The Craftiest Workshop

My niece, Maggie, got married on Oct. 1. When we asked her if there was any gift we could make for her, she suggested a game of some sort.

As both Maggie and her new husband love activities outdoors, I decided to make them something that they could use outside. I had been toying with the idea of making some larger wooden block dice so I decided that a set of six dice would be their gift.

I used more of the same wood that I had used to make the wedding blocks. A Douglas Fir 4X4 that was cut into square blocks. Lots of sanding with the belt sander to get all six sides smooth enough to burn. I rounded the corners in hopes that it would help with the rolling.

I pulled out my older Walnut Hallow wood burner. It has a tip attachment specifically for burning circles. I matched a regular die having the 6’s opposite the 1’s, 3’s opposite 4’s and 5’s opposite the 2’s. One of the 6’s dots ended up turned sideways but still on the correct side.

The last step was an outdoor finish. I used Varathane Diamondstone finish and honestly, it is not my favourite. Lots of coats to get it smooth and it will leave whitish patches if you don’t smooth out everywhere well enough.

I took a blank notebook that I had and added some game rules and scoring sheets for three different dice games: Yahtzee, Farkle and Shut the Box. The scoring pages covered with clear plastic adhesive will give them the ability to keep score with a china marker then rub it off with paper towel. I also included a little bag of regular dice so they can play the dice games indoors as well.

Playing games is a big part of our immediate and extended family. It sounds like Maggie and Owen are gamers too. I hope they enjoy the dice but, if they decide that dice games are not their thing, they can always use the dice as games room decor.