This would be kind of a big undertaking, but would probably add a lot of immersion to crafting. What if crafting was akin to lock picking in a sense that you have to actively do things like hammer a piece of steel and cool it off in water while blacksmithing? It would obviously take more time to create an item this way, but you could offset that by having larger experience gains. Also you could incorporate skill elements into this that test your hand-eye coordination in little ways that add a little excitement that you can't get with a menu.
EDIT: You could reward getting better at the mini games by having like a 5-10% variable in the quality of the items you create based on how you perform at the process, and the better you do would also give you more experience.
Edited by t0mmeh on 11 April 2014 16:25