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9.24.2009

DIY Tutorial: Wall Tiles

I had several requests for a tutorial after my last post about the wall tiles in our bathroom, so here it is! You will seriously not believe how easy and cheap this project is. First off, here are the supplies you will need:

1. Set of cork wall tiles. These are sold by the school supplies in Target, Walmart, etc. They generally come in packs of 4 so I only needed one pack. A lot of people also use plywood squares for the tiles, but I wanted mine to have a bit of a "worn" look since everything else in the room has clean lines. I got the set of 4 tiles on clearance for .99, but the regular price was only $1.99.

2. 1 sheet of scrapbook paper for each tile that you are going to make. $1.89

3. Paint for the edges of each tile. I used gold, again because of the worn look, and also because it would match the "G" on the other wall. $0.39

4. Spray Glue. I already had this, but I think it is no more than $2.00

5. A paintbrush (foam works best on the cork), ruler, scissors and a pencil

The first step is to take each of the cork tiles (they are 12x12 size) and cut them down to the size that you want for your wall. I cut mine to 8x8. Measure them off with your ruler and pencil, and then just cut with scissors. The scissors on the cork will give the tile a rough edge, so keep that in mind while cutting.

The next step is to cut the scrapbook paper just a little bit smaller than the size of the tile. I wanted there to be about .25 inch on each side that would show the cork underneath, so I cut squares out of the scrapbook paper that were 7.5 x 7.5 inches each.

A note about the paper that you choose - It seems to look a little better of you choose the scrapbook papers that have a little bit of an "antique" look to them. It just seems to make the overall effect turn out a little better, but of course the choice is yours!

The next step is to paint the edges of the tiles. It is pretty self explanatory - just paint all 4 edges of the cork tiles with whatever paint color you choose. Make sure to get the sides of each tile, since they will show when you hang these up on your wall!

After the paint is dry (it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes) then you spray each tile all over the front side with spray adhesive AND spray the back of the scrapbook paper. Try to do this outside or in the garage because spray adhesive has a mind of its own!

Finally, place the paper on the tile and press firmly all over to make sure it is secure. I put each of mine under a book for a few minutes just to be sure that they were good to go. When you know that the paper is secure, then you are done! All you have to do now is put the tiles on the wall. You could use small tack nails but I actually just used the little square adhesives that come in the package with the cork. They are just little white sticky squares that you put on the corners and center of the back and then attach them to the wall. This way, you don't have to make holes in your wall. I also did a test on my wall and the adhesives did not take the paint off the wall when they are removed. Then you have your finished product!

I hope that this tutorial is user-friendly, because the project itself was SO easy. If anyone decides to make the tiles, I would love to see your finished products!

8 comments:

Deals, Steals and Heels said...

love this idea!!! they'd be perfect for the space over our stairs

Kim said...

LOVE this!! thank you so much for posting that - I will definitely be making some tiles to decorate our house. We have absolutely NOTHING on our walls and we've lived there almost 5 months!

Morgan said...

I love this idea!! I can't wait to use this in our house!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks...I love this idea!

Erica said...

I can't wait to try this product myself!! I'll let you know how they turn out :)

JennyLee said...

I can't wait to make these. Something similar will look great in my bedroom. Thanks for the tutorial!

Rachel said...

LOVE these Angie! You are so creative.

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