Today's post is a follow up to a project I did a while back for my Valentine's Day mantel.  I volunteered to make some wall art for a local woman's shelter and they specifically asked for something that would go in a child's nursery.  I wanted to reuse my "LOVE YOU" scrabble tiles, but knew they were a pain to hang individually since they each would need their own nail. 
So I decided to mount them and frame the as a single large pice of wall art.

I didn't want to buy a frame, I wanted to make the entire thing from scratch and on a tight budget, so this is how I did it.

I first started with the tiles made from 1/4 inch plywood and permanent vinyl.
I cut down a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood, painted it light grey and attached the tiles with liquid nails.
Next I wanted to create a frame.  I had some 1x2 furring strips, which I mitered to form a frame, but when I put them on the 1/2 inch plywood they were just too large.  So I ripped them down with my table saw.

Ripping down a furring strip would be DANGEROUS and impossible if it weren't for my Grrripper which keeps my fingers safely away from the blade while also holding onto both sides of the cut.

Here is how the frame looked after cutting it down to 3/4 inch thickness:

I used some Behr Cordovan Brown stain on the pieces and then attached them to the plywood with my nail gun.
I think it came out great, and can't wait to see it hanging in the new shelter!  I hope the residents love it as much as I do!