Lawn Scrabble: A game you can make, then play

The board was made of 225 pavers laid in a bed of sand. The bonus squares were painted the correct colors.

The letter tiles were built from craft-store wood plaques. Their size makes them harder to handle than normal Scrabble tiles, so they’re kept spread out and face-down in the grass during games.

Each player keeps his or her tiles on a rack made of what used to be a shelf. The game pieces use a polyurethane coat for protection from the elements.

The size of the game means you’re not only playing in the sun, but you’ll have to get up and move around to place tiles.