Pinterest Challenge: Magnetic Scrabble Board

It's that time again...

It was time to get my (our) butts off the couch and diy something. Since listing our home for sale in January, our projects all came to an end and we didn't want to 'dirty' the house in case of a showing. That led to lots of lazy nights and weekends on the couch watching tv and movies. Can't complain, we have been soaking it up. I am sharing my challenge with the creators: Sherry and Katie, and also with Megan and Michelle.

This was inspiring me months ago when I originally pinned it from The Twice Remembered Cottage. It just so happens, about two weeks ago, I snagged some Scrabble tiles from ebay. Perfect, let the challenge begin.

We started looking over the weekend for trim to make a frame and picked up some sheet metal while out at Lowe's. Their trim seemed very overpriced, and Greg suggested checking some thrift stores for an old frame we could paint. The weekend was not very productive. We picked up a few supplies, but that was it.

On Monday, I stopped by a few thrift stores in the area. No luck finding a frame, but I did find an old dictionary to use. I checked Michael's and Walmart for a cheap frame, still nothing. While at Michael's, I grabbed a pack of magnets to glue to the Scrabble tiles. They only had one pack of 50 left, so I will need to check back in this weekend.

I met Greg at Home Depot and we found some decently priced trim. Greg decided (because I am so indecisive) to make the frame 2' x 2'. We picked up 10 ft. of primed pine for around $15. This is where my hubby comes in. I had to get home for a video lecture for class. Greg went back to his shop at work to build the frame. He loves me :)

Greg measured and cut the trim down to size, then used wood glue to secure the ends to each other. He cut the sheet metal down to size using tin snips and used liquid nails to secure it to 1/4" thick luan. He clamped that down between two pieces of wood to set and dry.

While he was busy at work, I was ripping pages out of an old dictionary and gluing magnets to the letter tiles.  I had purchased 3 complete sets of letter tiles from ebay, but only glued 50 to the magnets that I had. I will probably end up using 100-150.

Greg got home and I painted a light coat of white eggshell on the frame and went to bed.

The next thing that needed to be done was to glue the dictionary pages on the sheet metal. I spread a very thin amount of Elmer's all over the sheet metal using a brush and randomly put the pages on. The first layer I made sure everything was covered. The second layer I turned the pages and made it more 'random'.

Once that dried, Greg attached the painted frame to the sheet metal/luan using liquid nails and placed something heavy on it overnight.

The frame and paper still needs to be sprayed with a clear coat to make it durable. I forgot to pick some up at the store, but it doesn't change the look of the final product.

Cost breakdown:
Sheet metal- $8
Trim for frame- $15
300 Scrabble tiles- $12, I will use about half of them, so $6
Magnets- $3 per pack
Dictionary- $1
Paint, liquid nails, luan- already owned

Total: $33

Not the cheapest diy project, but it made a big impact and will be used a lot. My plan is to incorporate it into a gallery wall in the new house. If that doesn't work out, I will be putting it in a high traffic room so it gets a lot of use!

Special shout out to my hubby -- I couldn't have completed this without him. I have the visions, and he always helps me execute them. We make a great team! He said next challenge needs to be completed all by myself, we'll see if he sticks to that :)

xo, Erin