19 Doctor Who Crafts You Gotta Try — Do It Your Freaking Self
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Doctor Who and thought, “I need a piece of this universe in my actual home,” you are in exactly the right place. Whether you’re a lifelong Whovian who remembers the classic series or someone who fell down the rabbit hole thanks to the Ninth Doctor and never came back up, this list has something for every level of crafter and every type of fan.
These projects run the gamut from beginner-friendly afternoon activities to more ambitious weekend builds. Some require nothing more than a printer and a glue stick. Others will push your sewing, painting, or woodworking skills. All of them are deeply, unapologetically nerdy, and every single one is worth your time. Let’s get into it.
1. TARDIS Bookshelf
This is the crown jewel of Doctor Who crafts, full stop. A TARDIS bookshelf is exactly what it sounds like — a freestanding or wall-mounted shelf built and painted to look like the iconic blue police box. You can build a simple flat version from plywood cut into panels, paint it that distinctive TARDIS blue (the official shade is closer to a muted navy than a bright cyan, so pay attention to your paint chip), add the “Police Public Call Box” sign across the top, and mount shelves inside the interior sections.
For the advanced version, add dimensional detailing with wood strips to replicate the panel lines, install a battery-powered light behind a frosted acrylic top panel to get that eerie golden glow, and paint the windows in a slightly lighter blue-white to give the impression of light inside. When your books are stacked inside, it looks like the most perfect statement piece any bookworm has ever owned.
What you’ll need: plywood or MDF boards, wood glue, sandpaper, acrylic or latex paint in TARDIS blue and black, white paint pen or vinyl lettering for the sign, a jigsaw or circular saw, and basic carpentry hardware.
2. Weeping Angel Garden Statue
Weeping Angels are among the scariest things Doctor Who ever produced, which makes them perfect yard art. Genuinely. A Weeping Angel garden statue made from chicken wire, cement, and a little patience turns your garden into a conversation piece that will make visitors do a double-take.
Form the basic shape over chicken wire, apply a few layers of concrete or hypertufa (a mixture of Portland cement, peat moss, and perlite that looks aged and weathered), and sculpt the details while the material is still workable. Focus on the draped robes and the covered face — that’s where the character lives. Once it’s cured, a dry brush of dark gray followed by lighter stone-gray highlights gives it that ancient monument look.
Fair warning: your neighbors will either love you or hate you for this one. There is no middle ground.
3. Sonic Screwdriver Pen
Turn a plain ballpoint pen into a sonic screwdriver with some craft wire, metallic paints, small beads, and a steady hand. Look up reference images of whichever Doctor’s sonic you want to replicate — Ten’s is elegant and tapered, Eleven’s is more organic and gnarly, and Thirteen’s is warmly industrial with the crystal at the top. Wrap copper or silver craft wire around the barrel of the pen, add small screw-on plumbing fittings for dimension, and finish with layers of silver, gold, and copper metallic paint with a dark wash to bring out the details.
These make incredible gifts for fellow fans and cost almost nothing to make once you have the base materials.
4. Dalek Pepper Grinder
This one is delightfully practical. Dalek pepper grinders exist in the official merchandise world, but you can DIY a more custom version by taking a tall wooden pepper grinder from a home goods store and transforming it. Sand it, prime it, and paint it in your chosen Dalek color scheme — black and gold for a Supreme Dalek, the classic bronze of the new series, or even the rainbow of colors from the classic era. Use small wooden balls or domed upholstery tacks for the Dalek’s characteristic spheres, and cut half-sphere shapes from craft foam for the dome sections. Seal everything well so it survives kitchen use.
Every time you grind pepper, you will feel slightly powerful.
5. TARDIS Door Phone Case
With a steady hand and some phone case paint markers, you can turn a plain clear phone case into a miniature TARDIS door. Map out the panel lines with a fine pencil first, paint the blue base color, add the white window panes and the “Pull to Open” sign in tiny letters, and finish with a gloss sealer. It’s a low-commitment project that takes maybe two hours and looks genuinely impressive.
If freehand painting isn’t your thing, you can print a TARDIS door design onto water slide decal paper, apply it to the case, and seal it. Same result, different approach.
6. Gallifreyan Word Wall Art
Circular Gallifreyan — the beautiful, intricate written language developed by fan artist Loren Sherman and used prominently in the show — translates English words and phrases into overlapping circles, dots, and lines that look like something between sheet music and sacred geometry. You can write out any word or phrase you want: your name, a meaningful quote, a loved one’s birthday.
