Provided photo The Dickinson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon cutting for Love Bug 3-D printed toy store.

IRON MOUNTAIN — The Iron Mountain community will welcome a unique new local business as the Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting celebration for LoveBugDesigns.us, a family-owned 3D printing and design shop located in downtown Iron Mountain.

Founded by husband-and-wife team Tom and Love Laabs, LoveBugDesigns.us combines modern manufacturing technology with creativity, education, and hands-on fun for kids and families.

Tom grew up surrounded by creativity in his mother’s and grandmother’s ceramic studios, developing an early appreciation for art and craftsmanship. Later in life he worked as an enterprise-level IT technician before eventually transitioning to truck driving for more than 14 years. After back issues forced him to step away from the road, a simple gift to his wife — a 3D pen — sparked an idea that would grow into the business they operate today.

“3D printing reminded me of the creative environment I grew up with in ceramic studios,” said Tom. “Instead of molds and clay, we now design and build things digitally and bring them to life with printers.”

The couple first tested their creations at a local craft show with only enough items to fill one table. By the end of the first day of the two-day event, they had nearly sold out. Since then, the business has steadily grown in both production scale and design expertise.

The store’s name comes from Love’s childhood nickname, “Love-Bug.” For years she signed handmade gifts for family and friends as “Made by Love-Bug Designs.” When the couple decided to open their shop, the name felt like the perfect fit.

Today, LoveBugDesigns.us offers one of the most unique shopping experiences in the Upper Peninsula. The store features more than 15,000 3D-printed toys and fidget items, including their popular “Nano” toys — tiny fidget figures available in hundreds of models and many color combinations. A four-foot children’s pool inside the shop is filled with more than 10,000 Nano toys, allowing kids to explore and pick their favorites.

“We love having kids in the store,” Tom said. “As long as hands are clean, they’re welcome to play with the toys. Seeing kids discover how things work and how they’re made is one of the best parts of what we do.”

In addition to toys and collectibles, LoveBugDesigns.us provides a wide range of custom design and rapid-prototyping services. The shop can create everything from custom keychains and unique business cards to replacement parts for equipment and vehicles. Broken components can often be scanned, redesigned, and recreated using 3D printing technology.

For customers who need industrial solutions, the company can also design parts suitable for CNC machining or metal fabrication.

The shop also carries Made-in-the-USA 1.75mm PLA+ filament for 3D printers — currently the only retail location in the Upper Peninsula offering this material in stock.

LoveBugDesigns.us utilizes both traditional filament printers and a 16K resin printer capable of extremely fine detail, like text small enough to fit on a human hair, perfect for ultra precise machine parts, as well as the most complex high detail gaming pieces you have ever seen.

Education and community support are also important parts of the business mission. The company offers significant discounts for teachers and school programs and donates leftover filament segments for classroom 3D pen projects, helping educators stretch their budgets while encouraging creativity in students.

The shop also hosts local artist Amanda Hainstock of Craftlexia, who operates a resin-casting workshop in the store’s back studio and creates handcrafted pieces for customers.

“We believe creativity and technology should be accessible to everyone,” said Tom. “Whether it’s kids discovering their first fidget toy, teachers bringing new tools into the classroom, or businesses needing custom parts — we love helping people turn ideas into real objects.”