How to Make a Scrabble Tile Pendant – Tutorial

I have been having a lot of fun, making beautiful scrabble tile pendants from Tin Teddy images.

Each item in the “Squares” range includes a sheet with images that are specially chosen and sized to work with “scrabble” sized tiles.

You can of course use any small images for this tutorial.

You Will Need:

Tin Teddy scrabble tile graphics or similar
Wooden scrabble size tile
Sharp craft knife or scissors
Black acrylic paint and brush, or black Sharpy pen
Strong tacky glue
Versamark clear ink pad or similar
Clear embossing powder or UTEE
Embossing heat gun
Pendant bail
Cord or chain

Optional:

Fine sandpaper

What you will need to make scrabble tile pendants

 

Prepare the Base…

1 – Paint the edges of the wooden tiles with black acrylic paint, or colour them with a black Sharpy pen. You could leave them blank or varnish them if you prefer.

Paint the edges of the tiles with acrylic paint for neatness

2 – Select a picture from a Tin Teddy digital collage sheet, the Square sets include a page with tiles that are the right size for Scrabble tile pendants. I print mine on glossy photo paper as this makes the images very sharp and clear.

3 – Cut out your chosen image and glue it to the front of the wooden tile with tacky glue or similar.

4 – When the glue has dried, carefully use a knife or scissors to trim any excess paper from around the tile if necessary

Sticking a Tin Teddy Vintage Cat square on, and trimming any excess paper

5 – OPTIONAL – lightly sand around the very edges of the image to give a smooth, blended look

The magical bit…

6 – Press the front (image side) of the tile onto a Versamark or other clear ink pad a few times, be sure it is fully covered.

7 – Sprinkle clear embossing powder onto the tile and tap off any excess. I use Heat it Up and Ranger brands for this.

Coating the scrabble tile with embossing powder

8 – Gently heat the embossing powder with your heat gun, watch for when it goes clear and smooth

Heating the embossing powder...

9 – Quickly sprinkle more embossing powder on to the hot tile and tap off any excess

10 – Continue heating the powder and applying more layers until you are happy with the results. I used 3 layers on my tiles. If you are using a thicker embossing powder you may only need one layer.

11 – Wait a few minutes to be sure the embossing powder has dried then glue the bail to the reverse of your tile with strong glue

Glue a bail on to the scrabble tile

12 – OPTIONAL – I coat the edges of my tiles with a thin layer of PVA glue to provide additional protection and a gentle shine to the edges

13 – Add a chain or cord and proudly wear your beautiful new scrabble tile pendants

Add a cord and wear with pride - or sell them for a profit!

Handy Hints

You can create similar pendants with plastic tiles too.

If you are making pendants to sell, how about popping them in little card boxes so customers can give them as gifts. Check out my Tutorial for Making Custom Boxes here.

Read the Tin Teddy Blog articles about selling at craft fairs to help get more sales!

You could coat the edges of the tile with embossing powder instead of painting them. Gold or silver would look very attractive. You may find it easier to paint a light coat of PVA glue to the edge instead of using the Versamark pad, so the embossing doesn’t get on the front and back of the tile too.

You may want to paint the reverse of the tile too, or even put another image (or the same image) there and emboss for a double sided pendant.

If you want to make this project with children then they could coat the image with layers of PVA glue or ModPodge instead of embossing it.


The images used in this tutorial are from the following Tin Teddy digital collage sets (names link to the sets in my Etsy shop):

Tin Teddy Vintage Dogs 1″ Squares
Tin Teddy Vintage Cats 1″ Squares
Tin Teddy Vintage Cute Animals 1″ Squares
Tin Teddy Vintage Japanese Artwork 1″ Squares


Links to Supplies

Here are some links to the products mentioned on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. If you buy from any of these links, I may receive a small commission from the shop for sending custom their way. This is at no cost to yourself. Thank you.

From Amazon.com

From Amazon.co.uk

How to Make Scrabble Tile Pendants – an Illustrated Tutorial
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3 thoughts on “How to Make Scrabble Tile Pendants – an Illustrated Tutorial

  • 2 June, 2014 at 2:59 pm
    Permalink

    Thank you for a very clear tutorial. I have bought some of your pictures and will be making these today.

    Reply
    • 2 June, 2014 at 3:00 pm
      Permalink

      Thank you very much, angela, I hope you have fun 🙂

      Reply
  • 9 July, 2014 at 3:01 pm
    Permalink

    These look fun. I cant wait to try this. Thnx

    Reply

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