DIY Scrabble Coasters

Winters for my family mean loads and loads of board games together. We are quite lucky to be friends with a couple that own a board game store and through that friendship, a whole world of new board games have opened up to our family that have offered us countless hours of enjoyment together. The more obscure the game, the better! Not only do we share these as a family, but we open our home up often in these colder months to other families to share with them a fun board game night too.

Today I wanted to share with you a set of easy DIY Scrabble Coasters you can make for your family board game nights. I also wanted to share with you a fun way to store your games and 3 fresh ideas for that board game collection!

Supplies Needed:
Scrabble Tiles (a minimum of 100 for 4 coasters)
4 Cork Coasters (for our base)
E-6000 Glue
Dark Wood Stain Pen or a small container of wood stain
Cup of Water, Rag, and Disposable Gloves
Razor Blade & Self-Healing Cutting Board or a Sharp Pair of Scissors for trimming

Where Do I Find Scrabble Tiles?
You can find Scrabble letters sold in sets of 100 or more through a variety of online retailers or through craft supplies shops. After doing this craft I would say that the higher quality the better. You will see that my letters faded into a silver once the polyurethane was applied, taking some of the color out of the letters. You can go over it with a permanent marker should you experience the same demise from a lesser quality material.

1. Begin by selecting the words you would like to showcase on each of your coasters. Words like FAMILY, GAMES, POINTS, & WINNER are a few we selected for our set. You could also personalize a coaster with each family member’s name for your family game nights.

2. Fill a cup with water to help water down your stain. Add a dab of stain on a rag and then dip into the water to create a stain that will allow your letters to still stand out while adding variation to the word you have chosen. Stain each letter for each of the words you will be selecting for your set. Set aside to dry.

3. Add a line of your E-6000 glue and then begin lining up your first row of letters, using that edge of the coaster to help be your guide to keep the line straight. Next to it, apply your next row of glue and attach your next line of letters. Be sure to work your stained word in somewhere on the coaster.

4. Allow these to dry for one hour, stacking them under a pile of books if they need to be leveled a bit. Finish by trimming any excess cork on the edges with a sharp pair of scissors or a razor blade. Spray with a coat (or two!) of clear polyurethane to finish, allowing 15 minutes of dry time between coats.

As I said before, the color bled out of these, but the silver variation isn’t too shabby either, is it? I love that by utilizing a single focus word and making it more pronounced with the stain, it allows you to use all the excess letters around it rather than struggling to find letters for rows and rows of words or having to purchase more than one set. These are cute and economical!

Looking for a new way to store your games so that they actually WILL get used? Remember that family bar cart I made over the summer? Well, it is now my favorite place to gather our family board games in the winter months. I love that this tool cart turned bar cart is still getting a ton of love in our house. In the winter it is stocked with our favorite holiday films, records, puzzles, and a whole bunch of games to keep everyone entertained for hours on end.

Are you looking for some new games to try out this year? Here are three of my suggestions for games that the whole family will love!

Ticket to Ride:
Ticket to Ride is our ALL TIME favorite game in the world to play and share with friends. Players collect train cards that enable them to claim railway routes connecting cities throughout North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who can fulfill their Destination Tickets by connecting two distant cities, and to the player who builds the longest continuous railway. For 2 to 5 players this one is recommended for ages eight and older. Once you have the game, I highly recommend adding a couple of expansion packs on it to create even more fun and challenges on the same board.

Carcassonne:
This is one of those rare games that can be played with up to five people (yay for families with three kids, am I right?) Basically, the game board is a medieval landscape built by the players as the game progresses. The game itself is not complex (although they do have a junior edition), but it is more the point system and your own strategies they make it complex and interesting. It reminds me of a combo of Blokus & Ticket to Ride, but medieval. Building roads, castles, and land has now become a highly addictive game in our house.

Tapple:
Tapple is a game that our whole family loves and every family member could play. The object of the game is very simple and there aren’t a lot of rules. There are a set of cards that tell you a topic like, “Pizza Toppings” or “Animals at the Zoo.” You start the timer and then you try to think of a word that starts with each available letter on the game board that fits under that category. If you can’t get it under the allotted time, you are out, and play continues with the remaining players. The kids absolutely loved this and really loved making up their own categories (an option available on the cards) to create their own game like, “Words to Describe Our Cat Lulu,” or “What Mom Is Like Before Her Coffee” (hardy-har-har!). We do really love this one!

I hope this tutorial inspires you to gather with friends and family to try out a new board game together!