4 Gaming Crafts

michellericks95
Dec 4, 2014
5 min read

Hello all!

Going along with the theme of presents, here are some nifty and nerdy crafts that you can make! I have chosen crafts that both interest me and ones I have made. You can make them for gifts or just for fun, whatever suits your liking.

Triforce Box

I made this for The Gamer one Christmas. As you can see, its being put to good use as it holds some DSi and 3DS games, along with other random objects.

Difficulty: Easy

Materials: Green paint, wooden craft box, decorations (Triforce and text for me), hot glue gun, clear packing tape, and white felt

You can get a craft box from your local craft store. I think the one I bought was around $3-$5.
Paint the box your color of green. I chose a grassy looking green.
While the paint dries, find a Triforce image online. Print and cut out. For me, I also included the text, “Duh da duh da!” for the inside part of the lid. I was trying to imitate the sound that comes on during the games when you open a treasure chest in the Legend of Zelda series. I get an “E” for effort, ok?
You then put the Triforce and text on the box using the clear tape. If you want to make it fancier, you can buy Triforce charms like this one online and hot glue them to the box.
Cut the white felt so that it fits inside the box and hot glue it in there

Done! Doesn’t sound too hard, right?

“It’s Dangerous to go alone!” Key Holder

This functional craft is so nerdy! I love it!

Difficulty: Novice

Materials: 5”x7” wooden plaque (local craft store), black paint, 2-3 key hooks, a drill with drill bit and screwdriver attachments, Command strips or wall hooks, hot glue gun or Mod Podge, “It’s Dangerous to go alone!” image

Paint your plaque with your black paint. Let it dry.
Take your drill and bit and decide where you would like to place the key hooks. Make two small holes. Make sure these holes are slightly smaller than the size of the key hooks so you can twist those in securely.
Find an “It’s Dangerous to go alone!” image. Make two small holes into the image so that it lines up with the holes you made in the wood. Don’t use the drill for that. I hope that self-explanatory. You can print this off at home, make it into a photo and print it on photo paper, or go to a printing place and have it printed out on quality plastic. Hot glue to image to the wood if you use the plastic method. If you’re using paper, spread Mod Podge onto the wooden surface, quickly place your image onto the wood and apply a thin layer of Mod Podge over that. Let it dry.
Attach the Command strips WITHOUT taking the back cover off (or else you’ll have to deal with it sticking to things while you finish) or screw in your wall hooks with a screwdriver attachment for your drill or just use a regular screwdriver.
Twist your key hooks into the holes.

Voila! ‘Tis complete!

Perler Bead Characters

These look too meticulous for me to make, but if you’re a patient enough then these are the best things to make for the classic gamer. As I mentioned in the last post and as you can see from the picture, these are great ways to get the 8 bit look. Since I’ve never made one personally I will, from time to time, quote 8 Bit Dad who makes perler bead creations for his family on numerous occasions.

Difficulty: Novice to Advanced (Depending on which character you’re making and how big it is)

Materials: Perler Beads in the colors you need, perler boards (quantity depends on how large your creation will be), ironing board, ironing paper, and iron

If you don’t have a collection on Perler Beads or the boards on hand, you can find them on numerous websites and in many craft stores. This is where it can get pricey. It’s probably the second reason I don’t make them myself.
Start placing the beads on the board in the shape of the character. Some people eyeball a pattern online, others buy the patterns so they know just where to place them. In my research there is a great app called Bead It. As you can see from this video it looks quite handy!
Once the beads are in place, “Put the perler board onto your ironing board, put the ironing paper on top of it, and sit the iron on top of that. Apply, as they say, ‘gentle, even pressure’ for a minute or so. You can peek to see if the beads are fusing together, but please make sure you’re careful…”
“So, you peeked and it looks like the beads are semi-melty and fusing. Carefully peel the ironing paper all the way back, then – somehow – flip your creation over on the board. Sometimes you can simply take it off the board with your hands. If you have another perler board, you can hold one board over the other and flip it all over. Anyway, get the thing flipped however you see fit. Repeat the ironing process (including the part where you don’t drop it). When you’re done, let your character creation sit with the paper on top of it for a minute or so – you want to give it a chance to set and cool.”

And ta-da! Your creation is complete! With the Crono figure I bought, I took it up a notch and put it in a shadow box and printed and attached a background image of the Zeal Palace.

NES Lunchbox

I made this one and let me tell you it took a lot of effort. However, it was worth as The Gamer uses it to carry his lunch to work. He has received many compliments over the years about his awesome lunchbox, and I agree. It is awesome!

Difficulty: Advanced

Materials: A broken NES console, two silver hinges, two silver “latches” (I don’t know what else to call them), a black briefcase handle, a drill with a screwdriver attachment, a metal grinder, kind of like this one

You can find broken NES consoles online, MAKE SURE THEY ARE BROKEN! Once you’ve established its days of playing games are done, gut out the parts with your electric screwdriver. I had a good friend of mine help me with this part since I know nothings about tools. I decided to keep the Power and Reset buttons on to keep it looking authentic.
Note: I found the hinges, latches, and briefcase handle at Ace Hardware, but I’m sure you could find them at Wal-Mart too. Screw on the two hinges at the back of the console, aligning it so it attaches the top and bottom covers.

Next, screw on the “latches” onto the front.
Yep, you guessed it, and then screw the briefcase handle onto the front part, just below the cartridge slot.
The inside had a lot of plastic pegs. It was also kind of scary as the screws ends poked out. I had my dad use his metal grinder to dull the screw ends and flatten the pegs. It might smell funny as the pegs and screws are ground down, that's just some of the plastic melting. Be careful no to grind down too much or you'll have a hole in your lunchbox!