Thirteen 3D printing enthusiasts from right here in South Africa have banded together to create a special 3D printing project for the last month of the year.

By remixing an existing design from 2012, they have made an advent calendar with a catch. To stop you from simply printing out all the gifts inside, they are going to be releasing one each day on Thingiverse.

What is available now is the calendar body itself which takes the form of a tree made up of interlocking blocks. Each block has the number of the appropriate day as well as a cavity to fit the appropriate gift.

If you want to print along with the project you can start with the tree and its files. Without the gifts the tree will use around 700 grams of filament, if printed at 20% infill.

Regulars to this site may recognise at least one name on the project in Tom Van den Bon, who has been marching on with his 365 3D printing project. With the year coming to a close this is the perfect way to finish his mission of creating a new 3D print for every single day of 2017.

It also coincides with his new YouTube channel, the first video of which is embedded below.

Make sure you check the description for the full list of local makers involved as well as links to their work. The files for the tree linked above also give you a rundown of who designed which gift on which day.

If you do plan on participating and firing up the printer each day, please let Van den Bon and the team know so we can see some South African cheer spread around the world.