When I was planning out the room design for House for Hope, I immediately knew I would need help.
I was responsible for furnishing the space and filling the room up and adding accessories and furniture and making giant tic tac toe boards for the wall.
All that furnishing and decorating and accessorizing is a lot.
So I turned to my friends.
One of the first companies that stepped up and said they would sponsor the room and help with the furnishings and partner with me to decorate the walls was FrogTape.
Of course they did.
They are super amazing like that.
We worked together last year to raise $5000 for the Humane Society with the imagination room and this year they are back again, helping me spread a little hope.
To say thank you, I created a fun project for the walls of the House for Hope family game room that allows you to play checkers vertically on the wall.
Here’s the DIY and how to make an oversized checker board that hangs on the wall.
Here’s the picture of the game board on the bookshelf in the room.
It’s four feet by four feet and actually hangs on the walls of the gameroom, but I can’t show you the entire space yet.
So I just put it up on the bookcase and took pictures.
The checker pieces are magnetized and you can move them around the board on the squares.
When it’s hung on the wall, each of the sets of checkers will be on the sides to allow players to stand on the floor and play.
It’s a fun interactive piece of art for the space.
Oversized Checker Board
supplies
48′ x 48″ piece of panel board (this board needs to be relatively thin to make sure the magnets work)
16 feet of 1″ x 2″ pine boards
24 round discs (I bought these in sets of four at Hobby Lobby)
96 small magnets
dark blue paint
light blue paint
gray paint
stain
Step 1: Prime and paint
Prime and paint your large board. We used SW Alabaster to paint the board after it was primed.
Frame out the board with the 1″ x 2″ boards.
We just cut them and nailed them directly to the front of the board because it was so thin.
Step 2: Tape off the boards
I used FrogTape for the project.
There are eight rows of eight squares on the checker board.
Allowing for the frame on the board, each of the squares measures 5 and 5/8.
You can tape off the project in different ways, but we started with the center squares first.
We painted every other square with gray paint.
Like this.
Then we pulled off the tape, let the squares dry and taped off the outer squares on the board.
You could tape off every other square individually, but this made the taping process a little easier.
Step 3: Make the game pieces.
We painted 12 round discs dark blue and 12 round discs light blue.
A magnet was glued to the back of each one.
You want to get the strongest magnets you can to make sure the pieces stick to the board.
Step 4: Add magnets to the back of the board
We lined up the pieces on the front and glued a matching magnet to the back to hold the pieces in place.
I thought about using magnetic paint instead, but sometimes the paint doesn’t really hold that much of a magnetic charge.
Remember when gluing the magnets to use the same side on each piece. One side of the magnet attracts and one repels. You want to make sure all your magnets are going the same way to make it easy for the checkers to move from square to square.
I cannot thank FrogTape enough for helping to sponsor the room.
And inspiring me.
FrogTape and I have been friends for years and my heart still beats a little faster when I pull back the tape and the paint line is perfect.
Every. Single. Time.
So here’s to oversized game boards on wall.
Here’s to bringing checkers back.
And here’s to houses and hoping and making this world a little brighter place….
….one game piece at a time. 🙂
And now for a few more tips and creative ideas from some of my favorite bloggers:
Love this idea! You may have been able to use a piece of metal too as your board and painted it? Not sure if they would have cost less than the magnets.
What a fun project...turned out beautifully, KariAnne! Looking forward to seeing this house!
Thanks for showing how you made it! What a fun idea. This would be great in a classroom too! Nancy
Very cute idea!! Love the size and so will the players:) And love the blues and gray.
This is another spectacular project! I think that both of these games will provide hours of fun and entertainment. I can't wait for the reveal of your House for Hope room and I know it will be nothing less than perfect!
What a wonderful idea! And good tip about the magnets...definitely don't want them repelling each other! Anyway, I love this idea and the size of the board. I can't wait to see the whole reveal! It sounds like a happy place. hugs, Cecilia
That is a great project. Thanks for sharing it with us.
This...is...adorable!! KING ME!!! xoxoxo
Love it! You are so creative!
Yet another reason to love FrogTape! It is a fabulous product and they are generous! And such a cute game idea!
I just love this!!!
i just saw your frog tape honeycomb wall in your coach house in their ad in Country Living Magazine p. 55 March 2017!
Again, a fun and adorable project! I shared your tic tac toe project with my sister as she is currently creating a special guest/fun room in her home specifically for her too-cute-for-words grandkids. Plus, she really adores working with wood. Of course, loved it!! And, of course, I'll be sharing this project with her too :-)
What a lovely idea and so perfect for that space! I remember as a kid playing with magnets and seeing how they either repelled each other or how they were drawn to each other! That's wonderful how Frog Tape sponsored this for such a worthy cause!
Love this idea. Love checkers will have to make this my grandkids will think it's awesome.
Such a fun and good-looking project! Love it.
Adorable!!
Love this! What a fun idea...my kids would totally play with something like this all the time. Thanks for sharing at the Home Matters Link Party! #HomeMattersParty
Well done for raising so much money for such a worthy cause! Your Oversized Checker Board looks wonderful and your tutorial makes it very do-able! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Hearth and Soul. Scheduled to pin on Pinterest later today. Hope to 'see' you at Hearth and Soul again this week.
I love this! We are teaching my son how to play, and this would be such a nice thing to have around once he does!
Very cool and fun! Thank you for sharing with us at the Merry Monday party! We always look forward to your shares.
I love this idea. I might need to copy it. And I love that you didn't use magnetic paint. I've done that before and you need 4 or 5 coats and ferocious magnets for it to work. This is so much better. I want one. Today is all about chalkboard painting a giant frame for my family room. Wish me luck! I used frog tape too. The Other Marian
Hello, I had contacted you a few years ago when I found you by accident. You had done a nice makeover and I looked so fresh when you did the small porch at your Gate House. I looked everywhere. I had written you preciously about this but I did not receive a response. I ould greatly appreciate one. Thank you, Patty Morris