Scrabble Cookies

While trying to find unique Valentine's Day sweets, I came across this post on Instructables and thought, "That's perfect! It looks so easy and with so few ingredients needed, I'll give it a shot!" Little did I know this was a lot harder than it looked... still, if you want a unique treat, here's what you'll need:


1. Sugar Cookie Mix (or you can make them from scratch if you're fancy like that!)
2. 1 stick of butter
3. 4 eggs (1 for the cookie mix, 3 for the icing)
4. Flour (for the table)
5. 4 cups of powdered sugar
6. 1 t of vanilla
7. Black icing

First, make your sugar cookies, either from scratch or following the recipe on the back of the cookie mix. Once made, roll out the dough onto a floured surface to 1/4" thick. Make sure to flour your rolling pin, as it will get sticky.

Cut your tiles as small as you like. Regulation Scrabble tiles seem to be 3/4"x3/4" but I made some smaller and some larger than that. Totally up to you how big to size your cookies.

Once they're all cut, I recommend placing them on parchment paper, though you certainly don't have to. I was able to make 114 cookie squares.

Place them in the oven for 8-9 minutes at 375 degrees. Once they're done baking, let them cool and start on the icing. I decided to follow this recipe for royal icing and you will have a LOT of leftover icing so I recommend cutting the recipe in half. However, if you want to make the full recipe and save some icing for later, mix 3 egg whites in a mixer until they're frothy. Then add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time.

Once all the sugar is added, place the mixer on high until the icing peaks. It'll take a little while, about 5 minutes, so don't be discouraged if it's too runny at first.

Now frosting these little squares as perfectly as the original post was not easy. I tried different methods, to see what worked best:

Worst method: trying to frost X's on a bunch, then going back and spreading them with a toothpick. The reason this didn't work was because the frosting hardened so fast that it ended up looking like a mess.

OK method: frosting one at a time and using a toothpick to smooth it out. It was really time consuming but it did the job.

Best method: Frosting thick outlines and then the inside of the squares all in one swoop.

Once the frosting hardens, which doesn't take long at all, best of luck in piping on the letters and numbers. You need a really steady hand, especially if your tiles are small. And I only ended up piping a quarter of the tiles because it was so time-consuming.

Play a round of Scrabble with your friends, your partner, whoever you like and try not to eat your hand!

TOTAL COSTS: About $18 to make 114 cookies (if you don't own any of the ingredients - prices from Vons)
$2.50 for sugar cookie mix
$1.99 for powdered sugar
$2.99 for black icing gel
$2.39 for eggs
$.99 for butter
$4.99 for vanilla
$1.99 for flour

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About 2 1/2 hours
1 hour and 30 minutes to make dough, cut into tiles, and bake
15 minutes to make icing
30 minutes to frost all the tiles
15 minutes to pipe on letters (though I only got through a quarter of the tiles)

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 4 out of 5
If you don't have a steady hand, the letters and numbers will come out uneven and your lines won't be straight. If you go in not expecting this to look exactly like the original post, then you'll have fun and will make something your friends and family will enjoy!

Valentine's Deck o' Cards

Many of you are snowed in, not able to escape your homes because of 90 feet of snow, 7 sheets of ice on the roads, and are onto your 5th blizzard of the day. Well, you don't need to venture out into the oblivion to make a Valentine's Day gift for your loved one. I saw this post on Craftster.org and thought it would make a lovely gift, not just for a partner but for a grandparent, a mentor, a friend... anyone!

Here's what you'll need:

1. A deck of cards (I used a Tim Burton deck, since we had two and they're red and white, perfect for Valentine's Day!)
2. Scissors
3. Packaging tape or clear labels
4. A hole punch
5. Book rings (or you could use yarn, ribbon, string, etc.)
6. Paper squares with reason of why you love the recipient
7. Scrabble tiles (optional)


First, you'll want to make your paper squares. I make 53 2"x1.5" squares in a Word doc with 52 reasons, ranging from funny to serious to sentimental. The 53rd square will be for the cover. The reason why I typed out the reasons instead of writing them was because I wanted to use multiple fonts, however writing out each could be more personal. Be creative with whatever you write - I find the more inside jokes, the better!

