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November 19, 2013

Joy Scrabble Tile Decorations

Thanks For Sharing!

I have officially started Christmas crafts for this year and I’m on a roll! Last week, I had a really huge honor of being part of Tatertots and Jello’s Happy Holidays Series. It’s actually still going on so you should probably go check it out and take a peek at all of the other fun holiday posts. I created these fun DIY Scrabble Tile Decorations for the series and I’m excited to finally be sharing them with you!

Today, I’m going to show you how to make these Distressed Scrabble Tile Decorations for your holiday décor this year. And in reality, they could probably work year round as well, making them a great gift.

Easy tutorial on ow to make these DIY Scrabble Tile Decorations via @tarynatddd

You can personalize them by choosing different words related to the holidays or something meaningful.

DIY Scrabble TIle Decor- great for the holidays or year round! Via @tarynatddd

Supplies:

– (3) 5 1/2″ Square Blocks

– 120 Grit Sand Paper

– Minwax Early American Stain

– 4” Vinyl Letters and 3/4″ Numbers

– White Paint

– Satin Wood Sealer

joy collage 1

I am the type of person that saves all of my wood scraps from various projects and this is one of the many times when I am glad that I do! For this project, I used left over wood from our Garden Slat Wall , cut them into 5 1/2″ X 5 1/2″ pieces and then sanded down the edges.

If you don’t want to cut your own pieces you can buy ready made blocks at your craft store.

IMG_5752

Next, I gave them one coat of Miniwax Early American Stain. I always prefer to apply my stains with a soft cloth but you could also use a foam brush or roller.

IMG_5756

Using my Silhouette, I created my vinyl letters and numbers in Arial font. If you don’t have access to a machine, you can just as easily purchase 4″ vinyl letters and 3/4″ numbers at a craft store.

JOY collage 2

Using transfer paper to apply the vinyl to the blocks makes the job that much easier!

IMG_5774

At this point, if you like what you see you could easily stop here. The stain with the black letters give them a real vintage look.  But I decided to take them a step further for a different look.

JOY COLLAGE 3

I am a really big fan of tone on tone and decided to make these blocks another victim of my obsession. I covered the blocks in a coat of white paint and let them dry. The trick to painting over vinyl is to apply a really thin layer of paint so it doesn’t bleed underneath.

joy collage 4

Then, using a sheet of 120 grit sand paper, I gently distressed the blocks and the edges. And to finish them off I gave them a coat of satin polyurethic sealer.

DIY Christmas Decor - Distressed JOY Scrabble Tiles via @tarynatddd

A really simple project that can make a fun piece of décor or a great gift for the holidays.

 

About Taryn Whiteaker

Taryn Whiteaker is the voice of style behind TarynWhiteaker.com (formerly Design, Dining and Diapers) ! Taryn is a previous PR/Marketing professional who got back to her creative roots after becoming a mom and now shares her passion for home decor and design for the world to see. Taryn lives in the greater Seattle area with her husband and three kids and loves coffee, the outdoors, and exploring with her family.

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Filed Under: Crafts & Sewing, DIY Home Decor, DIY Projects Tagged With: Christmas Projects, crafts, DIY, repurpose, tutorial, wood

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. [email protected] says

    November 19, 2013 at 4:27 am

    Oh I so love this! I think I might have to make some but I will use mine for all year around ;)

    Reply
  2. Leslie Stewart @ House on the Way says

    November 19, 2013 at 5:23 am

    Absolutely so cute! I’m pinning and sharing!

    Reply
  3. Allison @ The Golden Sycamore says

    November 19, 2013 at 5:28 am

    SO CUTE, Taryn! Love, love, love!! You seriously have the best projects!