Print a completed translation, trace it onto watercolor paper, and paint it in deep space blues and purples with a fine white pen for the details. Alternatively, cut the design from black vinyl on a Cricut machine and apply it directly to your wall or onto canvas. The result looks like it belongs in a museum, and nobody will know what it says unless they’re also a massive nerd.
7. Fez Knit or Crochet Pattern
Eleven wore a fez. Fezzes are cool. This is established canon and not up for debate. A crocheted or knitted fez is a surprisingly quick project — most patterns are achievable in an afternoon — and it’s one of those items that reads as charming and quirky rather than costumey when worn casually. Make one in classic red with a black tassel for Eleven’s iconic look, or experiment with other colors for your own variation.
Free patterns are widely available on Ravelry and Pinterest. If you’re brand new to crochet, a fez is actually a great beginner project because it’s basically just a tapered cylinder.
8. Adipose Plushie
The Adipose are fat little white blobs that wobble around and are aggressively adorable, which means they’re perfect plushie material. Sew up a simple rounded rectangular shape from soft white fleece, stuff it firmly, and embroider or glue on two small black bead eyes and a subtle button-dot mouth. The key to a good Adipose plushie is in the proportions — they’re chubby and compact with tiny stubby arms, so don’t overdo the limbs.
Make a whole family of them and line them up on a shelf. It will make you happy every single time you look at them.
9. K-9 Cardboard or Foam Build
K-9, the Doctor’s loyal robotic dog, is a beloved classic series character with a boxy, geometric design that translates beautifully into a foam or heavy cardboard build. This is a great project for families with kids who want to get into cosplay or prop-making because the shapes are all rectangles, squares, and simple curves — no complex pattern-making required.
Cut the panels from foam board or thick cardboard, assemble with hot glue, paint in silver and gold metallics with black detail work, and add a blinking LED to the nose panel for authenticity. K-9 weighs practically nothing when built from foam, so a completed display model can sit on a shelf without any structural worries.
10. Time Vortex Resin Pour Coasters
Resin coasters have taken over the craft world, and for good reason — the results look professional and the process is meditative once you get the hang of it. For a time vortex set, think swirling blues, teals, purples, and golds poured in circular patterns. Add a few drops of alcohol ink in contrasting colors and use a heat gun or toothpick to swirl them into galaxy-like spirals. Cast them in round silicone molds, wait 24 to 48 hours, and finish the backs with felt pads.
These make extraordinary gifts and are genuinely useful in a way that a lot of fan crafts aren’t.
11. Fourth Doctor Scarf
Tom Baker’s extraordinarily long multicolored scarf is one of the most recognizable costumes in television history, and it’s achievable by any knitter who can do basic garter or stockinette stitch. The original scarf was actually created by accident — the costume designer gave the knitter too much yarn and she used all of it — which means there are a few different “official” versions at different lengths and in slightly different color orders.
Replicate the original pattern, which runs roughly 12 to 14 feet long in a specific sequence of colors, or make an abbreviated three-to-four foot version to wear as a fashion accessory without requiring a wheelbarrow to carry. The colors include burgundy, mustard yellow, rust orange, caramel brown, oatmeal, and olive green — earthy, autumnal, and genuinely wearable as everyday knitwear even for someone who doesn’t know what Doctor Who is.
12. TARDIS Terrarium
A glass terrarium shaped like a lantern or a simple rectangular tank can become a miniature TARDIS scene with some blue-painted craft sticks, a tiny printed “Police Box” sign, and whichever miniature figurines or plants you want to include on the inside. You can go full sci-fi with tiny alien plants and miniature figures, or you can just create a peaceful moss garden inside a blue-paneled frame.
The key detail is getting the proportions of the TARDIS panels right on the glass. Use blue painter’s tape to map it out before committing with permanent paint markers.
- Cyberman Helmet from EVA Foam
For cosplayers who want to step up their game, a Cyberman helmet built from EVA foam craft mats is an incredibly satisfying project. The new-era Cyberman design has a lot of flat geometric planes connected at angles, which is actually less difficult to build than you might think — most of the complexity is in the painting and detailing rather than the base shapes.
Trace the panels onto foam, cut them out, heat-form any curves with a heat gun, connect them with contact cement, and seal the whole thing with a Plasti-Dip base coat. Then layer up metallic silver, dark washes, and silver dry-brushing for that cold mechanical finish. Add LED lights inside the eye panels wired to a small battery pack and you have a helmet that would turn heads at any convention.