Once all 53 squares are cut out, take your hole punch and punch two holes into each card from your deck of cards. Try and punch in the same place in each card.

Next, using your clear labels or packaging tape, tape to each card. I found it easiest to lay a bunch of squares on a long strip of tape...

...cut in between each square...

...lay the square on the card and then cut off the excess.

Once all the cards have been covered, link them together, either with book rings or string/yarn/ribbon/etc.

Add on your Scrabble tiles for a decorative touch.

And you're done! Your Valentine's deck of cards is complete!

TOTAL COSTS: About $6.50
$2.99 for packaging tape from Vons
$3.49 for book rings from Staples
Cards on hand (though I'm sure you could pick them up for $3 at a general store)
Scissors, paper, Scrabble tiles, and hole punch on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Almost 2 hours
30 minutes to make squares and type up reasons
15 minutes to cut out squares
8 minutes to punch holes in cards
1 hour to tape squares to cards and trim

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 2 out of 5
This isn't difficult at all, just a little time consuming to punch all the cards and tape all the reasons. The hardest part may be thinking of 52 original reasons but hopefully it's not that hard or you wouldn't be making it!

How to Make 15 Different Ornaments

Maybe you're putting up your first Christmas tree, or maybe you're tired of the old ornaments and want something new. Well, I've put together a bunch of different ornaments I found online and put them to the test:

#1 - Wedding Invitations

If you've got a lot of wedding invitations laying around and you're not sure what to do with them, cut them into strips and put them inside a clear ball, so you'll always be reminded of your big day!






#2 - Sheet Music

Find your favorite Christmas carol, cut it into slices, and put inside a clear ball. Put a red ribbon around it or leave it as is and enjoy your festive ornament!








#3 and #4 - Pages from a book

Perhaps you have a favorite book, or you know of someone that has written a book this year. Why not make an ornament out of their words? You can either glue the pages of their book to the outside, or take pages, crinkle them into balls, and put them on the inside! Granted, they may not like their work being crumpled up so keep that in mind if you know the author...




#5 - Christmas List

A good way to remember what you or your kids wanted in years past is to put a Christmas list in an ornament. That way, years down the road, you can look at them and fondly remember what a "Furby" was... oh wait, they're back, aren't they? Hmmm... well, you get the idea!





#6 - Photo in Snow

This one is quite simple, really. Just print out a photo (I used an old wedding photo), throw in some sugar as "snow" and some pine needles from your tree and voila! A wintertime ornament, perfect for your tree. I also threw in some fake berries, in case you're wondering what those red things are!






#7 - The Melted Snowman

Speaking of sugar, you can use sugar to be the "snowman", throw in a paper "nose" and something for the eyes and buttons (I used the top of whole cloves) and now you have a melted snowman on the tree... poor little guy...



#8 - A Ball of Yarn

This one is quite easy -

Step 1 - Wrap yarn around ball
Step 2 - Put toothpicks in yarn

You're done! I recommend having a little piece trail out, to make it look a little more realistic. But quite easy and perfect for the knitter in your life!





#9 - The Moustache

My husband pointed out to me that it should be "staching" instead of "stashing" but I was taking this from Wanelo's post. People have been a bit mustache-happy lately so if your man has a soup-strainer, a flavor-saver, a crumb catcher... well then, this is the ornament for him. Take some white acrylic paint and pour a little bit inside a clear ornament (or just buy a white ornament). Roll the paint around until it covers the entire ball, then with a black Sharpie, write on the outside. Bada-boom bada-bing, now THAT is how you decorate a tree!



#10 - A Map

Maybe you took a big trip this year and you want to remember it - why not remember it on an ornament? You'll have to bear with me and my sloppy attempt, but if you Mod Podge a map of where you went or where you plan on going, it will be a nice reminder for you year after year.






