DIY Scrabble Gifts | Think Out of The Scrabble Box
I love Scrabble. Not just as a cool way to have some fun with family and friends, but because there are many options to play with the alphabet and upcycle Scrabble tiles to make wonderful home decorations or DIY Scrabble gifts.
If you’ve got a friend who loves Scrabble just as much as you do, this article will give you tons of great ideas for DIY Scrabble gifts for that person! I’m sure that you’ll fall in love soon with them not only for their lovely look. Most of them you can make in under an hour. That’s how easy they are!
And if you’re the Scrabble aficionado, then you’ll definitely be inspired to give a try of these fun Scrabble mementos for yourself. So now is your chance to turn your love for Scrabble into something fun for the home or your friends.
Following are some of the best ideas I’ve found for DIY Scrabble gifts, art and memorabilia, that are all easy, affordable and also fun to do in your free time.
Something to consider before you go: there are 144 tiles available in one Scrabble game. I know there are several Etsy shops that sell them by single specific letter tiles. If you are curious the letter make up in a game, here you go:
# 1 Scrabble Garden markers – for the hobby gardener or foodie
These garden markers are colorful, easy and super cute. They are also a good way to keep track of what is planted and where exactly in the yard or the pots. If you have so wooden letter tiles from an old Scrabble game it’s time to bring them back to life. They could be used for planting from seed or purchased herbs. Basil, parsley, peppermint, spearmint, rosemary, cilantro, oregano are some of the options. To make the Scrabble garden markers, paint several craft sticks (or ice-cream sticks) in the desired color or just buy some pre-colored wooden craft sticks. If you use paint, leave the bottoms colorless. After the paint has dried, stamp letters onto the painted craft sticks. (Of course, you can always use permanent sharpie pen.) Hot glue the tile onto the top of the garden marker and press it firmly in place. The Scrabble garden markers are so awesome DIY Scrabble gifts – prepare a set of them with other gardening items like seeds, pots, gardening gloves, apron or other gardening tools.
Tip1: there’s a saying that growing a fruitful plant at home brings luck and wealth. So don’t forget to include cherry tomatoes or small hot pepper in your gift for the person who love seeding and planting or for the foodie. Plus there’s nothing better for the real foodie than fresh fragrant herbs directly cut from the pot or own garden. It somehow makes the food aficionado proud, and the food itself – damn delicious.
Tip2: Super fun idea for the kids.
See the full tutorial for the Scrabble garden markers at eHow.
# 2 Scrabble Keychain
Using the Scrabble tiles to make these fun keychains is easy. You can spell anything you like which means it is a fantastic idea for a cheap but meaningful DIY gift! To make a Scrabble keychain you will need:
- 2 sets of Scrabble tiles that spell out a name or specific word or a Set of Scrabble letters for crafting
- Keychain ring OR backpack clip
- 24″ twine or jewelry cord
- Fast acting craft glue
Tie a knot or loop the twine around or through the ring/clip. Both ways work. Choose the tiles with the desired letters in order to make your word twice, fro each side. Turn the first set of the scrabble tiles upside down and add some glue on the back and between each tile as well to hold them together. Place the keyring at the top of the Scrabble tiles and lay the twine down through the center of the glue. Place the second set of Scrabble tiles on top of the first set. The twine and the both tiles layers should look as a sandwich. Press them firmly and wipe off the glue that seeps out. Left the keychain to dry completely before using and gifting (and mind not sticking to the working surface). This idea is pretty for almost everyone, but kids usually love the idea of having a personal keychain.
See the full tutorial for the Scrabble keychain at Kids Activities Blog.
# 3 Scrabble Wall Clock
This is a cool idea to reuse the old Scrabble left letters just using the tiles. The numbers of this clock are actually Scrabble tiles covered with washi tape. Sounds easy. And it is!
