What started in Rexburg, soon made its way across the world, and is now a successful business called Tiny 3D Temples. Founder Brad McGary is a mechanical engineer turned entrepreneur. Using a 3D printer was just a small personal project and hobby before it bloomed into a full-fledged business driven by the various customer requests.
“I just started designing little, tiny temple ornaments and so on. Then some people just started asking for models of their particular temple, it just kind of snowballed from there to what we have now today,” McGary said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.
Tiny 3D Temples is a business that 3D prints models of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from around the world into beautiful home decorations. Each temple is customized to the buyer’s wants, whether they want a nightlight for their children or a replica of the temple they were married in, they are unique and personal to the customer.
However, Tiny 3D Temples isn’t just about replicating the different structures, it’s about creating meaningful connections. McGary recounts memorable moments where customers requested temples for weddings, anniversaries or even memorials. Whatever the occasion, he delivers. He says his temple creations are nice reminders of the eternal perspective of families that Latter-day Saints have.
But business hasn’t come without its own challenges, navigating the market fluctuations and being able to balance owning a business with personal life can become quite a struggle, McGary says. But he believes there is no greater reward than doing something that you love.
“We’ve created every single temple and had that displayed in Temple Square in (The Church’s) Temple Department. (We’ve gotten) a couple of orders from apostles and had the chance to meet them. That’s been a fun experience,” he said.
Looking ahead, Tiny 3D Temples aims to continue innovating and coming out with more variations of projects. Beyond temple replicas, they have laser-engraved plaques, Christmas ornaments, customized state plaques and so much more. McGary is always coming up with new ideas and says sometimes he has a little too much fun in his workshop.
“It’s something that you can’t get at Walmart or at the grocery store. It’s something that’s unique, special and it shows that you put some personal effort into the gift,” he said. “I would like people just to feel a sense of personal connection with every gift that they get from us.”
If you are interested in taking a look at their catalog or purchasing an item from their store, you can find it all on tiny3dtemples.com. They also have an Instagram account at tiny3dtemples.
