Make Your Own Scrabble Art

I'm always trying to find unique ways to make the house look pretty and these scrabble art pictures are the perfect way to create wonderful pieces to hang in your home.

You can usually find old scrabble sets for a few pounds either at the charity shop or car boots, so do keep an eye out if you fancy a go at this.  For the background on this picture I used some sample pieces of wallpaper I'd picked up when we had been in the DIY store, you could use wrapping paper, a map, photo or any other type of paper or even fabric.

You'll also need some glue and a box frame, you can have a search around the charity shops for a frame or you can buy a new one, they are usually quite reasonably priced from places like Wilkos, B&M, Home Bargains or even one of the supermarkets.

First of all take the back from your frame and lay on the backside of your paper or fabric, draw around the edge and then carefully cut out the background, it is worth trying out your scrabble pieces on the paper or fabric to make sure it is easy to see, on busy backgrounds they might not be so obvious. Once you are happy then stick the paper or fabric to the back piece of the frame, I used Dovecraft glue from Wilkos, it is really strong and only about £1.

Once you have glued the paper/fabric to the back of the frame then you need to lay out your words, have a play with a few words you like and you'll eventually find something you love, obviously the words need to be able to connect, have as many or as few as you like. Names, special words or places are great to add. 

Once you are happy with the words you have chosen and the layout then carefully stick them down onto your chosen background, if you are using a large frame it might be worth using a ruler or spirit level to make sure the lines are straight.

Once you have finished, careful place the back into the frame and there you have it, a simple but effective picture, perfect to give as a gift or just for yourself. Now all you have to do is decide where you'd like to hang it and how many more you can make with the left over pieces.

The great thing about this project is, if you get bored of the background or fancy a change you can just take off the tiles and start again.

What would you put on yours?

Marquee Love Letters from One Stop Craft Shop

I was recently approached by the One Stop Craft Shop, to see if I would be interested in reviewing some of their new range of Marquee Love letters.

As we have just moved house, our new home is a blank canvas in most rooms. In the kitchen however, we are almost there, we have chosen colours and some new furniture and it is really starting to come together.

Firstly, I had to choose a word to have displayed in lights, EAT seemed very appropriate for the kitchen! So, with my word chosen I was sent some letters and coloured papers to get me started, craft is something I love doing but sometimes it's very difficult to find the time, so this was the perfect excuse and opportunity for me to get crafty.

The letters themselves are made from cardboard, they come with the lights and bulbs which slot onto the front, as well as a template to make it easy to cut the paper.

First of all you need to draw around the template and carefully cut it out, I found you need to cut exactly on the line otherwise it doesn't quite fit in into the letter.

Once you have cut out the shape you need to fit it into the letter and then using a pencil I poked the holes into the front to place the lights and bulbs onto the front.

With the paper being slightly thick, it meant the bulbs didn't slot into holes as easily as they could, I certainly had sore fingers at the end of it all. Be careful not too push too hard onto the cardboard and if need be, put a little pressure on the other side to stop it from putting any strain on the cardboard.

Once I had completed the first letter, the following ones were a breeze.

I absolutely love the finished look though, its fabulous and so effective,  they look perfect on top of my kitchen unit in both the day and at night.

I can't wait for evenings in the garden, to be able to put these on and see them through the window, they are really bright so perfect for an alternative to lamps. They are battery operated by two AAA batteries, so don't need to be need a plug either.

These fabulous letters mean that you can swap and change the colour scheme as much as you like, to suit your rooms, whether it be for children's rooms, kitchen or lounge or even parties and weddings. You can even get additional bulbs in blue and pink, the options are endless and if you hop on over to One Stop Craft Shop there is plenty more inspiration from their huge range of stock.

Plus if you feel like a change you can always swap the letters round....

So, what word would you create? Family, Love, Home???

The paper used in this project were, Mini Dots Gold Foiled Paper and Confetti Gold Foiled Paper.

NB: I was sent the letters and papers to create this post, all words and opinions are my own.

Ivy Cabin Review & Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was approached by the lovely people at Ivy Cabin to see if I would like to review one of their products. A quick look round their beautiful website and it wasn't hard for me to find several gorgeous items to choose from that I knew would fit in my home.

My daughters room currently lacks pretty storage, so I chose this beautiful bear drawstring bag for her dressing up clothes.

Arriving beautifully wrapped I was excited to open it, it was a lot bigger than I was expecting which is good and is great quality. It has a drawstring across the top and a hook so you can hang on a on the back of the door.

The perfect size for all my daughters dress up clothes and easy for her to open too.

I think it fits perfectly with the mixed vintage and modern styling we have in her room, and I am a huge fan of the bear print on the bag. It is well worth the money and I think £10 is great value for such a huge bag!

And finally the lovely people over at Ivy Cabin have given me one of these fabulous sacks to giveaway, just enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (T&Cs apply and can be found on the entry options). Plus if you can't wait to see if you win or see something you fancy over on Ivy Cabin's website then you can get 10% off until the end of May with code MUMMYDIARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway