Player-Crafted Items

layer-crafted items include pretty much every secondary craft item that is created by taking primary resources and primary crafted items and combining them.  One of the larger selection of crafts, as the game progresses and, especially once it makes the transition to the Xbox 360, it is expected that this area of crafting will swell immensely.

The following items presently make up this category:

-- Blaze Powder

This very useful Crafting Resource is obtained by breaking down Blaze Rods, and serves as both a Crafting and Brewing ingredient.   It is widely considered to be one of the most desirable player-crafted resources in the game not only because it is an ingredient in making Magma Cream, but also because it is required for the crafting of The Eye of Ender, and Fire Charges, as well as Mundane Potions and the Potion of Strength.

It must be noted that players wishing to reach the End Game will want to obtain a supply of this resource as they simply cannot do so without it.

-- Books

After they were added in the Alpha the only use that Books had were in creating Bookshelves, which are in turn an integral part of Enchantment -- though it is said that at some point in the future players will be able to write in Books...

At present three sheets of Paper make one Book, and three books are required as ingredients for making one Bookshelf.  One Book is required to make an Enchantment Table.

-- Bowls

Bowls are containers which are made from Wooden Planks.  As of the writing of this guide, their only function in the game is for making Mushroom Stew.  They cannot be used as a decoration, though it is said that this is an idea that is being explored for later updates.

Using Bowls for making the food item Mushroom Stew uses the bowl, but once the Stew is consumed by the player, the empty Bowl is returned to their inventory.  If the player uses a Bowl in place of a Bucket when they are milking a Mooshroom (Cow variant) they will obtain Mushroom Stew in place of Milk.

Note that the player should NEVER use a stack of Bowls to milk a Mooshroom with, since the Stew does NOT stack, and so all but one Bowl in the stack will be destroyed when the Stew is obtained in that fashion.

- Bricks

Bricks are created by firing Clay Balls in a Furnace; the only purpose for making Bricks is to then turn them into Brick Blocks (they have no other use), so it is generally considered to be a two-step process, thus the player fires the Bricks and then turns them into Brick Blocks.

-- Buckets

Crafted from three Iron Ingots, Buckets are an incredibly useful tool in that they can be used to carry water, especially for filling Cauldrons, and can be used to obtain Milk from Cows and Mooshrooms.  Buckets can also be used for transporting Lava, which is particularly useful for transporting and containing Lava for use as Furnace Fuel for large firings and for powering player-created machines and plants -- such as the Obsidian Alchemical Plant.

Most players consider it a good idea to carry an empty Bucket with them as part of their standard kit in case they happen upon a Cow of Mooshroom.

-- Eye of Ender

Used to activate the End Portal, the Eye of Ender is a player-crafted item that is used to activate End Portals by being placed into empty End Portal Frames until the entire ring of 12 Frames are filled, at which point the End Portal is activated and the player can pass through it.

In addition to activating the End Portal, The Eye of Ender is also used to locate the End Portal by leading the player to its Frame, which is located inside a Stronghold.  This is accomplished by throwing The Eye of Ender, which causes it to float in the direction of the nearest Frame, thus leading the player to it.

When The Eye of Ender is used in this fashion there is a chance that it will be destroyed -- and considering that populating the Frame takes 12 units the player will need to make a LOT of them in order to locate and then activate the Frame...  And considering that crafting of The Eye of Ender requires both an Ender Pearl and Blaze Powder, obtaining the required number to accomplish this is no small task!

-- Fermented Spider Eyes

A crafted item that is used as an ingredient for Brewing negative effect potions such as the Potions of Harming, Weakness, and Slowness.  Once brewed the player can convert these to Splash Potions using Gunpowder so that they can be thrown at enemies to do damage to them, as opposed to drinking them, which would hurt the player.

The primary ingredient in Fermented Spider Eyes is, of course, Spider Eyes, which are obtained by slaying Spiders.

                    

-- Glass Bottles

First and foremost in the eyes of the player, the Glass Bottle is the basic container for Potions -- but it actually begins as a Bottle of Water, which the player creates by filling a Glass Bottle from a Water Source.  You can fill them from Cauldrons, but that is not a very efficient method since filling three Bottles will empty the Cauldron, so you will have to fill it again with a Bucket of water to use it again...  The reason that Cauldrons are used as a source for Water is in the case of being in The Nether, where you cannot find Water Source Blocks - so you have to bring the Water in Buckets in your inventory, then place a Cauldron, fill it, and then fill the Glass Bottles in order to obtain Water Bottles there.

Glass Bottles are made using three pieces of Glass, which in turn are made by firing Sand in your Furnace. 

-- Glistering Melon

The Glistering Melon (not Glistening Melon) is not food -- that is to say it is not edible, and does not restore health as such, but rather it is an ingredient in Potion Brewing that adds health restoration to Potions and is used in the Brewing of Mundane Potions.

Glistering Melons are crafted by placing a Gold Nugget and a Melon Slice anywhere in the Crafting Window, the catch to this being you will need to grow Melons in order to harvest them and obtain the slices, but to do that you have to hunt down chests in Abandoned Mines in order to obtain your firsts set of seeds with which to make your first crop. 

Once you have the seeds though, you can plant the Melons and grow them, and as you harvest the fully matured plants you can obtain Slices, and by crafting some of those Slices, you will then obtain additional Melon Seeds.

The trick to growing Melons is the same as with Pumpkins -- that is, you create irrigated soil by placing a Water Source Block in the area (it will irrigate all of the squares for four blocks in every direction), then tilling the soil and planting the seed, which will grow the vine.  In order to obtain the fruit you must leave a blank (untilled, unplanted) spot beside the vine so that there is a space for the fruit to spawn.  Easy-Peasy!

-- Magma Cream

This is perhaps one of the more tactically useful of the crafts that you can make in that it is one of the core ingredients in both the Mundane Potion and the Potion of Fire Resistance -- the later being rather important for your forays into Hell -- I am just saying...

The recipe for Magma Cream is a Slimeball and Blaze Powder, which is created using the Crafting Table.  This is then used with the Brewing Station to create the desired Potion.  Never underestimate the value of the Fire Resistance Potion -- after all, in addition to protecting you from fire-based attacks it also allows you to swim in lava!

-- Paper

This is a simple little bit of crafting joy and the reason why in addition to fishing, you will want to have created a pond or lake in the grass inside the walls of your Stronghold -- because you can plant Sugar Cane along the edges of your pond and, harvesting the top two segments of those (allowing the bottom segment to remain and continue to grow, replenishing your supply), you will have a never-ending supply of Sugar Cane and thus, a never-ending supply of paper! 

Why is that important?  Well, simply because you need Paper to make Books, Maps, and also to make Bookshelves and your Enchantment Table, items that will be very important the closer you get to the End Game!  It may not seem all that important now, but it will be later, trust me on that!

-- Potions

Touched on in other entries (read the one for Glass Bottles) Potions are a Godsend in the game, as they provide many functions, from healing to doing damage and more.   Each Potion type has four tiers, and each tier is stronger than the one before it.  By adding Gunpowder to your Potion you make it a Splash Potion (throwable) which is great for damage-based Potions, but can be very useful for beneficial ones as well since you can throw them at your feet and heal yourself and your pet in the doing of it!

There are a number of classes of potions, under which there are a number of types.  At the present time these are the Classes and Types of Potions:

(I) Base Potions (These have no effect when you drink them)

Water Bottle -- The Foundation for every Potion recipe.

Awkward Potion -- The Foundation for all primary potion recipe.

Thick Potion -- The Foundation for Potion of Weakness.

Mundane Potion -- The Foundation for Potion of Weakness and Splash Mundane Potion.

Mundane Potion (Extended) -- The Foundation for Potion of Weakness (Extended).

(II) Positive Effect Primary Potions

Potion of Fire Resistance -- Gives immunity to damage from fire, lava, and ranged Blaze attacks.

Potion of Healing -- Restores 6 hearts of health per tier.

Potion of Regeneration -- Restores health.

Potion of Strength -- Increases melee damage by 3 hearts per tier.

Potion of Swiftness -- Faster movement, sprinting speed, jumping length and field of view.

(III) Negative Effect Primary Potions

Potion of Harming -- Inflicts 6 hearts damage per tier.

Potion of Poison -- Poisons the target, reducing the health to 1 heart at most.

Potion of Slowness -- Target's movement is slowed to a crawl.

Potion of Weakness -- Reduces melee damage by 2 hearts.

(IV) Splash Potions

Splash Mundane Potion -- No effects. Brewed from Mundane Potion.

Splash Potion of Fire Resistance -- Gives immunity to damage from fire.

Splash Potion of Harming -- Undead are healed by instant damage effect.

Splash Potion of Healing -- Undead are hurt by instant health effect.

Splash Potion of Poison -- Undead and spiders (including cave spiders) are immune to poison.

Splash Potion of Regeneration -- Undead are unaffected by regeneration.

Splash Potion of Slowness -- Target's movement is slowed to a crawl.

Splash Potion of Strength -- Increases melee damage by 3 hearts per tier.

Splash Potion of Swiftness --  Faster movement, sprinting speed, jumping length and field of view.

Splash Potion of Weakness -- Reduces melee damage by 2 hearts.

-- Redstone Repeater

The Redstone Repeater was added to the game to allow the player to extend and refresh a Redstone signal passing through it, allowing it to travel an additional 15 blocks as that is the general limit of distance for a charge to travel.   The Redstone Repeater has three basic functions, that of a simulated diode, as a delay, and of course as a repeater.  It is a very common building block for player-created devices, including the more complex traps.

It may seem unfair to say, but the use of the Redstone Repeater is really restricted to the scope of the imagination of the gamer -- for example they are commonly used with Note Blocks for creating music in the game, for setting up timed explosions, and for detonating coordinated cannon shots.  They make excellent timers, clocks of a sort, and have even been used as binary switches to simulate memory.  Really, the limits are your imagination!

-- Redstone Torch

The Redstone Torch has the appearance of a red-version of the standard Torch, but is crafted from one Redstone Dust and one Wooden Stick rather than Coal or Charcoal and a Stick.   It can be placed like any other Torch, but it does not give off the same intensity of light as a regular Torch...

Its function is to provide power to devices like Powered Rails -- placing a Redstone Torch on a nearby wall and connecting it to the Powered Rail using Redstone Wire being the most common use.  Obviously it is also useful for powering other more advanced player-created devices such as doors, switches, and pistons.

Under normal use, the Redstone Torch will provide a constant source of power for devices, however if it is used too frequently it will burn out and then must be replaced.  Too frequent use generally means rapid use over a five second period.

-- Redstone Wire

Technically this is not really a player-crafted item, since it is created by selecting Redstone Dust in the Hot Bar and then right-clicking to lay down the wire -- but it is an integral part of crafting electrical circuits, and it does require the player to take a specific crafting action, so it is included here in the player-crafted items section.

Used primarily for moving an electrical charge from one object to another, the most common use is to power rails, open or close doors, and activate player-constructed objects and traps.  When it is under power the wire will be bright red, and when it is in its uncharged state, it appears as a dark red.

Redstone Wire can be re-used by left-clicking on deployed wire to pick it back up, at which point it is converted back to Redstone Dust.

-- Sticks

Created by placing two Wooden Planks into the Crafting Window, Sticks are a basic ingredient in a number of recipes, including Weapons, Tools, Torches, and Fences, as well as Arrows, and creating Rails for your Minecarts.  You need them for making Ladders too, so suffice it to say that you will probably be carrying around and making a LOT of these :)