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Both of my grandmas are sharp as tacks. Sadly, their bodies are failing them, but their minds seem fully intact (better than mine on many days!) One of the traditional things I do when I visit my one grandma is to play a game or two of Scrabble. I admit, she cleans my clock most times we play, but I don't mind. She's good! And that little activity we share is the inspiration for this year's gift.
I decided to make her a pseudo scrabble tile wall art with the names of all of her grandchildren! I think it's perfect for her! I know, I know, names aren't allowed in the game of Scrabble. Too bad, I'm making my own rules with this one!
Wanna make one too? Follow along and I'll show you how.
I decided to make her a pseudo scrabble tile wall art with the names of all of her grandchildren! I think it's perfect for her! I know, I know, names aren't allowed in the game of Scrabble. Too bad, I'm making my own rules with this one!
Wanna make one too? Follow along and I'll show you how.
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I made my tiles 2.5 inches square. You can make them any size, of course, but this made my finished product about 40" x 35" -- a good size for a wall hanging. To get the 2.5" squares, I used 1x3" boards.
When purchasing your boards, be sure to check the face of the board for knots. You want boards that are as knot-free as possible. It's not even that important if the boards are warped or not, since you'll be cutting them into tiny pieces, but you don't want to have knots showing on your finished tiles.
I picked up some really nice boards at Lowe's. They were really clean, and most importantly, they had edges that were already a bit rounded.
Cut your wood into squares and sand the edges. My dad got me a grinding wheel some time back and it works wonderfully for smoothing the edges.
When purchasing your boards, be sure to check the face of the board for knots. You want boards that are as knot-free as possible. It's not even that important if the boards are warped or not, since you'll be cutting them into tiny pieces, but you don't want to have knots showing on your finished tiles.
I picked up some really nice boards at Lowe's. They were really clean, and most importantly, they had edges that were already a bit rounded.
Cut your wood into squares and sand the edges. My dad got me a grinding wheel some time back and it works wonderfully for smoothing the edges.
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I have done this same thing years ago with scrabble tiles and board.. I have had more grand kids since then, and they will not fit on the Scrabble board. This would be a great alternative to using the board and being limited in space.
Nice work.
Thanks for your thoughts!
I did not have to touch up my first batch (the one pictured.) They turned out just as-is, which was awesome since I was under a real crunch for Christmast. However, when I did the second arrangement after Christmas for my bro and sis-in-law, I found that some of the letters were bleeding. I found it to be one of two things --- either the section board was more porous, which was unpredictable since it was mostly the same board, or the stamp pad was just two "wet." I got my best results from a "pigment" pad. I'm not a stamper so I don't know what the difference is, I think I just lucked out. But it could explain why the tiles would smear so incredibly easy for me.
If I do another, I'm going to try sealing the tiles first and see how the stamping works. I don't have one lined up right away but I can post the results.
And --WOW!-- too many grandkids to fit on a scrabble board! Congratulations!