Letter and Number Tiles

I'm sure many of you have seen and even made blocks with letters on them.  This is something a bit different that I came up with.

I made these letters and numbers out of leftover 2 1/2" wide and 3/4" thick wood strapping, that I believe was about 8' long. This type of strapping is used in construction and has slightly curved edges, which gives a nice finish.

Each length of strapping was first grooved on one long edge and then I cut away to leave a tongue on the opposite edge.  Obviously the tongue has to fit the groove! I showed making grooves here in this link

After the long piece is done, I cut it up into pieces that were 2 3/4" long.

You can see here how they fit together.  It's not too tight and not too loose, so they can sit upright on a shelf, but are not so tight that you can't move them around.

Each tile was then painted white and then I hand painted letters and numbers on them.  I used a basic font that I had on my computer and enlarged to the correct size, about 1 7/8" tall.  I printed them out on my printer and used carbon paper between the paper and the wood tile to transfer the outlines of the letters. Then I filled in the letters with black craft paint.

After painting, I used sandpaper to distress the letters and also added a bit of glaze mixed with brown paint. When that dried, I also coated them with a clear coat.

I sell them at my booth for $2 each and they are liked by children the most, although some young women like to buy their name and a heart and their boyfriend's name, or just I ♥ U!

Here's a few samples:

Everything I make is for sale, please contact me if you are interested.  

I also do custom orders of all my products.

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My Repurposed Life

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Beyond the Picket Fence

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