Scrabble Tile Name Plaques



Scrabble tile frame featuring my name, my husband's name, our last name, and "Love"



If you've read my previous posts, you know that my newest craft material obsession is Scrabble tiles! In addition to the Scrabble tile pendants I've been making, I am now branching out to Scrabble tile frames. I simply bought a frame and cut out houndstooth scrapbook paper to fit the inside of the frame for the background. I then laid out the words I wanted to display in crossword puzzle fashion (this part was probably the most time-consuming, as it was a little difficult to make everything fit the frame and look balanced). Once I decided on the layout, I used double-sided tape on the backs of each tile to adhere them to the background and placed them in the frame. Fortunately, the Scrabble tiles are thin enough that everything fit perfectly and I was even able to keep the glass on the frame (which I had not originally expected!). I had so much fun making one for my house for my husband and I (above), that I decided to make one for my brother as a house-warming gift.




Frame made for my brother and his family

 

Children's Magnetic Bedroom Message Board

Magnetic sign for my niece, Adrienne

This is a really cute and SUPER easy project to make yourself for a child’s room, or have your child make it! I found really nice rectangular and oval metal serving trays at Dollar Tree that I decided to use as the base of the room sign. Using about nine inches of ribbon, I used a hot glue gun to glue the ends of the ribbon about four inches apart on the back of the serving tray. I then cut a piece of felt to fit the back of the serving tray and glued it (to avoid leaving marks on the wall). While you could easily purchase magnetic letters, I happened to have a ton of foam letters leftover from a project I had completed ages ago, so I put magnetic pieces on the backs of those letters to use on the room sign, instead. The magnetic letters can be moved around to say whatever message the child wants to state.



For my niece Alison's room. Yes, I am aware there is an apostrophe missing. It bothers me, too! I ran out!



Ditto on the apostrophe thing

A rectangular serving tray was used for my nephew Derek's room sign



He's a bit of a Yankees fan!



Bent Wire Name Photo Frame



Wire name frame



A little over ten years ago, I had the fabulous opportunity to visit London, England for about a week! It was absolutely fantastic, and I am DYING to go again! One of my favorite memories was of the day we spent exploring Covent Gardens, near the “downtown” area of London, and its surrounding areas.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping and sight-seeing, I LOVED observing the various entertainers and street vendors, from human statues to musicians to CRAFTERS!!!

Human "Statue" at Covent Gardens-One of the MANY amazing entertainers!

Picadilly Circus-so busy yet so fabulous!



My sister and I-typical tourists

One of the street vendors made the coolest name frames, where he used pliers to bend wire into a variety of words. He charged one pound per name, so I quickly wrote down the names of about 12 of my friends and handed over my money. The name frames were a huge hit and an amazing souvenir to own! Ten years later, I have FINALLY taken the time to try this project for myself.  I certainly did not do it at the speed of the street vendor (or even come close, for that matter), and it definitely took me a few tries before I became successful, but I was pretty proud of the end result.  I simply used needle nose pliers to twist wire into my name and made a two triangular shapes behind and below my name to hold a picture. DONE!!!



The artist himself



Wooden Name Nursery Decor

As soon as my brother and sister-in-law decided on a name for their baby-to-be, we took a little trip to Pat Catan’s, our local craft store here in Pittsburgh (which, I might add, is the BEST!) and immediately bought 4” letters to spell “CAMDYN.” Knowing that the baby’s room would be pink and green, we alternated pastel pink and green paint on each of the letters and created polka dots in the opposing colors then glued ribbon to the backs of each letter to hang on Camdyn’s wall.

Note: There are some AWESOME circular sponge brushes at most craft stores that are FABULOUS for polka dots and such (especially for people like me who can't draw a symmetrical shape of ANY sort on my own)!

What kind of aunt would I be without posting a pic of my fave lil' cutie pie?!?!?!