Need an easy, fun craft for your Minecraft birthday party [1] (or Minecraft-obsessed kid)?  Make a foam sword and pickaxe crafting table!

I originally thought I would make foam swords and pickaxes for all the kids at the party.

But that turned out to be a lot of work, so I made a couple as decorations, and I turned the project into a craft instead of a favor.  

This is the kind of craft foam I used [2] (but don't buy it from Amazon if you have a craft store near you--it's less expensive from Michaels or Joann Fabrics).

I cut a ton of foam squares quickly using a rotary cutter [3] and a self-healing mat [4].  

Then the craft was as simple as providing the kids with the squares of foam, double-stick tape, and pickaxe [5]and sword cardboard shapes [6].  Just FYI, the shapes are kind of flimsy, and the pickaxe shapes are less sturdy than the sword shapes.  But this project was about the fun, not durability, so I didn't bother reinforcing the cardboard foundations.  If I were making a Minecraft sword for a Halloween costume, though, I'd definitely do something to add some rigidity.

My daughter and her friends absolutely loved crafting their own tools, just like in the Minecraft game.  And I got to take a massive project off my party to-do list.  Win-win!