Shaken (Not Stirred) Dice Shaker Potion Bottle and Dice Tray.

Is your tabletop space at a premium and you keep knocking over your scenery and models?

Are your opponents rolls too enthusiastic and you are fed up with picking the dice up off the floor?

Do you have too many dice to shake and roll in one, or even two hands?

If the answer is YES, then you need a shaken (not stirred) Dice Shaker Potion Bottle and Dice Tray.

This craft took me two evenings to make, and most of that was watching paint dry! So read on to find out how to create this easy but effective craft.

• A small bottle with a wide neck (so your dice roll out easily).
• 1 or 2 sheets of Newspaper (make sure you have already read them!) torn into approx 1 inch squares.
• PVA glue or Modpodge and something to apply it with.
• Paint (I used acrylic) and paintbrushes. Please see step 2 for more details on colours.
• Cardboard 22cm by 20cm
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Felt 22cm by 20cm

I love paper mache! In this case it gives a little texture and a good base for painting onto.

There are lots of different recipes and ways to make paper mache, so please use your favourite one! However just a simple PVA or (as I used) Modpodge straight from the bottle will be fine. I used an old paintbrush to help me apply it.

• Build up a gradual layer of newspaper scraps and glue, a little at a time. I started at the top and spiralled down to the base, making sure that the newspaper scraps were fully coated and stuck down and that they overlapped.
• Check there are no gaps or spaces and that all the newspaper has been gently pushed down.
• Give a final coat of your glue of choice to make sure it is sealed.
• LET IT DRY.

For your potion bottle you will need three shades of your chosen colour, plus black and white.

I used green, black and white because the white and black provided the different shades when mixed with the green, but if you have a variety of colours to pick from then give it a go!

• I started with green and painted the whole bottle with it, twice. LET IT DRY
• I then mixed in a little black and painted the "potion" (You can paint on as much or as little potion 'in' your bottle as you like!) LET IT DRY.
• I then added a little more black and painted the bottom. LET IT DRY
• Next you can paint a thin white line around the top of your potion layer (see my picture).
• Finally add a label by painting a white rectangle (LET IT DRY) with a black outline.
• Write on the Label using a thin paintbrush and black paint. (You only really get one go at this so as the saying goes: "measure twice and cut, or paint, once").

The tray is made using a simple net pattern, use the image to guide you.

• Take your piece of 20cm by 22cm cardboard and score a 2.5cm border all the way around.
• Snip the 4 corners to create the 'net' pattern.

• Now take your 20cm by 22cm piece of felt, snip out the corners (see my image in the previous step) and glue it to the cardboard.
• Wait for it to dry, checking that it has all stuck down.
• Fold the edges up and glue the ends round (again you can refer back to my image in the previous step). You can either hold the ends together yourself, use a clothes peg... or you can cellotape it... but I wouldn't recommend this as you can't easily paint cellotape!
• Once your tray is dry you can paint the outside just to smarten it up a little.

So here is my finished dice shaker and tray!

I hope you find it useful and I would love to see your own potion bottles (mine was Love Potion Number 9... what will be in your bottle?).