Getting Crafty With Gamers

I don’t know about you, but when I think “video games,” I suddenly have the urge to watch The Martha Stewart Show. I mean, who wouldn’t feel compelled to scrapbook after playing 5 hours of your favorite FPS?

Honestly, that’s not really my cup of tea, but games inspire all sorts of strange reactions in people, some more wholesome than others. Some become inspired to kill after playing Grand Theft Auto; others become inspired to make felt clothing after playing Zelda. From one hobby emerges another, and certain gamers’ talents have gone far beyond just wiping out any enemy in their path on a monitor.

8-bit games lend themselves well to many crafts. You can pretty much make any classic Atari or Nintendo character out of beads and it’ll look like they jumped out of your screen and came to life. With people making everything from coasters, to magnets, to trinket boxes, to framed art, these beads aren’t just for kids anymore. Some have even become sheer da Vincis of these plastic doodads, graduating to Super NES-level art with their mastery of this medium.

If needles and thread are more your thing, then why not try making a lovely Space Invaders quilt? Nothing says sci-fi more than grandma’s favorite pastime! If you’re not sewing-inclined yourself but still feel like cuddling up with some adorable extraterrestrials, you can do so for the hefty price of $250 on Etsy, a Mecca for quirky craft-lovers to buy and sell the gleefully geekiest of goods. This particular item is by Carolina Patchworks, but there are plenty more VG-related items elsewhere on Etsy to inspire an “awww,” so I recommend browsing when you’re burnt out after long sessions of online gaming.

Cross-stitching has become yet another artsy outlet for needle and thread-loving gamers. Blogs like Spritestitch are entirely devoted to game-related cross-stitched creations and other oddball delights. Considering the detail in some of these pictures and the amount of time they must have taken, I wonder how these stitchers have time for gaming anymore—or anything else for that matter. Some display their patience by trying to beat the same FFXI bad guy for 18 hours straight, while some prefer to spend that time cross-stitching him. Either way, after they’ve succeeded, they either deserve a trophy or a straitjacket.

I guess the video games/arts & crafts tie-in makes sense. If people enjoy using their hands to push buttons, then why not use them to sew or glue little beads together? I’m kind of warming up to this idea. Maybe next time I play Silent Hill, I’ll attempt to make yarn dolls of the monsters I encounter and sell them online!