Backyard Scrabble: a homemade board game gives extra play to this patio - Home: Guide

Sunset, July, 2003 by Peter O. Whiteley

"I like areas of double use," says Sacramento architect Kristy McAuliffe, and her 5-foot square Scrabble board rates at least a double-word score on the scale of inventive garden gaines. With the help of friend Keith Rogers, McAuliffe made a wood frame, then poured concrete and scored it into 3 3/4-inch squares separated by 1/4-inch joints. After the concrete had cured for one month, she colored the squares using water-base concrete stains.

McAuliffe then made 100 3 1/4-inch square letter tiles from baseboard trim. She found precut, adhesive-backed vinyl letters and numbers at a sign shop, stuck them on the tiles, and sealed each one with spray lacquer. The lightweight letters, which are stored in a canvas bag, fit on metal trays made by McAuliffe's friend, metal artist Crystal Weber.

Games go late on summer evenings. "You get better words playing outside," McAuliffe confides.