Telegram gift crafting: the complete guide to the new mechanic

Gift crafting in Telegram is officially live! With the latest update, the mechanic is now available to all users. Several gifts can be combined into a single new, rarer one. Two collections currently support crafting: Desk Calendar and Jingle Bells. In this guide, we cover everything: from step-by-step instructions to odds, rarities, and risks.

Backstory: why calendars were expected first

Before the launch, several factors pointed to Desk Calendar as the first crafting-eligible gift:

• Durov was buying calendars. Pavel Durov's account (@monk) purchased over 150 calendars — unusual activity for the platform's founder.
• Developers followed suit. Telegram developer Dmitry Moskovski (@dmitry) and Roxman (@borz) bought over 300 calendars, roughly a third with a black background.
• Convenient supply. Desk Calendar has a large print run and a relatively low initial price — a good testing ground for new mechanics.

After the buying spree, prices surged sharply. The regular calendar floor reached 5.89 TON, up from 3.3 TON before the crafting rumors — a 78% jump in just two days. Black background versions climbed even higher — above 60 TON. In the end, both calendars and bells received crafting support — the investors' bet paid off. You can check current prices on Portals, Tonnel or MRKT.

How crafting works: odds and formula

The crafting success chance depends exclusively on the rarity of the gifts you put in. Lower rarity means a higher chance of success. Currently each gift contributes 22% to 24% to the success rate (depending on the model's rarity).

Example: if you put in four low-rarity gifts (1.5% models), the craft chance is 22% + 22% + 22% + 22% = 88%. Crafting with a single gift is possible, but the chance will be much lower — around 22–24%.

Important: no craft guarantees 100% that you'll get the desired result. Even with all 4 slots filled, there's still a chance of failure. If the craft fails — all invested gifts are lost permanently.

Background and pattern: combining 4 gifts with the same background color gives an increased chance of getting that color, but not a guarantee. For example, 4 black-background gifts give you a chance at a black background result, but if the drop probability isn't 100%, a completely random background or pattern from the available pool may appear.

ID inheritance: the crafted gift receives the number of the first selected gift. For example, combining gifts [100, 50, 200] produces gift #100.

You can buy a gift and use it for crafting right away — no waiting required.

How to craft a gift: step-by-step guide

1. Open your profile in Telegram.
2. Find any gift eligible for crafting (Desk Calendar or Jingle Bells).
3. Open the gift details. If the gift is eligible for crafting, you'll see an anvil icon in the top-right corner:

4. If there's no anvil icon — the gift can't be crafted. Why this happens and how to check — see the section "How to check if a gift can be crafted".
5. Add 1 to 4 gifts to the crafting slots. The number affects the overall success chance and the rarity of the result.
6. Press the craft button and wait for the result:

• Success — a new gift appears in your profile inventory, visible to everyone (not hidden).
• Failure — all invested gifts are lost permanently.

Which gifts can be crafted?

Currently Desk Calendar and Jingle Bells support crafting. But there's an important restriction: only gifts that have never been on the TON blockchain are eligible.

Not all calendars and bells can be crafted — if a gift has ever been on the blockchain (withdrawn as an NFT on TON), it cannot be used for crafting. That's why it's important to check whether a gift has been on the blockchain before buying it on the market. Support for blockchain gifts will be added later, but at launch this restriction applies.

How to check if a gift can be crafted

There are several methods — from simplest to most advanced:

1. Try adding it to a craft

The simplest way — open the crafting interface and try adding the gift. If it's eligible, it will be added. If not, Telegram won't let you use it.

2. Anvil icon in gift details

Open the gift full-screen from your profile (for editing) or follow the link to see full details — owner, model, etc. If the gift is eligible for crafting, you'll see an anvil icon in the top-right corner:

3. Via Fragment (blockchain check)

Copy the gift link (e.g., https://t.me/nft/DeskCalendar-44244) and convert it to Fragment format: https://fragment.com/gift/DeskCalendar-44244.

Don't worry — Fragment is Telegram's official platform for trading digital assets.

• If the link opens and shows the gift — it has been on the blockchain, can't be crafted.
• If the page doesn't open (404) — the gift hasn't been on the blockchain, can be crafted.

