DIY Wooden Checkerboard Game

Hello there!

One of my sisters (in law) is planning a “Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn” themed baby shower for the other sister (in law) who is expecting her first baby boy. My sister is using lots of vintage, shabby pieces to decorate with and asked me if I could make a DIY Wooden Checkerboard Game (or two) to have at the shower for guests to play. What a fun idea! I knew it needed to be shabby to fit with the theme. Here’s how it turned out…

 

I really love how it turned out and it was fairly simple to make. I went through my button stash and pulled out white buttons and gold/brass buttons to use as the game pieces. I think that little touch really goes a long way.

 

Would you like to make your own? Here’s what you’ll need:

10×10 inch piece of sanded wood

1 inch wide masking tape

2 colors of spray paint (I used white and almond)

ruler

pencil

sanding block

dark brown stencil cream

newspaper

buttons

Let’s get started!

First you want spray paint your 10×10 piece of sanded wood with white spray paint. I applied 2 coats, allowing each coat to dry in between.

After the paint dries, use your ruler to mark out the inches all the way around the square. I just used my pencil and made small marks at the edges of the wood at each inch line. So you should have 9 little marks on each side of your wood.

Next you want to run strips of tape down your board using your inch pencil marks as your guide. Tape every other space so that when you are done, you have stripes of tape and white paint. Flip your board and repeat the process so that you have taped out a checkerboard (or lattice).

Spray paint the board with the second color, in my case, the almond color. Allow dry time and then peel off the tape and discard.

Now it’s time to re-tape your board, but this time you want your strips of tape to go over the spots you just painted with your second color (almond). You still want the checkerboard (or lattice) look with the tape.

Spray paint the board again with the second color (almond) and allow dry time. Peel the tape off and discard.

Using the newspaper, mask and tape off the center of the checkerboard so that only the outer inch of the board is showing all the way around (you will have the inner 8×8 square taped off and masked).

Spray paint the inch boarder you created with the 2nd color (almond) of paint as well. Allow dry time and peel off the tape and newspaper.

You should have an 8×8 checkerboard with an inch boarder all the way around the checkerboard.

Sand and scuff up the board with your sanding block…you want it to look distressed and worn.

Using a piece of newspaper, rub streaks of the dark brown stencil cream into the wood. Use the sanding block again to distress the stencil cream you added.

Pull out 16 buttons per player (matching so you can keep track of who is who) and get your checkers on!

This project took me about 30-40 minutes to make one, and that’s only because I had to allow for dry time.

 

What a cute game to add to the baby shower…especially with the theme! And don’t you think this would make a great handmade gift for a girl or a boy…of almost any age! I’m even thinking it would make a great family gift. I already have handmade holiday gifts on the brain and I’m thinking this one will be my go-to gift this year!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

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