Shopping for the holidays can be a real drag. Sometimes that perfect gift you’ve been eyeing has sold out everywhere. Sometimes the frenzy of the mall gets to be a bit too much. And sometimes you don’t have the dough to buy all those expensive gifts. But you still want to show you care, right?
Well, hand-crafted gifts are a great way to do just that, especially if you’ve got an artistic side! These crafts are very customizable, and are sure to be a one of a kind treat.
3D Videogame Paper Diorama
Rough Price: $15-$20 total
This one will take a bit of time, but makes for a wonderful and cool decoration to hang on the wall when framed. It’s a picture-perfect gift! And the best part is that you can choose from a variety of video games, and from a pool of possible iconic and memorable scenes, or create your own scenes.
A simple set of instructions:
- Gathering images. A good resource would be VGmaps or any other sprite image collection database.
- Print out the images. Any paper will do.
- Cut each layer.
- Paste it together.
- Frame it!
Duct Tape Wallet
Rough Price: $3-$5 per tape roll
Functional and cool to look at, these wallets can also be tailor-made to any video game a person enjoys. While these are cheap to make, only requiring duct tape, scissors, and a ruler, the limit here is how detailed you want to be in your design. More detail means more types of tape will be needed to make those intricate designs.
You can get the tape from just about any store and the wallet is incredibly easy to make.
Yarny
Rough Price: $10-$15 total
The EA published game, Unravel features this red-colored buddy as its protagonist. Many were endeared to the walking yarn ball, and for good reason. Yarny has a cute and realistic design, easy to recreate.
The game’s website features a video with detailed instructions on how to make one. Few items are needed, but they include wire, yarn, scissors, and a bit of time. Yarnys are very cute and customizable, with your choice of yarn color and body shape.
Pixel Style Cork Board'
Rough Price: $15 total
Useful for keeping track of things, these cork boards cost about $10 to make. You can pretty much make any pixel image outline with these so long as it fits onto your corkboard. You can even coat them with acrylic paint to add another layer of personalization. A great guide, by Mortem3r, for a Zelda health gauge cork board set can be found on her channel.
Pixel Image Necklace
Rough Price: $8 total
As long as you have a small pixelated design to hand, you can make one of these little guys from stacking and gluing cardstock copies together. Simpler designs are easier, but don’t let that stop you from going all out.
These can also work as a keychain.
Published: Nov 22, 2016 07:19 am