D&DIY Book Dice Box

[@dela213]

Nice, low cost project. I was thinking that you could glue the elastic band on the inside of the back cover to hide the glue spots and add some strength as well. Another idea would be to use felt on the inside and some wood slats on the inside against the cut page edges to give it a neater appearance. Both would be cheap and easy upgrades.

[@FitzTheGame]

The elastic band was a late addition, I was trying a latch at first but it wasn't working out. If/when I make another one, I'll definitely glue the band under(if I don't use magnets. The slats and felt would be a great addition, I'd have to do a better job cutting the pages in a straight line though lol.

[@grandmasmagic3858]

l was going to suggest the same thing but you beat me to it..l think the insides needed something to hide the glued sides as well.now to hit up an op shop and find a book that one wont mind cutting up..

[@jjw2437]

This is a PERFECT solution to my dice box dilemma! Thank you so much for the "Shawshank Redemption" approach to a dice box. For almost a year now, I've been drawing up designs for a custom dice box for my wife that doubles as a dice holder. I wanted to make it out of wood. But this is much simpler, cheaper, and if I mess up, it's easy to try again.

[@jjw2437]

I'm actually going to carve out little furrows along the edges to hold the dice and label each furrow with the sized dice that should be kept there. My wife has a hard time remembering what the difference between d8s and d10s are, and d12s and d20s.

[@FitzTheGame]

That dice pain is real. Not an uncommon problem to have, especially for players that don't dabble in much other gaming. I think your idea is a FANTASTIC one. You may need a slightly larger book if you are carving out sections like that though, or some fine carving work. You could do some fancy spell book decorating with a larger book too. Some nice accents and maybe an old leather belt to act as a clasp to keep things closed during storage.

[@dindranew.6808]

What a great idea! It would be fun to theme which book you used for the character somehow, though I guess we'd all end up with a whole shelf of dice boxes. :p Still, something like a book on trees for a druid? COOL. Or a book on the history of music for a bard? Thanks for the inspiration and the DIY!

[@FitzTheGame]

You say "shelf of dice boxes" like it's a bad thing.

[@dindranew.6808]

@@FitzTheGame HA! Good point. :D Every wall in the house should be lined with bookcases already, so why not preserve a few shelves for dice boxes?

[@FitzTheGame]

Exactly, it's all relative. If you have one bookshelf then a full shelf seems excessive. If your whole house is a series of bookshelves then it's not such a big deal. Also, I enjoy making things like these dice boxes for new players I bring to D&D, so themed books would be a great way to customize to the player.

[@Para-tc5uv]

First time watching but I am dieing from that intro

[@FitzTheGame]

Haha thanks. I made it as a place holder on my first video and just said "Why not roll with it?"

[@Para-tc5uv]

Nice pun Oh and great tutorial

[@420phoebe]

should’ve cut a divot in the half inch wall for magnets to keep it shut other than that this was a pretty good box

[@FitzTheGame]

Magnets would be a lot better. I played around with some magnets, but it was too late in the build to try and make it work. I may revisit the idea at some point and figure out the magnets.

[@Nyives]

I'm thinking about doing this with the magnet idea and using a satin material for the bottom. Essentially, I want it to double as a dice tray. My wife DMs a campaign my friends and I play and I want to show her my appreciation by making my brilliant bookworm of a spouse a book dice box/tray.

[@FitzTheGame]

Great idea. My box is holding up well, I'm so pleased with it and get quite a few compliments. I actually want to make another one, I may have to copy your idea and gift one to my wife too. I found some really good quality magnets at Michael's that are small but strong enough to be perfect for this build.

[@bluecorvidart]

This was fun to watch! I know it's a little old, but I've got some thoughts! - People have mentioned gluing the band into the back cover before adding mod podge already, and I gotta say I didn't expect the band for the way to close the book but I think it's definitely one of the best options I've seen. People have suggested other stuff like magnets and I just don't think they're as secure. You wanna keep those dice in there. - You could get some cardboard, foam board, or balsa wood to trim the edges of the inner box, and you could save the top few pages when you're mod podging/cutting and cut the hole a little smaller so that the paper covers the edge of the trim when you glue it down. (So you could be pretty rough with most of the pages and only worry how the top looks.) You could clean up the bottom by cutting a cardboard insert to a little less than the size of the box's interior and covering that with felt/fabric/leather before gluing it down. I've also seen people texture and paint foam to look like cobblestones/castle walls and that might be cute. I've got the materials and inclination to do my own book-binding for the base (and tons of used scrap paper I've sketched or made notes on that I'd be more than happy to fill it with,) so I think this will be a fun project. Thanks for the inspiration! :)

[@FitzTheGame]

I have reached liked the bad over time, it does it’s job well. The glue did let go at one point(lots of in and out of a bag), was a easy fix with another dab of hot glue. The book-box get plenty of use though, so it was a minor inconvenience for a very short time. I really like your idea of lining the inside of the book to hide those unsightly inner walls. I’d love to see what you come up with for your own book. Feel free to dm me some pictures on Instagram if you feel like sharing.

[@scottier5590]

Love the Seal Kissed by a rose joke!!! Great work!!

[@FitzTheGame]

Thanks, I forgot that was even in there haha.

[@fayerussell1429]

For people who have a lot of dice sets or maybe using a bigger book, or, like to keep them in order you could put a piece of foam on the insideand cut holes for your dice like they have inside of the nicer dice boxes you could even cut rows if you had several sets

[@FitzTheGame]

That is a fantastic idea. I did something similar with a nice box I made for a friend’s daughter, more so made compartments for pencils, eraser and sharpener. It would be a great addition to this project, good idea.

