In this instructable I'll be showing you how to make dice cup! I made mine to replace the one that came with zombie dice, but you could use it for yatzee, DnD, or whatever else you would need to roll dice for. I'll be painting the one I'm showing you, but you can decorate the outside however you want. Wrap it in leather, draw on it with sharpies, dip in in gold, whatever works for you

Before we start remember to be safe!!! There will be sharp objects used in this instructable. Hot glue guns can cause serious burns. If you're planning on using spray paint like I did wear a respirator and only paint in a well ventilated area.

Now lets get started.

Step 1: Tools and Materiels

For this project you will need:

A 1 pint jar with a lid (I'll talk about that in the next step)
Felt in whatever color you want (not a whole lot just enough to line the inside of the cup)
Scissors
X-acto knife or similar
Marker or pen or something
Hot glue gun
Sandpaper in various grits (I used 220, 440 and 1100)
Whatever you want to cover the front; paints, leather, sharpies, glitter, whatever

Optional but useful

Super Glue
Lighter
Painters tape

Step 2: Where to Find a Cup!

For the dice cup I'll be making in this instructable I'm using a talenti gelato jar. You can get it from Safeway and it is super delicious as well as vegan and gluten free if that's something you're into. They also come in these awesome twist off plastic jars which are super useful for paints, and inks and all that. Anyway once you finish eating wash your jar and let it dry.

If you cant find this particular jar, the kind powdered Gatorade comes in should work just as well

Step 3: Cut a Hole in the Lid

First step is cutting a hole into the lit of the jar. In the first and second picture you'll see where you need to cut to get the top of the jar to line up with the new hole in the lid. Grab your xacto knife or hot knife or whatever you want to use to cut out your plastic and get to work!

Its a good idea to take it slow and do a few passes with the knife and slowly work down the cut until its all the way through. If you cant figure out where to start the cut remember that its always better to not cut out enough rather than cutting out too much. Just start in a place you know for sure wont go past the edge of the jar and work your way in from there.

Step 4: Prepping the Outside

Once you get the hole cut out of the lid you'll want to sand it to get it nice and smooth and get the fit absolutely right. Start with the lower grits to take off the most material and get things shaped right then move up to the higher grits to smooth everything out and feeling nice, I started with the 220 grits, then 440, then wet sanded with 1100. Probably would've been good to have one in between there but I didn't have any 600 on hand unfortunately.

Also be sure to sand the outside if you plan on painting. The text and print is thick enough that it will show through when you're done.

Step 5: Primer, Painting and Clear Coat

I could probably write a whole instructable just on painting but there's already lots of info out there so I'll just stick to the basics. We'll start with the primer.

A good coat of primer is really important to promote paint adhesion and all that fun stuff. I prefer rustoleum painters touch. It comes in black, brown, grey and black. If you are going to be painting a lighter color like white or yellow, I would stick with the white primer. Brown and grey work really well for darker colors.

To start off I turned the jar upside down with the lid on. We don't want to get paint or primer on the inside or on the threading. At the end we'll be gluing it all together and you'll get a much stronger bond gluing plastic to plastic as opposed to a layer of paint. Anyway hit it with your first coat of primer. Its always a better idea to do a couple lighter coat rather than one heavy coat. Runs and drips are not what we want here. Once the first coat is done, set it aside to dry. Its super important to let every layer to dry properly before moving onto the next stage, so be sure to follow the directions on the can. I like to wait at least an hour in between coats. Watch some netflix, go outside, whatever just be patient because it will be much less fun to have to sand everything down and start over.

Once the first coat is dry take the lid off and put some tape on the threading to keep the paint out of there. I flip over the lid at this point to get the top primed and put the second coat down. Two coats is usually enough for the rustoleum primer, but if you feel like adding more feel free.

I didnt take any pictures of the paint or clear coating but its basically the same principle; a couple of light coats with plenty of time to dry in between. Before moving from paint to clear coat you should probably wait overnight and you should definitely let your clear coat dry for AT LEAST a day before moving on to the next step. We'll be a little rough with the lid so you'll want all the paint to be properly cure and adhered.

Step 6: Lining the Cup

We're in the home stretch now, all that's left is lining the inside of the cup. Plug in your glue gun to get it warming up and we'll cut out the felt while we wait. As an aside this was my second dice cup. This felt was quite a bit thicker than it was in the first one and it seemed to make lining everything a little more difficult so just keep that in mind.

First, trace out the bottom of the cup onto the felt. Its ok if its a little bit bigger, it'll be covered up by the edges. Next, roll up some felt and stick it in there to figure out how much you'll need to cover the sides. You could probably measure this or something but that would be a whole thing and I didnt do that. If you want to be fancy you can try to make the seam as hidden as possible, but be careful about taking too much felt off.

Cut both of these pieces out and get to gluing. Start by gluing the bottom piece. You might want to practice putting the piece in a couple times to get a better idea on how you can move it around and adjust it. Its gonna be really hard to adjust it once its in there with glue on it so just take your time.

Once the bottom is glued in drop the side piece back into the cup. I found it to be easier to glue it in sections. Just move the felt out of the way and put a bead of glue from bottom to top then stick the felt back down. Rinse and repeat until the felt is all glued down. You can now trim the felt down, fold the edge over and glue it to the top.

Step 7: Finishing Up

Last step! Take the lid and put some hot glue or super glue onto the inside in the threads. Then screw it on! You might need to force it down initially to get over the felt and it will probably put up a bit of a fight, but just keep screwing it down and it will get there.

Quick finishing tips:

If you used some thicker felt the top might not go down 100% of the way. If that happens just mask it off with some painters tape and give it a quick spray to get some paint in there. Clear coat again without the tape and let it cure.
You can burn off felt fuzzies with a quick pass from a lighter. Just dont keep it on there for too long because it will turn black really fast

All done! Your dice cup is now ready to use. Enjoy!