Wednesday, November 23, 2011

DIY: Personalised Birthday Gift - Scrabble Tile Names

November is always the month that I look forward too cos its my birthday month and also my bestie's. Her bday is only 9 days after mine. Since this year she has a new baby and a new house, I thought why not make something for her and her hub too since his birthday is only 4 days away from hers and include her baby into the picture too? So I decided to make a frame with scrabble tiled names of the family, also adapted the idea from pinterest =) What is the point of pinning and never do them right?



I like the scrabble best cos I managed to put their daughter's name in the middle and connect both of their  names together :)

I went shopping for the items that was needed together when I did this gift for JD teacher's gift. I found the frame from ikea and some "light" wood from Daiso. So when I got home, I quickly started to saw the wood into cubes. 3 cm x 3 cm.
After sawing the wood into cubes, I sandpaper them and made the wood cube smooth in order for me to paint the letter and numbers on. Then.... i didn't take the picture of the next step cos....
1. initially I wanted to carve the letters on. But then my tool is not suitable. Failed!
2. I wanted to paint the letters on the cube but my brush is not fine enough. Failed!
3. painted the letters using pencil tip as brush. Failed!
4. Wanted to write the letters using pen but the ink smeared. Failed!

So lastly, I decided to put a layer of celotape on the cube and cut the letters out. Peel the letters out and then brush a layer of paint on it. Voila! As for the numbers, impposible for me to cut the celotape or brush them on. So what to do? Write the number on with ballpoint pen. :) (why never write the letter with the ballpoint pen? cannot... cos it will make the surface jaggered and not smooth. You can only use ballpoint pen for a single stroke letter on wood. er... you know what I mean ah?)

aisay.... didn't take a close shot of the scrabble tiles. This is the closest I took. I have another one but it was blur.

I didn't manage to give it to her before her birthday cos we're all busy with wedding dinners and all. So I gave it to her as her belated birthday gift and also early birthday gift for her husband. They looked happy and pleased (I hope!) and her hub even asked me to sign on it. hahaha oh well.. will be dropping by later at their house to officiate the "art" later. ;)


(UPDATE: lately I have received many comments on this and many also told that I can buy the tiles from some shops and also amazon.com. Thanks! but then I stay in Malaysia and there's hardly any stores here that sells loose tiles like this here and If i were to buy it from amazon, it will take at least 2 weeks for delivery and the charges will cost a bomb (Note 1USD = Rm3.80) But anyway I thank you all for your kind comments and your visit here :) )

36 comments:

  1. Very creative.

    Happy Birthday to them

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  2. Wow Sasha, this is really a very thoughtful gift. You have put in so much work, dedication and love to create this for your bestie. I would be so delighted to receive something like this (not hinting ok)...hahhhahhaah. Well done! I love this. At first I thought you bought the scrabble tiles and glued them. Didn't know you actually got the wood blocks and saw them :) If I were your bestie, I would be touched!

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  3. Kathy: Thanks

    Barb: haha initially i wanted to buy the tiles but too late!

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  4. How come I never thought of that ah? psssst... me also November baby.. in fact my B-day is very very near.. :) *hinting for scrabble!* hahaa...

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  5. Couldn't agree more. This is really thoughtful and couldn't be more perfect. After I read this, I went to try on our names but mine end up cacat look. But this is perfecto. Kid's name in middle and parents at the side. Really perfect!

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  6. Super nice! I like :) Your bestie is really lucky to have such a creative and hardworking friend like you! If only I can buy one from you hahaha... Chloe just learned to play Scrabble recently and she is crazy over the game now.

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  7. Wowww, so clever!!!!!

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  8. wow...very nice...you are so creative ..

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  9. Awesome gift! U even made the little tiles from scratch. *salute*

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  11. Yor.. You are my ngau cheong. The things you do, super darn creative! Nice!

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  12. I FEEL SUPER DUPER LOVED BY THIS PIECE OF ARTWORK FROM YOU BABE, ME SLEEP ALSO SMILING....>.<
    BIG FAT XOXOXOXO!

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  13. Awesome job, sasha! Wish i have time and patience to do this!

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  14. Wow! You really are so creative! What a wonderful, wonderful gift. I would be so touched to receive a gift like this. Way to go!

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  15. A very meaningful gift, Sasha. You are a very thoughtful friend.

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  16. love this! at first i thought they were really scrabble tiles...until i read your post:) Love this idea! Now if only they sold ready made scrabble tiles (apart from the ones that comes in the scrabble set)... :)

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    1. I heard you can buy it off ebay

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  17. Do you remember which type of frame you purchased from Ikea. I want to give this to my mom for her 70th next week.
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/decoration/10757/

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    1. Hi Kari,
      it's this one http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00078051/

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  18. How did you fit it in the frame?

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    1. Hi Laura, it's a frame which you can open it up from the back and fit it in, and then secure it back

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  19. I love this! Did you use a regular picture frame or a deeper shadowbox-type frame?

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    1. Thanks! I used the Deeper shadow box for this.

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  20. Type of adhesive to stick the tiles?

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    1. Hi Keli, if not mistaken I used the glue gun to mount the tiles on cos the tiles were made from wood and its very light.

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  21. What type of glue or adhesive did you use to keep the letters from falling?

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    1. Hi Keli, sorry for the late reply! I used a glue gun to keep them up.

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  22. By giving gift we expressed our way of love to our dear and near ones.It is the symbol of our affection because mostly we will give what our loved ones like.

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  23. Where did you buy the shadow box from? I am so doing this for my mom for her birthday and Mother's Day because they are a week apart :)

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  24. Its really a nice and attractive gift for the children who really enjoyed while playing. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post. UK Designs Direct

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  25. Hi! I love this project you did, even if it is dated I just found it. The online image of the frame you purchased appears to have a white center piece/background and you tiles are placed on a black background. . .What did you glue to tiles to that is black before placing them in the frame?? Thank you. Kayla

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    1. Hi Kayla. Thanks!
      I used the glue gun and applied a generous amount of hot glue to attach them to the black cardboard. :)

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  26. You can buy lettered wooden tiles at Michael's. Love this!

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