4. Via @stats_gifts_bot

A bot by developer @madrik shows gift information including blockchain status. Simply send the gift link to @stats_gifts_bot and get the answer.

Note: this is a third-party bot, we are not responsible for it.

Gift rarities: how to get the model you want

To craft a gift of a specific rarity, you need to use gifts with a matching model rarity. The result depends on the rarities you put in.

Rarity hierarchy (highest to lowest):

1. Legendary
2. Epic
3. Rare
4. Uncommon

Higher-rarity input gifts yield higher-rarity results. But there's a trade-off: high-rarity gifts give a lower crafting success chance. Low-rarity gifts contribute 22–24% per slot, while high-rarity ones contribute less.

With the crafting launch, new models appeared for each collection: 57 models for Desk Calendar and 51 models for Jingle Bells — all available exclusively through the crafting mechanic. You can view the available models in our official channel @zStarsNews.

Crafting economics: how much it costs

Both collections participate in crafting, and the cost depends on current floor prices:

• Jingle Bells: 4 × current floor = cost of one craft
• Desk Calendar: 4 × current floor = cost of one craft
• The result is a new gift whose model and rarity depend on the input materials

To break even, the crafted gift needs to sell for more than the cost of the input materials. Keep in mind: the craft chance isn't 100%, and on failure you lose all invested gifts.

Technical restrictions

1. Blockchain = can't craft. Gifts that have been on the TON blockchain are incompatible with crafting. Support will be added later.
2. Transfer cooldown blocks crafting. If a gift has an active transfer cooldown, it can't be used — wait for it to unlock.
3. Trade ban after crafting. A trade ban may be applied to crafted gifts. In practice, very few people get trade-banned — the key requirement to avoid it is that your stars and gifts must be obtained officially through Telegram or Fragment. Our service zStars uses Fragment to top up stars, so stars purchased from us are safe for crafting without trade ban risk. The second factor is maintaining a positive profile level: don't refund stars or gifts.
4. Irreversibility. Gifts created through crafting cannot be used for crafting again — the result is final.
5. ID inheritance. The crafted gift receives the number of the first selected gift.

Jingle Bells and Desk Calendar — the first crafting gifts

Telegram launched crafting for two collections at once: Jingle Bells and Desk Calendar. The Jingle Bell was announced first — it appeared on the official crafting banner and in the update video preview.

The official video preview shows crafting in action:

• 4 crafting slots. The interface provides exactly 4 slots — the maximum number of gifts per craft.
• Chance depends on rarity. With 4 low-rarity gifts, the success rate is around 88%. Higher-rarity inputs mean a lower chance.
• Pattern and background probabilities. Before confirming the craft, the odds of getting a specific pattern and background color are displayed.
• New models. Crafting produces entirely new gift models across different rarities — from Uncommon to Legendary: 57 models for Desk Calendar and 51 for Jingle Bells. These models are available only through crafting.

Where to buy and sell new gifts

Crafted gifts are already available on all popular marketplaces. Both collections (crafting materials and results) surged 150% on the first day after launch.

Trusted marketplaces:

• Portals
• Tonnel
• MRKT

Buying and selling is also available on Telegram's built-in market, but be careful — the built-in market has its own pitfalls, especially for beginners.

What will happen to prices

Crafting has already shown its impact: both collections (Desk Calendar and Jingle Bells) surged 150% on the first day after launch. "Consumable" gifts are being "burned" through crafting, reducing overall supply and supporting floor prices for materials.

At the same time, the market is filling up with crafted gifts, and selling them above cost may be difficult — especially lower-rarity models. You can track current prices on Portals.

Conclusion

Gift crafting in Telegram is live and available to everyone. Desk Calendar and Jingle Bells are eligible — both collections surged 150% on the first day. Crafting success depends on the rarity of input gifts, ranging from 22% to 24% per slot (up to 88% with 4 low-rarity gifts). The launch introduced 57 new models for Desk Calendar and 51 for Jingle Bells — all available only through crafting.

Key risks: on failure all invested gifts are lost, and blockchain gifts are not yet supported. Before crafting — make sure your gift hasn't been on the blockchain, and weigh the cost of materials against the potential result.