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I’ve had an aversion to crafting in games since I spent hours making nothing but Iron Daggers in Skyrim when I was a teenager. Those self-inflicted hours of utter boredom put me off the system for life. However, crafting in real life is something I enjoy a lot more. Whether it’s building a set of shelves for my office or creating a little guy for my Warhammer army, I’m into it. One Minecraft player has combined both virtual and IRL crafting into one hobby, as he tests some of the game’s weirder recipes in real life, starting with paper.
It’s easy to understand how logs make planks and planks make crafting tables – that’s the fundamentals of carpentry right there – and even a beacon makes sense. Sure, there’s no such thing as a Nether Star in real life, but it’s a light source, surrounded by glass and an obsidian base. It logics.
Other Minecraft recipes, however, are more obscure. I get that this is a survival game and it needs to gamify mechanics in order to function, but why do you need a cobblestone block to make a lever? Similarly, how do you even make paper from sugarcanes?
One player took this personally, and challenged themself to making paper from sugarcane IRL. Yes, really.
First, they boiled the sugarcane in a big pot, before breaking down the fibres. Sugarcane is so tough that it initially broke their blender, before the player resorted to using a large log and tree stump as a makeshift pestle and mortar. The old-fashioned route worked a treat (after a couple of hours), and a pulp was formed.
After making their own mold and deckle (it’s some kind of frame-cum-sieve, just watch the video), and veering away slightly from the Minecraft recipe by adding some cornflour to the mix, they created a functional sheet of paper. It looks pretty fragile and very brown, but it’s paper. Apparently.
The whole project has got me thinking of more recipes that would be fun to recreate in real life. I could try making a brush out of a stick, some copper, and a feather. Making a pair of leggings out of diamonds might be more difficult, not to mention costly.
If you’re not sick of virtual crafting by now, try installing some of the best Minecraft mods in order to test your skills to the max. If you trust in your skills, pick one of the best Minecraft seeds for your next playthrough. I want to see you build Rivendell or something.
What Minecraft recipe do you want to craft IRL? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff discuss these sorts of important questions.