Materials you need are:
- Cheap Wall Clock – you can choose between a super simple clock design (since we’re gonna change it!) from Ikea. When considering clocks, I always go for silent versions like this Silent Precedent Decorative Wall Clock (the ticking noise drives me crazy).
- Wax paper
- Scrapbook paper (any print you love)
- Marker and pencil
- Hot glue
- 12 Wooden Scrabble tiles (ay leftovers will be of great use here.
- Resin or Dimensional Magic
- Washi Tape – there are plenty of lovely washi tape designs here. Choosing them could be the hardest task here
Isn’t it delightful? It will give a new fresh breath to any room. The best part is that you can play with the washi tape and background paper patterns depending on where this wall clock will be placed. It could be made for kiddo’s room; vintage style for the living room; chubby chick is great for kitchen room. This home decor project looks gorgeous for pretty any occasion, especially for a new home.
See the full tutorial for the Scrabble wall clock at Tater Tots and Jello.
# 4 Scrabble Serving Tray
This Scrabble themed serving tray will fit both every excellent hostess and a Scrabble player.
You need a flat serving tray, optionally with handles and old Scrabble tiles. After giving the tray and the tiles a good cleaning, spread some glue around and stuck down all of the letters. There’s no specific order, but if you wish, you can spell different words – it’s up to you. That’s the best part – it’s variable and let you be creative. Let the glue dry well, better left it for a day. The next day, mix up a batch of EnviroTex Lite resin to pour over the whole tray with already glued tiles. Use a wooden paint stir stick (or why not a few of the craft sticks – anyway, you need something flat) to spread the resin across the tray, making sure all of the tiles were covered. As it dries, check on it every few minutes, and exhale over any bubbles that come to the surface to have a crystal clear coating. It’s a pretty and fun project. If you are not into using resin, you can glue the tiles as a mosaic.
See the full tutorial for the Scrabble Serving Tray at Junk Mail Gems
# 5 Scrabble Coasters
Scrabble coasters – not by any means an original project, but it’s fun and easy. It’s cool to craft with the tiles since there are tons of word to spell with the tiles.
It’s a simple way to upcycle old Scrabble game since you need just a couple of things – cork board, carpenter’s glue, X-Acto knife, varnish, paint brush, and wood stain. You won’t believe how easy this project is – it just takes a few minutes! Basically, you glue the letters to the cork board, Krazy Glue, wood stain or varnish on top, and then cut off the excess cork board. Cool! The most difficult (and funniest at the same time ) part is forming the words – think of any significant 4-letter words of your choice. Of course, you can always put the tiles at random. This project is a pretty cool DIY Scrabble gift which is good for almost any occasion or person. Playing the words will give the thoughtfulness of this gift. For the ultimate foodies, you can create a whole Scrabble-themed serving set, including coasters, serving matt (made the same way, only applying more tiles and using bigger cork sheets) and Scrabble napkins rings or Scrabble Wine Charms (check below – # 6 and # 7)
See the full tutorial for these unique Scrabble coasters at WikiHow
# 6 Scrabble Napkins Rings
Use Scrabble tiles on napkin rings to personalize your party decor. These are just one option (each wedding needs table indicator or name tags, remember?) They are so cute for labeling places, perfect for dinner parties, weddings, and the ultimate game night.
Materials (only 3 this time):
– Scrabble tiles (available wholesale)
– Beacon multi-grip glue
– napkin rings (like these ones)
Use random letters or create a whole alphabet and use your guests’ first initials to point which letters go on which place setting. Place a bit of glue on the back of your tile, press onto the napkin ring, let dry, and you’re done.
Full tutorial at Brit.Co
# 7 Scrabble Wine Charms
Again, this is for the perfect hostess, anniversary, birthday, bridal shower, baby shower or any other occasion for a gathering. Also, Scrabble Wine Charms will please every wine lover and even foodie, especially if you combine those with Scrabble coasters and lovely wine glasses set (go further and personalize the glasses – endless options!) The main purpose of the wine charms is to never ever have mixed up wine glasses at the party (I really hates this moment when not remember which glass who belongs to). All you need is a man. I’m kidding. 🙂 You need actually a man to drill the Scrabble tiles. The rest is super easy since it’s time to let your imagination think of which letters to thread. Add some beads. That’s it!