    Reply
  4. JaneEllen says

    November 19, 2013 at 9:53 pm

    Your tiles look fantastic, love how you did the staining then painted over them. Ah having a silhouette would be great. From all I’ve seen they do so much. Then you have to be able to figure out how to use it, duh. that’s me. Hubs could figure it out he’s much more in tune with things like that and he’s no computer whiz. He has much more patience, a key ingredient.
    I Notice your blog has a new header and your photo is new, Love how it all looks and love your blog. Happy days
    We’ve been making holiday things, had hubs out cutting and sanding today. He cut some blocks but not doing them as you have. I’ve been looking at many projects and pinning so many to get inspiration. Now I have so much I want to do I’ll be a busy old lady for while. Good, keep me from eating, don’t want to gain any holiday pounds. Take care and give your little sweeties some hugs/kisses for me ok? Any new photos of Miss E and little man?

    Reply
  5. Chelsea says

    November 20, 2013 at 10:24 am

    Love this T! And totally digging your new design! Everything looks great!

    Reply
  6. Krista @ the happy housie says

    November 20, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    These are seriously adorable Taryn – I saw them on TT&J and loved them. Pinning. Have a great week!

    Reply
  7. Justine Y says

    November 21, 2013 at 7:59 am

    Love these! Pinned! I can’t wait to make some, hopefully I can find the time before this Christmas :)

    Reply
  8. Michelle @ Elegance & Enchantment says

    November 21, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    I LOVE this project! I am not always the best DIY-er, but this seems doable. My hubby and I are big scrabble players, so this would have a special meaning for us in our home. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  9. Ila says

    November 21, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    These are adorable! I am loving the scrabble theme too!

    Reply
  10. Yana says

    November 22, 2013 at 10:08 pm

    Pretty, Pretty, Pretty! And so simple!

    Reply
  11. Linda @ it all started with paint says

    November 23, 2013 at 8:55 am

    Taryn,

    These are simply AMAZING! Such a clever and easy to execute idea!

    Pinning for sure!

    Thanks so much for your amazing and fabulous inspiration!

    :) Linda

    Reply
  12. Deonna Wade says

    November 25, 2013 at 12:17 pm

    Hey Taryn! It’s Deonna from the Child at Heart blog! I love this post and would love for you to link up to the Merriest Blog Hop each Friday until Christmas and share your creations! These blocks are SO cute. I love the word JOY and just made my own Joy sign for my mantle that I ‘m posting tomorrow. I love the scrabble tiles idea. I would want to leave these up after Christmas :)
    http://www.thechildatheartblog.com/2013/11/the-merriest-blog-hop-week-1.html

    Reply
  13. Sharon H says

    November 26, 2013 at 6:12 am

    How cute are these! I’m thinking you could also use stencils, to keep the cost down, if you’re making a lot of them to put in a craft show….just sayin’

    Reply
  14. Katie Goldsworthy says

    November 28, 2013 at 8:11 pm

    I LOVE these! Thanks for linking them up at Monday Funday. Sharing on Twitter :)

    Reply
  15. Miranda @ Someday Crafts says

    December 2, 2013 at 10:28 pm

    These tiles are beautiful! We love to play board games in our house, so these would be so fun to have sitting around. We’ll be featuring these over at Someday Crafts tomorrow :)

    Reply
  16. Lori Swade says

    December 3, 2013 at 2:59 am

    I am having trouble finding the stencils you used in your demonstration. Could you suggest where I look to find them.

    Thanks you!

    Reply
  17. Jane says

    December 6, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    Hi Taryn,
    these came out so prettily! And such a great idea to make them scrabble tiles :)
    I’d love for you to drop by and link this up at our Holiday link party happening here: http://www.urbanejane.com/2013/12/holiday-glam-link-party.html

    Thank you for the inspiration!!
    Have a wonderful day~

    Reply
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  19. arshpreet singh says

    February 11, 2021 at 12:45 am

    I LOVE these! Thanks for linking them up at Monday Funday. Sharing on Twitter :)

    Reply

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Taryn Whiteaker

Hi and welcome! I'm Taryn and the voice of style behind Taryn Whiteaker Designs. Recent transplant from Seattle to Dallas. Sharing our journey of modernizing our European style home. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list to get all the latest updates! Read more...

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