This 11-Year-Old Used Her Savings for a Bambu Lab Printer, Now It’s a Viral Family Business
Meet the family behind LittlePrintyCo, an overnight Instagram and Etsy sensation running four basement printers after 11-year-old Milla's passion sparked a booming brand.
Most parents introduce their kids to new hobbies. Eleven-year-old Milla did it the other way around, walking her family into 3D printing, building a business, and bringing them all closer together in the process.
It started with a 3D printed fidget board that one of Milla’s classmates had made on a Bambu Lab A1. She came home fascinated and full of questions. How does a printer turn a digital file into something you can actually hold? Could their family make their own designs?
Rather than asking her parents, Gui and Cynthia, for a printer of her own, Milla began to research. She compared models, watched videos, checked prices, and built a considered case for why the Bambu Lab A1 or P1S would be the right fit for her needs. Then she used her own savings to buy one.
“I didn’t even know what a 3D printer was,” Gui says. “She knew everything.”
That was the beginning of LittlePrintyCo, a name Milla chose herself.
From One Printer to Five, and More than 75,000 Followers
Three months later, the family had four Bambu Lab P1S printers running in their basement, a growing Etsy store with nearly 500 sales, a market stall that sold out on its first day, and an Instagram account that had exploded to more than 75,000 followers. One video even reached 2.5 million views. Families from Australia, India, Indonesia, and the US flooded the comments.
“We went to sleep at 91 followers,” Gui says. “I woke up and we had 600. We went out, came home, 3,000. By the end of that day, 10,000.”
The printers have names, Matilda, Cassilda, Ophelia, as well as Romeu and Millo, the only boys in the family.
A Business and a New Way to Be Together
When Gui and Cynthia describe what LittlePrintyCo has brought into their home, they don’t lead with the sales figures. They lead with the family.
Both parents work full-time remotely. Before the business, they shared a house but moved in different directions. Now they’re in the basement together every day, working through ideas, solving problems, and building something as a team. Even the eldest daughter, Malu, 13, who was initially focused on volleyball quickly changed her mind and joined in.
Each family member has found their lane. Milla works with designers, manages inventory, packs orders, and tracks what customers are actually buying. Malu creates content and brings energy to the brand on camera. Gui handles social media, logistics, and the financials. Cynthia manages listings, photography, and video production.
“We are spending so much more time together,” Gui says. “All day, we are talking about ideas, what to make next, what people are asking for. We didn’t expect this at all.”
“It’s not only about selling products,” Cynthia adds. “It’s about creativity, communication, teamwork, responsibility, and learning how ideas become something real that people enjoy and connect with.”
All It Takes Is an Idea
Milla and her family didn’t have a business plan, nor did they have a background in design, manufacturing, or e-commerce. They had one person with an idea and the willingness to follow her into something new.
“I thought it would just be something fun, but it ended up bringing our whole family together even more,” Milla says.
Follow LittlePrintyCo on Instagram at @littleprintyco (or visit its Etsy shop), and head to MakerWorld to explore thousands of free beginner-friendly models and get started today.