See the full tutorial for these wine charms at Living Like the Kings
# 8 Scrabble Bookmarks
Book lovers will appreciate. Yes, there are still many people, who are reading paper books, can you imagine?
These Scrabble bookmarks are made of recycled Scrabble tiles and let the book readers not losing track of the page they reached. Diamond Glaze is the secret of their glass-like appearance. I guess the tiles are processed the same way as the tiles for the Scrabble wall clock. Remeber # 3 of the DIY Scrabble gifts? You also need some bookmark ribbons. Beng honest, another option is following the instructions for the Scrabble Key Chain (# 2) and just make the thread longer. You might not need rings, anyway. Both ways are a cool addition to any great book that you’re gonna give as a gift for your bookworm.
# 9 Scrabble Journal
For this project, Scrabble tiles are used to make covers of a hand-crafted journal. Of course, the main supplies include Scrabble tiles, chipboard or acrylic (for the covers) hole punch, paper, adhesive and a beautiful ribbon. Start by making covers from somethings sturdy like chipboard with measures of about 3.5″x5.5″ with 3 holes punched along one side. Choosing the Scrabble tiles letters is the funniest part! You could just choose random letters or spell different words with special meanings. Some of the options are Artsy, Journal, Crayon, Memory, etc. Squirt a little adhesive onto the backs of the tiles and glue them down onto the cover sheets. Let the glue dry. Meanwhile, cut the inside pages – there are plenty of patterned craft papers and lovely scrapbooking paper pads. You only need them cut in the same size as the covers, punched the same way (3 holes). Stack the covers and pages, lining up the holes and thread a ribbon through the holes. This journal can be easily transformed into a photo album. It’s a cool project for a friend, teacher and almost everyone.
Find the full tutorial at Punk Projects.
# 10 Scrabble Pixel Art
Have you ever noticed how wooden Scrabble tiles are sometimes different colors? Take advantage of that with this unique pixel art. Take a board, glue, picture hanger and hammer. You think I forgot the Scrabble tiles? Of course, no! Simply put a little glue on the letter (front) size of the Scrabble tile, place it in one corner of your board, and continue your way across the board until it is completely covered. If you have more imagination or you are skilled at embroidery, then for sure you can think of some “picture” to draw with the wooden-shaded tiles.
One I’ve found on the Internet is the Frankenscrabble (a portrait of Frankenstein’s monster recreated in Scrabble tiles) – not very suitable for a gift, but an example of how amazing a few shades of brown can give an image realistic depth. Ingenious! This particular piece was on display at the Lucky JuJu Pinball Gallery in Alameda, CA, in October 2009 – image via Image: Nathan Jongewaard. Optionally on the back side you can secure a hanger. I admit that this one of my favorite DIY Scrabble gifts is not that easy (if you truly want to express our talent with a hidden image), but it is definitely something different and unique.
Find the full tutorial for DIY Scrabble Pixel Art at Belrossa.
OKay, I know you’ve expected to see how to make Scrabble pendants, Scrabble magnets, and Scrabble tile art. When it comes to using Scrabble tiles in arts, the possibilities are endless. It’s crazy how many ways to arrange the Scrabble tiles you have, how special could be your messages, how easy each of these DIY Scrabble gifts are (expect maybe only for the # 10 ). April 13th is National Scrabble day. It’s not so soon, but the great thing here is that Scrabble games really make sense and gifts full of meaning. Why not trying some of these ideas?
Some additional info: The letter make up in a game goes like this:
2: J, K, Q, X, Z
3: B, C, F, H, M, P, V, W, Y
4: G
5: L
6: D, S, U
8: N
9: T, R
11: O
12: I
13: A