Foam Board Scrabble Tiles

To set the stage for my kid's play nook, I wanted some fun decor…enough with the huge, decade-old poster board of pictures equally as old. Pinterest pulls up "excuse the mess, my kids are making memories" wall decals and expensive Etsy Scrabble tiles. I love the tile idea, but I can't rationalize spending a load, especially per letter…I've got a lot to say, $2-6 a letter is gonna get pricey. Also, my house being circa 1900, some walls are weaker than others and can't handle too much weight. So here's my cheap, lightweight solution: Foam Board Scrabble Tiles.

You'll need:

- foam board (depends on your words and size, I needed one)

- exacto knife or box cutter

- ruler

- pencil

- tape

- printer and paper

- paint (optional)

- sharpie

- craft popsicle sticks

- glue gun

- velcro dots (optional)

First, figure our what you want on your wall…I got my actual scrabble tiles out and started playing around with what could fit together. Then get on your computer and print it out in the font you like (I stuck with Helvetica) and the size you want (mine were well in the 300 range) and then print out the numbers to accommodate your letters. Cut out your letters and numbers.

Now grab your foam board and decide how big you want your tiles to be (I went with 5"x5.5" to fit my 'w') and using your ruler and pencil, measure it out, then cut out your pieces.

 Now trace the back of the letters with pencil, be as precise as possible! Then tape it to your tile, and using the tip of your pencil with the lead pressed in, rub around the letter until the letter is fully transferred. Repeat with your numbers.

Once you're done with the tracing, you have the option to paint your tiles (or I suppose you could have painted them first if you want your tiles to be a complete other color). I like the splattered paint look…it's childish and whimsical. I stuck with the turquoise and yellow that I used with the bench. I painted the popsicle sticks with a green to match one of the pillows I bought.

After that's all dry, you can trace your letter and fill them in with sharpie, or if you trust your artistic abilities, paint…I used sharpie. Ha.

It's not perfect, but you get it.

Once all your tiles are done…give yourself a pat on the back and do a shot (Tarantula or Rumpleminz if you're pouring one for me!)…cuz that was a pain in the ass! Just take comfort in the fact that I share your pain through this whole process.

Using your glue gun, line up and glue together your words (you can choose to put them straight together without the popsicle stick showing, I went the more chaotic route…because this is for the minions, remember). I glued them in two sets, then glued them together once they were on the wall…having a helping hand might make this set easier.

After all was said and done, some of the letters weren't as flat on the wall as I would like…so I used these little velcro dots to get them to stick. You could probably use these little dots to hang

each letter individually if you like!

Here's my before and after.

And yeah, it does kinda bug me that the end of 'play' is shooting upward…maybe I'll fix it, but probably not.

Toy Storage Bench

Recently I came to the conclusion that my little minion friends (age 3 and 1) wreak havoc on my poor home. I bought into that colorful bin toy organizer, hoping it would help sort through the madness…but in the end, it became problematic in itself. The boys would make a game out dumping each and every last one out and then stacking them on top of each other (making it nearly impossible to separate…no matter all the swear words I threw at it).

Here's my problem before pictures...

And here's one of what it looked like 'picked up'…if you can even call it that.

This is after their Sept. and Nov. birthdays and then Christmas.

So, I took to Pinterest and found this blog of an absolutely amazing playroom, in perfect order. Yes…I need some of this action here! Now my house is modest of size, so I just dedicate a small nook to my minions…and a little corner storage bench would be just the ticket. Right off the bat, I messed up and ordered the Billy bookcases instead of the Expedit bookcases. But I search Pinterest to see if my hopes were still reachable and found this pin. So yes, it's doable…and so I shall!

I started with two of these bookcases ($24.99 each).

I wanted to add a pop of color, so I painted the inside of the cubicles a turquoise and yellow. I used acrylic paint and Mod Podge to finish…not the best, but it worked.

After trying to simply super glue the shelves into place, I realized that wasn't going to cut it, so I added a couple of screws into each shelf on each side, to ensure the sturdiness required for active kids.

I got MDF board at Lowes and had it cut to size, then measured/guessimated and cut all the other materials (foam and batting that I got for a previous project that I never used from JoAnns, and canvas fabric which I got from this website). I used a bread knife to cut the foam, since I'm not fancy enough to own an electric turkey cutter and wasn't going to purchase one for this particular project.

Now before I did any stapling, I need to add a little more support to the MDF board, since there was a small area that had no support in the corner. I should have taken a picture of the corner, but I didn't. Here's the two legs that I added for support.

 Now with those legs secured and ready, I could get busy stapling everything down…I love this part. :)

 I got it all stapled and put my two bench cushions on top, added some screws to secure the cushion in place, and I was done!

I got the baskets for this at Target (black or white options), and they informed me that the colored baskets usually become available around back-to-school time. 

My husband feels I should note that I donated and sold a great deal of toys, so this storage system doesn't magically fix my hoarding or hopeless-packratting…NOTED.

The boys really love their new bench to climb on, and I love the ease of big baskets to store the toys. I apologize that all my pictures are off my iPhone…busy mom problems, you understand. ;)