Letter Tile Wall Art and Crackle Finish Frame Tutorial

A while back, when I was cleaning out my craft room to make room for my new/old Hoosier cabinet, I came across a little plastic container full of alpha-tiles that I had completely forgotten about. I decided to put them to good use on a fun wall hanging project for my pal Megan F. Here's what I came up with:

Here's how I made this project...including a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a crackle paint finish using Elmer's glue:

I started out with a black, wood frame that I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I only paid $1.99 for the frame because it was missing the glass and had a small chip in one of the corners. Using some Apple Barrel paint that I had in my stash, I painted the frame a beige color. (Yes, I know, I end up painting the frame black again, but I wanted the crackle under the top finish to be beige...see, there really is a method to my madness - ha! ha!)

The beige paint job didn't need to be perfect...just needed it to mostly cover the frame. Once the beige paint dried, I then painted over the frame with basic Elmer's glue:

When the glue has almost dried, but is still tacky to the touch, paint the top coat in the color of your choice. Don't paint over any area more than once, or it won't crackle properly:

Now the magic begins!! As you can see in the above photo and the next photo, the dark paint begins to separate and crack from the glue covered beige paint, giving your frame a really cool, antique look:

While the frame is drying, cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside of it. Cover the cardboard with a piece of scrapbook paper or fabric of your choice:

Lay out your letter tiles in the pattern that you like. Once you've decided on the layout, take a picture of it so you don't forget what you've done when you have to move all of the tiles to start the gluing process. Using a ruler and some E6000 glue, line up your longest word with the tiles and begin to glue them down:

Keep building on your main word to create a cross-word puzzle of sorts:

Once all of the letter tiles are glued down, you can decorate any open spaces as desired. I chose a little grapevine heart that I picked up for $.59 in the miniatures department at Hobby Lobby. I tied a simple bow out of a scrap piece of lace and tied a wooden button to it using hemp twine:

Once everything has dried you can place your work of art into the frame and hang it up for all to admire:

Wouldn't this be a cute gift for grandparents using the names of their grandchildren?

Thanks for dropping by today to see what's going on in my little world. Have a GREAT week!

Blessings,