14. Doctor Who Cross-Stitch Sampler
Cross-stitch might feel old-fashioned, but the Doctor Who fandom has turned it into an art form. Design or download a sampler that includes the TARDIS, a Dalek, the Doctor Who logo, a sonic screwdriver, and a beloved quote — “Allons-y,” “Geronimo,” “Never cruel nor cowardly,” take your pick — and stitch it on 14-count Aida cloth in a palette that complements your home decor.
The beauty of cross-stitch is that it’s entirely portable. You can work on it while rewatching episodes, which is a very satisfying loop.
15. Exploding TARDIS Candle
Making candles is easier than most people think, and a TARDIS-blue candle made to look like the exploding or glowing TARDIS from the series is a beautiful showpiece. Pour blue-dyed wax into a square silicone mold, embed small pieces of white and yellow wax at the center to look like light breaking through, and finish the outside with stamped or stenciled panel line details before the wax fully cures.
Use a fragrance that evokes the theme — something cool and clean like rain, ozone, or bergamot — and you have a candle that smells and looks incredible.
16. Dalek Pepper Pot Marionette
Take the pepper pot shape a step further and build a miniature Dalek marionette from paper mâché and wooden dowels. The key is in the base shape — a rounded dome on top, a wider skirt at the bottom, with a flat connector ring. Build it up over a balloon base, let it dry fully between layers, paint it in your chosen Dalek color, add toothpick plunger arms and a pointed “gun” arm made from a short wooden skewer, and string it from a simple wooden cross controller with thin wire or strong thread.
These are genuinely delightful puppets that even very young children can operate, making them a perfect craft for a family Doctor Who watch party.
17. TARDIS Bookmarks
On the simpler end of the spectrum, TARDIS bookmarks made from blue cardstock are a five-minute craft that produces results disproportionate to the effort involved. Cut a strip of blue cardstock, round the corners, draw or print the panel details and “Police Box” sign, add a small piece of laminate film to protect it, punch a hole at the top, and thread through a blue ribbon. That’s it. Make twenty of them and give them to every book-loving person you know.
If you have a Cricut or Silhouette machine, you can cut extremely precise panel line details from black vinyl and apply them for a more polished finished product.
18. Vortex Manipulator Leather Cuff
The vortex manipulator — the wrist-strap time-and-space-travel device used by Captain Jack Harkness and River Song — is a relatively simple prop to recreate as a wearable leather cuff. Cut a strip of brown leather to wrist width, add snaps or buckle hardware, and build up the central “screen” component from layers of craft foam painted in gunmetal and copper tones. A small clock face or printed circuit board image under a clear domed sticker or epoxy dome creates the screen effect.
It’s a wearable piece that looks like a unique steampunk accessory to people who don’t recognize the reference, and makes Whovians lose their minds when they do.
19. TARDIS Fairy Door
Fairy doors — those tiny painted wooden doors mounted low on a wall or at the base of a tree in the garden — have been a popular home décor craft for years. A TARDIS fairy door takes the concept and makes it infinitely better. Cut a tiny arched or rectangular door shape from thin plywood, paint it in TARDIS blue with all the relevant panel details, and add a miniature “Pull to Open” sign. Mount it at the base of a tree, at the bottom of a bookshelf, or in the corner of a child’s bedroom.
The implication that tiny Time Lords might be traveling through a miniature TARDIS in your garden is, objectively, the best thing you can add to any outdoor space.
A Few Tips Before You Start
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of done. The first time you build a foam prop or pour a resin coaster, it probably won’t look exactly like the reference images. That’s not failure — that’s learning. Doctor Who itself has never let a slightly wonky special effect stop it from telling a great story, and your crafts can have the same spirit.
Reference images are everything. Spend time before you start collecting good, high-resolution reference photos of whatever prop or character you’re recreating. Get angles, get details, understand how the light hits the surfaces. This preparation pays off enormously once you’re actually building.
The fan community is incredibly generous. There are thousands of Whovian crafters on Reddit, Instagram, Pinterest, and dedicated forums who share patterns, tutorials, templates, and encouragement. If you get stuck, someone out there has already solved your exact problem and written about it.
Finally — display your work. Put it on the shelf, hang it on the wall, wear it to the grocery store. Every piece you make is a small act of love for a show that has been running, in various forms, since 1963. It deserves to be celebrated. Now go make something.
