DIY Magnetic Scrabble Noticeboard

[Julie-Ann]

Do you have an old Scrabble game missing some pieces? Here is a great way to use those Scrabble letters.



Basically, what you'll need for this project is a piece of sheet metal {I got mine from Lowes at around $7 for a 24"X36" piece}, a piece of thin plywood, trim, and Liquid Nail. Hubs used a nail gun to nail the trim into place but you could use a hammer and trim tails. {If you don't want to bother with adding trim, look for an old picture frame that will accommodate a metal insert. The metal can be snipped to size but will need a backing, however. }

Now, your hardward store may cut your plywood to size for you. {Lowes did for me, anyway.} You'll need the plywood to be the size of the sheet metal PLUS the width of your trim MINUS around a quarter of an inch to allow the trim to overlap the sheet metal just a bit. In retrospect, I would have had my plywood cut slightly smaller so that the plywood edges couldn't easily be seen from the side once complete. Also in retrospect, I would have just let hubs cut the plywood for me because the guy at Lowes didn't cut it quite right or straight and we still ended up trimming it a bit.

Here you see that I used a T-square to draw lines on the plywood showing exactly where the sheet metal would go in the center.



Then I generously applied liquid nail to the center of the plywood.

{Note: The photo below is of another magnet board project that required liquid nail on the entire board, not just the center...I just wanted you to see what I meant by "Liquid Nail" and what it looks like. More on that particular project another time...}



Next you'll want to carefully apply the sheet metal to the center of the board atop the Liquid Nail. Press gently from the center out. When it set up a bit, I was able to carefully walk all over the board to ensure good contact.



But at this point, I measured the width and height of the my plywood and set the table saw to cut the pieces on a 45 degree angle.This creates nice mitered corners where the trim pieces come together.

And, now, imaginations on, everybody! Don't let what I found on my camera instead of my beautifully cut trim pieces distract you...

Basically, you'll just take those trim pieces and lay them around the perimeter of your plywood {you can hold them in place with liquid nail if you like} and then nail the trim to the plywood. Fill in any gaps with wood filler, prime, and then paint!



I didn't want the bare metal showing, so I decided to decoupage my magnet board with pages from an older dictionary. I just brushed regular Elmer's glue onto the board in small sections, and applied the paper. The first layer of paper was to cover the entire board and all the edges, and the second layer of paper was more of a random pattern. When the glue was dry, I sprayed the paper with two or three layers of a satin clear coat. This is an important step to ensure durability of the paper.

About the Scrabble magnets themselves...I super glued small strong rare earth magnets {purchased from Ebay} to the backs. They stick extremely well even through the two layers of decoupage paper! They are disc magnets that are 1/4" wide X 1/16" thick. I actually bought 500 of them for about $25 - free shipping! The seller I purchased from also has much smaller quantities available.

Voila - what do you think?

[Anna Williams]

Wow - what a great project! This would be super cute in a kid's room that liked reading or the like

[Julie-Ann]

What a great idea Anna. It would be helpful in teaching a little one to read as well.