If there is one group of beings that know all about hunting, gathering, saving, and hoarding, it is video game characters. From old-school Pac-Man to today’s first-person story-driven games, there is always at least one item we seek to collect.
For all those who love their video games, try a “savings container” as a quick and simple craft based on some well-known collectibles from Midway’s Pac-Man, Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, and Bethesda’s Fallout series.
The Pac-Man and Sonic crafts are perfect for all ages since the games themselves are all-ages. Find a small clear glass or plastic jar or similar container. Gather a package of plain white marbles or pearl beads (for the Pac-Man jar) or gold craft rings or jump rings as used in jewelry-making (for the Sonic jar). You can also add a few little plastic jewels or beads to resemble Sonic’s chaos emeralds and give it some color.
Fill the jar about halfway with the marbles or rings. Create a cool sticker with a stick-on label or a simple small piece of paper to finish it off. This is where you can make it fun. Hand-draw on something that relates to the game or cut out a favorite image to decorate it.
Add words like “Take as Needed to Prevent Ghosts” or something much cleverer than that.
Yes, it is that simple.
A slightly harder variation of these can be made for Fallout fans, primarily teens and older gamers. 
A plain shadow box, red bottle caps, and some stickers and printable images are all you need for the Fallout emergency rations. For this one, collect or save as many red bottle caps as you can. Good old plain Coca-Cola caps work great for this, but it can be any brand that’s red. We’re going to turn them into “Nuka-Cola” caps, a preferred currency in the game for everyone who lives past the year 2093. I used about 50 caps in this craft.
Since we are doing “simple” crafts, you don’t have to design your own bottle caps. A quick Google search of “Nuka-Cola bottle cap templates” will pull up many free fan-made sheets of these bottle caps. There are even some for other drinks or Nuka-Cola varieties if you want to mix up the colors. These shouldn’t be too hard for anyone wanting to design their own, as they are simply white brush script font on red circles.
Cut out the caps and glue them to the top of the bottle cap. Use a file around the edges to make them look worn and old, like the ones found in the game.
Now, use a small shadow box, and fill it halfway through with the caps. Finally, use some letter stencils or stickers to paste the phrase: “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass.”
To add a little extra, find an old small hammer or beat-up wrench and attach it with a string to the side of the frame. Use a nail or screw eye hook in the side of the shadow box if the frame is wooden. If you have a shadow box with a metal frame, simply set the hammer or wrench on top.
The jars can be fun party favors for a gaming-themed birthday or desktop decoration. The shadowbox goes well on the wall of a game room, dorm, or even an office.
It is always a good idea to save up for a rainy day. Pac-Man, Sonic, and the vault dwellers will be glad you did.
