Scrabble Push Pins

Intro: Scrabble Push Pins

Scrabble is a fantastic game for all the word nerds out there (that's me), but it's easy to lose a few tiles that makes the whole set worthless. You could try and replace them, but then everyone knows what the odd-colored tiles are.

Instead, use the rest of the tiles as push pins on a bulletin board. You can use them to make words when there's not enough stuff to keep up or you can even use them as some sort of hierarchy. The order of the letters is how important the message is. Or you can geek out even further and use the numbers on the tiles to assign value to pieces of paper.

Either way, this makes use of an old game and also make the push pins a lot easier to stick in and pull out.

STEP 1: Waht You Need

What you need:
 - Thumb tacks
 - Glue. In this case Loctite Stik 'n' Seal
 - Scrabble tiles

I chose this glue over a couple favorites of mine: hot glue and cyanoacrylate. I've tried hot glue with this before and after a while the tiles came off. As for cyanoacrylate, it's great stuff, but with the slight curve at the top I wanted to use more glue to wrap around the edges.

STEP 2: Gluing

Glue it! Pretty obvious, really.

Or not quite. This glue requires that you glue each piece first, let it set for 5-10 minutes, and then attach. 

STEP 3: Tiles Ready to Go

And there you have it. Scrabble letter tiles. It's an easy thing to make and makes the bulletin board a bit more interesting. Now I just need to think of something to do with the tile racks and the board.

Comments

[skistler]

Great idea! I have an old scrabble game that I was just about to throw out because I had lost a few tiles. Now I know what to do with the extras. As an alternative, I bet you could put on little magnets and end up with small fridge magnets. Thanks for the inspiration.

[gossumx]

Assuming you don't want to buy or ruin a whole scrabble game for this instructable, you can buy a complete set of scrabble letters from Hasbro for $6.99 HERE

Also, HERE are some other cool ideas for projects using them. 

[gossumx]

Ok, so apparently the link I provided above for the scrabble tiles doesn't take you all the way. It will lead you to This Request Form which you will then have to print out and mail in and wait 3-6 weeks.

However there are plenty of places on both Amazon and Ebay to find them a little more easily.

[SueCarv]

You can also order them from Amazon or buy on Ebay too. When buying on Ebay sometimes the seller sells more letters than what comes in a Scrabble game.

[SueCarv]

Enjoyed this idea. I will be making it for a Christmas gift for someone! Thanks!

[avogel]

You can also buy letter clocks at the local craft store..LOVE this idea...you can add magnets to the back and use them on your fridge..

[lovely_jessye]

cool. new follower!

[Lindie]

Great idea! I think I could handle this one! ;-)