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Some say that making your own ouija board creates better results when using it...more spirits talk to you, etc. I haven't tried using the board I made yet so I can't agree or disagree with that statement, but I can tell you that making your own board is a lot of fun! I have to thank Jen Matlock, a website visitor, for suggesting that I try making my own board...she gave me a lot of useful tips and I really appreciate her help!

Here are some of the tips Jen gave me, as well as a few of my own tips for making your own ouija board:

• You can buy precut wood pieces in several different shapes and types at your local home improvement store (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc). I found a few round table tops at Hobby Lobby and Michael's craft stores that would make great boards too. And don't feel like you have to limit yourself to wood - you can make boards out of any type of materials you can buy or find in nature. I've seen boards made of stone, glass, etc. Be creative!
  
  
• For planchettes, you can use a planchette from a commercially made ouija board, or you could use a clear glass. I was able to make my own from wooden shapes I found at craft stores (again, I went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby). I found that using a heart shape works really well, because you have a pointer. I found little wooden legs that I glued to the bottom (I then put felt on the bottom of the legs to prevent scratching the board). You could also use a flat piece of wood, drill a hole in the center so you can see the letters, and glue felt to the bottom.
  
  
• Craft stores sell a wide variety of stencils. These stencils work great for adding artwork and letters to the boards. You could always just paint/burn the letters/art on by hand though too.
  
  
• Acrylic paints work great for the letters and artwork.
  
  
• I tried using a wood burning pen to burn my designs and letters on the board rather than using paint. Wood burning pens are pretty easy to use, and they're not too dangerous if you follow basic safety precautions (place the pen in a holder on a heat resistant surface when not in use, don't touch the metal parts on the pen when in use, etc). They're not very expensive either, you can find a nice wood burner between $11.99-19.99 at most craft stores.
  
  
• You could also use decoupage to put images on the board. I'm not too familiar with decoupage, but there's a lot of information about it on the internet.
  
  
• After you've finished designing your board, coat it with a few layers of polyeurethane to make it smooth and easier to move the planchette across.