Thursday, February 5, 2009

Scrabble Tile Necklaces

Yesterday was a snow day and I ended up with a house full of girls to entertain.
I had planned on making these as gifts for Valentine's Day, but why not have a fun day doing a project with the girls?


To make this project, you will need...

Scrapbook paper - I chose paper with hearts for a Valentine's theme

Wooden Scrabble Tiles - You can order these off the Internet or scour yard sales/thrift stores for old Scrabble games.

Mod Podge - Just like we used to use in school years and years ago..(okay, was it that long ago, really?? I think not)

Some type of connector - this is used to secure the scrabble tile to the ribbon. I used a 8mm split ring from Walmart's jewelry department. You can also use jewelry bails, I just couldn't find an appropriate one.

Super Glue - Obviously Super Glue and 2 year olds don't go together..but we'll get to that.

Exacto knife or small scissors - I allowed the older girls to use the exacto knife with my supervision, but I cut the designs out for the two youngest.


Cord, string, ribbon - This will be the necklace part.

The girls that made these were ages 2 through 12 so we had an array of ages. I simplified these instructions to accommodate all their ages so I didn't seal them for long term use.


The first thing we did was decide what would fit on the scrabble tile...then we sat the tile on the heart, and used the exacto knife to trace around it...essentially cutting out the square in the same size as the tile. Two of the girls chose to do something other than hearts so you can check them out at the end of this tutorial.
Next we mod-podged the paper on the tile...the girls chose to cover the side without the letter. They just put a thin layer of mod podge on the tile, stuck the paper on, and then did a thin coat on the top of the paper to seal it.


While the girls were off playing, I added another coat of mod podge to make sure the edges of the paper and tile were properly sealed. Once this dried, I used the exacto knife to clear up the edges where the paper was overhanging or jagged. I also used the super glue to attach the silver rings to the tile.





This is where two year olds and super glue don't mix. I left the tiles on the table to dry, my curious two year old picked it up...the glue was still wet. She had two fingers stuck together. It was funny...so funny I forgot to take a picture. Now luckily she got them unstuck rather quickly, but the point is super glue is no joking matter, and you should be responsible and make sure that you put the tiles up high while they dry. Live and learn! (-:

We let the super glue dry overnight after that incident, and this morning, we added ribbon to the tiles so they could wear them to school. They enjoyed this project, and I know they are very proud of their creations.




If you want to get serious about your scrabble tile necklaces, you can check out a great tutorial here. You can also support creative women by buying one on Etsy.

13 comments:

JoRodgers said...

Ok so I finally had to create an account to post comments. not that I'll be doing any of my own!
Love the necklaces. Good thing Ava wasn't there or Ally would have been stuck to her! :)

Jillene said...

How FREAKING cute!!

Tonya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amanda said...

TOO cute!! Great, easy craft! I am going to suggest it to Tip Junkie!

Lana@The Kids Did WHAT?! said...

Oh those are cute. What a simple but clever little craft!

Lisa said...

LOVE THIS, THANKS!!!

HUGS FROM MAINE

http://sophie4me.blogspot.com/

Samkay said...

That's an awesome idea :) You wouldn't happen to have any extras made....would you? lol

Denise @ Sunflowers, Chocolate and Little Boys said...

They are adorable! Looks like you had lots of fun.

TannaBanana said...

I love this idea. The teachers will be thrilled with their newly made necklaces. Thank you.

TidyMom said...

those turned out REALLY cute!! I've been wanting make those too! I didn't know you could just buy the tiles!! good to know!!

Thanks!!
~TidyMom

Cathe Holden said...

Such a sweet tutorial. I'd love to feature it. Somehow I deleted your email address and can't find it on your blog. Would you mind dropping me a line so I have it? I will try to get this on JSYM soon!

Natalie Meester said...

great idea to do here in Iowa on a snowy day.
Thanks!

Cammie said...

Thank you so much for sharing! I love this project and put a picture with link to this tutorial on a blog post I'm working on. Feel free to stop by www.flutterbysandfrogs.com to see proper credit was given for all your hard work! :)