IRL Crafting: Mine-Crafting Axolittles

Can you imagine how hard and time-consuming Minecraft would be if you had to craft every single block in the game? Thank goodness that things like stone, grass, and dirt blocks exist without the need to make them from scratch!

But if you're making Minecraft crafts (or, um, Mine...crafts?) in the real world, you will have to create every single block yourself, like this Minecrafter Wuzu Clay has done for this teeny-tiny Minecraft world.

Wuzu used polymer clay to make this little diorama of the 1.17 update, which added lush caves and axolotls – it's a special kind of clay that works really well on a tiny scale, and only turns hard when it's baked in the oven. After crafting tons of mini-blocks in stone, grass, and dirt, Wuzu places them all one by one into a little mould, building up a cave shape with moss all over it. Then Wuzu places vines and glow berries, all of which are individually hand-made (!!) before adding details like fences, torches, chests, and grass.

The best part of this build is the best part of any Minecraft build: The axolotls! With a tiny Steve watching over them, the axolotls are free to play and frolic in a tiny pond made of blue clear resin, a substance that turns hard under UV light and looks like liquid even when it's cured. A couple of axolotls are then placed outside of the water, including one in a bucket (which everyone knows is the cutest way to transport axolotls).

The overall effect of this mini-diorama is incredibly impressive, with plenty of tiny details to find, including some creepers hidden in the shadows, ready to ruin the peaceful scene. But perhaps the most incredible attention to detail is in the video itself! Wuzu Clay has added sound effects to each block – so every stone block makes the sound of placing a stone block, every grass or moss block makes the sounds of vegetation, and even the resin water sounds like someone emptying a bucket. How cool is that?

If you want to have a go at making something like this, polymer clay is very easy to find in craft and art shops and you can mix colours to make new ones, so all you need to get going is just a handful of basic colours. You can also get tools to make the shaping easier, like knives or special things that make dimples, but you don't need them to get started!

If you want to give a project like this a go, make sure to post it on social media with the hashtag #FeatureMeMinecraft so we can see and maybe even share your work!