[@ldyjewell]

You should glue the elastic inside the back cover before gluing the pages down. Alternative closure would be some Velcro dots on the inside of the cover and book pages. Other ideas: cut pages out in blocks for rows of dice or figures.

[@FitzTheGame]

Great ideas. I decided to add the elastic too late in the process to glue it under the pages, that would have helped a lot. I love the idea of Velcro. That hasn’t crossed my mind, but it would be easy to add and would hold the book closed while travelling. Awesome idea. I like the idea of adding the rows for minis, I feel like it would be hard to cut those and leave a satisfying amount of space for everything. Maybe adding a row defined by a wooden dowel under the foam layer would work though. Thanks for the ideas.

[@Deeleybop80]

Great idea. I’d glue the elastic into the inside of the cover before gluing the pages

[@FitzTheGame]

Yeah, that’s is a great idea. I had the same thought…after I had glued the back cover down. Was a bit too late lol.

[@CardboardCleric]

So simple - I love it. gonna look out for some tome like books now! Probably gonna use a magnet for the closing mechanism. Also if you make another one put the rubber band in first between the pages and the cover. that would look even nicer

[@FitzTheGame]

Yes, the magnet would be a great addition. I still use mine as my main dice box and still love it as much as the day I made it.

[@CardboardCleric]

@@FitzTheGame I finally made a version myself and improved it a little bit by starting with the closure - feel free to check it out on my channel - would love to know what you think.

[@FitzTheGame]

@@CardboardCleric will do, thanks for letting me know.

[@sarahjadevolkmann5555]

Such a cool idea!!! I’ll definitely be trying this out in the future!

[@FitzTheGame]

I highly recommend it. I get lots of compliments every time I set mine on a gaming table. It looks great and is really functional.

[@chefsg591]

This is my project for this weekend. Great work!!!

[@FitzTheGame]

Fantastic idea, let me know how it turns out. I’m itching to make another one myself.

[@chefsg591]

@@FitzTheGame I'm gonna to try my hand at 2. First just yours and if I get it right, make a larger one and try to incorporate a dice tower.

[@FitzTheGame]

Very nice. Dice tower would be a great addition.

[@dragonssweetie13]

Maybe watch some tutorials for making a custom cover for your "book"?? That way you could make it as magical as you want... nerdforge has some good ideas you could look at possibly... it's just an idea

[@joehayward4545]

You could have covered the book so it would look like a spell book. That would cover the torn spine & the tabs for the elastic. Your idea was good.

[@FitzTheGame]

Yeah that's a great idea. I've made spell book dice boxes out of regular boxes before. The idea of taking an old book and just spicing it up a bit would add a lot of character.

[@pepijnwarmerdam8784]

If you do that it is a good idea to remove some pages from the book to create room for the extra material, say every tenth or fifteenth page.

[@joehayward4545]

True.

[@killerklavvenn]

Put your stretchy band in the pages before gluing or ModPoge.

[@FitzTheGame]

Yeah, good advice. I ended up adding the band in as a last minute idea, I was originally going to use magnets but then i remembered that the book/box would be spending a lot of time in my backpack so I wanted something a little more secure than just a magnet. I agree with you 100% though tucking that band inside the pages would have worked a lot better.

[@killerklavvenn]

@@FitzTheGame And you can make the band as tight as you want ( there is adjustment there) a magnet is only as strong as it is.

[@FitzTheGame]

Exactly!

[@CrowzenOver]

Really well done!

[@FitzTheGame]

Thanks.

[@50plymouths]

Was good... only thing I would put the elastic inside under the mod podge

[@FitzTheGame]

Yeah, that would have been better. The elastic was a lat minute thing so I didn't think it through all that much. I've already had to fix it once.

[@edmondwilliams4703]

Nice. I would thought that he would use a magnet(s) with metal to keep it shut.

[@FitzTheGame]

That would probably work well but I had neither on hand and the book was a bit too small to fit a chunky magnet in the margins without it being visible. Also I wanted it to go in a backpack and I wanted something more secure then a magnet to stop the dice from spilling out in my bag.

[@G11354]

Very cool.

[@FitzTheGame]

Thanks!

[@yoshisushi3016]

I can't believe you only have a little subscribers

[@FitzTheGame]

That's mostly my fault. I dropped the ball on content creation. I'll get back into it soon when I have a proper recording space set up.

[@madisontapp5623]

You deserve more subscribers ^u^

[@FitzTheGame]

Wow, thank you. I would have more if I could find the time to upload more regularly, it’s my own fault lol. I’m hoping to change that really soon. I have lots of ideas rattling around in my brain.

[@1Sweetness]

Why could you have not done that with a cigar box and a book cover?

[@FitzTheGame]

You totally could have, probably would have offered more stability. I liked this way because it looks very natural on a shelf. Until you open the lid, from even a short distance it still looks like a book.

[@yoshisushi3016]

Like this

[@two_j_julianj1501]

Can I use something other than modpodge?

[@FitzTheGame]

For sure. I've seen people use white glue, or you could use some small strips of wood as the sides and paint them to look like pages.

[@yoshisushi3016]

Can you make more cheap tutorials

[@FitzTheGame]

Sure can. I have some ideas lined up, just need to find the time to get them done.

[@yoshisushi3016]

@@FitzTheGame cheap ways to get or make minis

[@yoshisushi3016]

@@FitzTheGame a mini little dice tray