#11 - Superhero Ornaments

I found this post on HappyLooksGoodOnYou and thought it was so clever. Put paint inside of an ornament, just like the Mustache example, and then print out the superhero's symbol and glue to the front. I used yellow paint and printed out Batman's symbol because, well, my cat's named Batman so it seemed appropriate, but you could use any color/symbol combination you choose!

#12 - A Snowball

Here's another easy one for ya - take an ornament, cover it with glue (or Mod Podge) and then roll it in epsom salts. The result? A snowball!







#13 - The Glitter Ball

This is pretty self-explanatory - put glue inside of a clear ornament (I used clear Elmer's glue), pour some glitter inside, and roll the ornament around until it's completely covered! I suppose you could glitter the outside but then you run the risk of glitter getting everywhere...







#14 - First-Time Homebuyers

If you bought a house this year and you want to commemorate it, you can make a salt-dough ornament (like the Hand Santa Ornament post) and either imprint the key into the dough before putting in the oven (like this) or tracing around the key and dating the ornament with the date of sale. Sometimes it's the small, personal memories that make the tree special.




#15 - Scrabble Tiles, c

If you don't mind ruining your Scrabble game, pick out a few letters and using the stands the game provides, use that to glue all the letters together, glue a ribbon to the top and you're set! I recommend sawing the stand in half if you want to display shorter words.


Here's one big fail I found roaming around Pinterest - using crayons to melt the inside of an ornament. Here's what it should look like vs. what it actually looks like:

And this was after 5 straight minutes of using a blow dryer to the ornament. Your hands will get hot, the ornament will become difficult to hold, and the crayons will barely melt. If you want a cool effect like the photo above, use paint, not crayons.

The other fail? Well, even plastic balls can shatter, so be very careful!

Some other projects that I recommend you try include:

1. Painting an ornament with chalkboard paint (and not spending $9 on one from Etsy!)
2. Cutting up an old DVD or CD and gluing the pieces to the ornament like this
3. If you have a newborn, paint their hand and have them transfer their handprint to the ornament for their first Christmas

TOTAL COSTS: Depends on the project
You could spend anywhere between just $2.99 the on the 6-pack of ornaments from Michael's, or you could spend much more, depending on which project you choose and what you need to buy.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: Depends on the project
All of these were quite fast, the only thing that took a while was waiting for the Mod Podge to dry.

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): Depends on the project
Most of these were so easy, your kids could get involved. None of them were difficult - the map ornament looks sloppy because I rushed but if you use smaller pieces and take your time, it could looks as good as this one, I'm sure!

Scrabble or Bananagram Coasters

This would be the perfect gift for the poet, writer, or word aficionado in your life! Whether they prefer Scrabble or Bananagrams, this will help add a personal touch to their decor. I found this post on IncredibleThings.com (which looks great for a bar) but they're going for $26. I made these for half that price!

All you need is cork for the coasters, glue (I used E6000 which is great for fabric, metal, wood, glass, ceramic & more), and your word game of choice. Since the coasters I bought were 4" long and 4" wide, I decided to go with Bananagrams, since the pieces are slightly bigger and easier to cover the surface with 5-letter words.

Next, glue them on! I recommend deciding which words you want to make before gluing anything down (that way you're not surprised when you can't that one letter you need!)

Note that this particular glue is quite smelly so make sure you're in a well ventilated area. Also, the directions recommend 24-72 hours to completely dry, so this wouldn't be a good last minute gift. However, this would be a great gift to personalize and have fun with!

TOTAL COSTS: About $10 ($18 if you buy Bananagrams)
$5.59 for coasters from Amazon (currently 10 cents cheaper than what I paid!)
$3.99 for E6000 glue from Michael's
I already had Bananagrams but they're on Amazon for $7.60

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 5-7 minutes to glue, 24-78 hours to dry

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
This is something anyone could do and would be a great holiday, homecoming, or birthday gift!