Hey hey! I’m SO excited about this project! And I have to say it felt awesome to be creative and crafty again. It’s been too long. Ha! But anyway, as the title of my post says, here’s the Scrabble Tile Wall Art I created for Ellie’s nursery.
I’m in love! It’s one of many projects I need to do in her room, but I’m off to a good start. And I love it even more because when I was searching online a few months ago for baby bedding, I came across this site and this same thing was selling for $500!!! Yes, $500!
Immediately when I saw the price I knew it could be DIY’d for MUCH cheaper, so that is where my inspiration came from. And if it’s ok to say this, I think I even like my version better that only cost $63. :)
Yes, I said $63! Here’s how I did it.
Let me first say that the words in this crossword puzzle are the meaning of Ellie’s name. She has a good name huh? The only one that’s not is “love” but I just added that one. :) And I probably will build off of the other letters in the future too but for now I just wanted the meaning of her name up there. So figure out a layout with your puzzle until you find one that works, then measure the wall it’s going on.
Then go to Home Depot and pick out a nice wood–you don’t want to go cheap on this part because you want the wood to look nice, and not have a lot of knots. Remember you are trying to get the look of Scrabble tiles which are very smooth and light colored. I chose a select pine board called Radiata Pine. It’s super smooth and pretty. Then have the guys at Home Depot cut your “tiles” or squares. I decided for each square to be 8×8 in size so they cut me several squares (however many I needed for my puzzle).
Then I used my Silhouette machine and cut the vinyl letters and my images out and put on my tiles. Please know this part will be very time consuming. :)
If you notice on the puzzle from Posh Tots, they had an image that corresponded with the letter so I did the same thing because I liked the idea. So for my D I had a dog, E for elephant etc. So however many E’s I had, I printed out that many elephants at once. Got it? :) And the font I used for the letters is Arial Rounded.
Figuring out how to hang my puzzle on the wall was a little puzzling. *giggle* Seriously it was though. Finally, with my husband’s help, we figured an industrial strength velcro (which we already had) could maybe do the job, and it sure did! It worked perfectly and the tiles hang all straight. But let me warn you–if you are worried about taking the paint off the wall when you remove it, don’t use velcro.
*EDITED 11/7/2012 – DO NOT USE VELCRO TO HANG THIS. The velcro lasted a few months with no problems, but a few of them have just fell down probably from temperature changes, so hanging with velcro is not recommended. You need to find another method even if it takes 50 million nail holes in the wall. Please hang at your own risk.*
This is what we used. 
My brilliant and OCD husband hung them up for me. Remember when he hung up our gallery wall in the living room? Yea, it was like that again but this time way easier. :)
Sorry, awful Iphone night pic.
And once the 1st piece of velcro was on the wall, then he would attach 1 long piece of the other piece of velcro stuff on the back of the letters that were going to be hung.
That was a time saver because you can hang up several letters at once instead of individually. He’s a smart one!
And that’s it–it’s really easy and SUPER cute. And this doesn’t have to be just for a nursery. It’d be great in a gameroom, bedroom or even a family room.
Here’s a few more shots and closeups.
What do you think? Not bad for $63 vs. $500 huh?! This really is one of my favorite crafty projects to date by far! I hope Ellie likes it too. :)
EDITED 11/7/2012 – AGAIN, please do not use Velcro to attach to the wall. It is not safe and will not last. Please find another method of hanging the tiles and hang at your own risk.
xxoo,
Decorchick!
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Wow – I love this! She will enjoy your “craftiness” for years to come!
Thank you Becki!
That is super cool Emily. Ellie IS a great name! Hope y’all are doing fantastic.
Thank you Megan! :)
Emily, that is so cool! And, very unique. Love it!!
Thank you Lauren I appreciate it. :)
Really love this project! So different yet so awesome!! You did a great job girl!
thank you Mandy!
This turned out amazing! Wow! You did a great job!
Thanks so much Maria!
Wow, I completely agree that your version is much better than the original, and I can’t even imagine spending $500 on it!! Coincidentally, I’ve been wanting to do something like this. I figured out the words I wanted to use pretty quickly (the part I thought would take a long time) but haven’t figured out how to make it & which products to use. This is exactly what I’m going to do!
Thank you so much for the inspiration and for sharing your beautiful project!!! Good luck to you with your new baby! ;)
Yay I’m so glad this helped you! Good luck and send me a picture when it’s finished. :)
Gurrrrrl, I love it! Job well done! Would also be super cute in a playroom space… hmm…. pinning now : )
Awesome thanks girl!
Absolutely perfection! Such a great idea and a HUGE savings. I honestly don’t know how you have the time or ‘mind’ to do these things but I applaud you ~ :)
It’s such a beautiful example of her name and meanings.
xo
Pat
Thank you Pat! It sure takes forever to get things done now but I try. :)
Super cute. Good job, mama.
Thank you Elz!
Ingenious!!!
Thank you Jane!
LOVE this!! I might just have to steal this idea for my daughter’s bedroom. Her name is Ella but we call her Ellie! Love that name :)
Love the name Ella too! That was also a contender. :)
Very lovely!
I love this! You did a great job, the price is awesome! Maybe one day when I have a grandchild………..
How fun!
Love the special spin you put on these with the little symbols! This looks great :)
Thank you Amanda!
What a fun idea – I LOVE Scrabble!
Such a cute idea and with so many possibilities to personalize the room!
I wonder if you could do this using stencils & paint instead? I’m not as crafty as I used to be and I don’t have a silhouette machine. But, I love this idea! I’d love to do it in our game room.
Yes absolutely! It will just take a while longer, but definitely doable. :)
You could use the sticky backed letters too- they sell them at the dollar general here. Use a wood glue spread thin to reinforce- I think the small foam sticky shapes would look cute too- add a bit of color to the alphabatized shapes- they are sold at the dollar store too. Might look cute??
such a great and inexpensive idea!
Awesome! I’ve been trying to figure out how to do scribe letters for a long time now! This is perfect!I didn’t realize the guys at home depot would cut the wood for you. Do they charge to do it? And where do you get the black vinyl that sticks?
I did this very thing, I used 3″ wood squares from the craft store and used my scrabble game to make sure I was correct with letter number combo. I used my familys names. It says ” our family then last name and every ones name. When wedings and babies come along we add a name. It hangs in the family room.
Scrabble pieces make a great sunburst mirror too ; )
I wonder if the 3M velcro type hangers would work with a lighter weight, thinner wood. I know the hooks come in different sizes depending on the weight of material being hung. Worth a try. I love Scrabble too and this is a great project for a kids room or den.
Hi Emily! I’m not sure if you’re still answering questions about this project, but I have to say this is amazing. I can’t stop thinking about your scrabble wall. My winter project is redecorating the living room in my loft apartment, and I’ve been searching high and low for something fun to do on one of the walls. Did I fail to mention the wall is 17′?!?! Your scrabble wall is a love!!!! My questions are in regards to the letters, hanging, and wood.:
1. How did you attach the vinyl and did you cut these out by hand or a machine?
2. How did you hang the tiles after the Velcro failed? I am thinking about creating an actual mini scrapple board with small hooks to hand the letters.
3. What is the thickness of your wood?
Hi Kia–glad you love the scrabble tiles! When velcro failed, I never hung them back up, and totally did something different in the nursery and went an entirely different direction. I think small hooks would be much better. And yes I cut the vinyl out with the Silhouette Machine and just stuck them on. :)
I believe the wood was 3/4 inch thick.
Darling project. A great adhesive that won’t mar the walls (so long as you’ve used good quality paint with 2 coats) are the 3M Command strips. They have a replacement pack (without the hooks). I use these for everything. Note that Small, Medium, Large denotes the weight it is to support. Small is likely fine for your blocks.
http://www.fastenation.com/products/3m-products/command-small-picture-hanging-strips-pack-of-8.html
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Hi Emily
I know this post was a long time ago. I did the scrabble tiles. But had no idea how to hang them until I found you blob. I bought the industrial Velcro. Can you tell me how did you start did you centre them
Thanks a bunch
Hi Susan! I just started by laying them all out on the floor first to get the positioning. :)
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