestMadeCo.com.
Saw-cy
It’s kind of small for a power saw, but this lookalike pizza wheel cuts a crust like a carpenter. The Pizza Boss is built from durable, engineering-grade plastic and has a stainless steel blade. Like the saw in your tool shed, this one has a safety shield—you don’t want tomato sauce to splatter all over the place. But unlike the real deal, this miniature saw is dishwasher safe.
Buy it from Fred & Friends for $15.
Girl power
This is not your mother’s dollhouse: Two graduates of Stanford’s master’s program in engineering have designed a series of colorful, build-it-yourself modular toy buildings, complete with circuits, wall and floor panels, and even working doorbells. The $99 Roominate Estate, for instance, comes with 201 pieces in girly-girl colors like pink and purple.
Choose from more than a half dozen kits priced from $19.99 to $99.99 online or at Toys“R”Us stores.