DIY Game Boards
Welcome more play into your life with this little DIY project. At our house we like to keep outdoor game boards around for short moments together as well as full-blown game nights. These game boards are meant to be kept outside but could also be brought indoors as well.
Materials
- Pebbles for Checkers, 24 similar sized
- Small stones for Tic-Tac-Toe, 8 similar sized
- Acrylic Paints (black, red, yellow and white)
- Paint Brush
- Raw wooden boards + Black Paint Marker
- Reclaimed wood + Black Acrylic Paint
- Polycrylic Spray
Instructions
Game Pieces: Paint your rocks with acrylic paint. For Tic-Tac-Toe you’ll need a total of 8 rocks, 4 of each type (here I’ve painted 4 lady bugs and 4 bumble bees). For Checkers you’ll need a total of 24 rocks, 12 of each color (here I’ve used black stones, painting half of them red).
Game Board: For raw wood (such as our tic-tac-toe board), use a ruler and black paint marker to create board lines. For reclaimed or treated wood, use paint. Let game pieces and game boards fully dry. Seal with a polyacrylic spray for protection from heat and moisture.
Snow Cones
We adore snow cones at our house! If you’ve been to our house then we’ve probably served them to you. A shaved ice machine makes it oh-so-easy! You can purchase premade snow cone syrup flavors or make your own healthier version by using fruit juice concentrates. Simply thaw the frozen fruit juice concentrate and put the liquid into squeezy bottles for an easy way to pour over shaved ice.
Assemble
- Ice, lots of ice!
- Snow Cone Machine
- Snow Cone Cups
- Snow Cone Straws
- Snow Cone Syrups (or frozen juice concentrates, thawed)
Use a snow cone machine to shave ice into snow cone cups. Top with your favorite flavor either store-bought snow cone syrups, homemade syrups, or our favorite- fruit concentrates. Stay cool and celebrate the last days of summer heat!
Tablescape Guide
To recreate this tablescape, see the list of items below. This list is meant to be used as a guide and not a rule book. Using items that you already own not only saves you a shopping trip but also encourages (often forces) creativity! All it takes to make a tablescape beautiful is by using LAYERS both vertically and horizontally. For layering vertically, create a centerpiece with 3 different heights.
On this tablescape I used 1) a plant for the highest layer, 2) outdoor spheres as a midsized layer, and 3) wooden items such as game pieces and game boards for the lower layer. For layering horizontally, layer your place settings by using 1) Terracotta plant saucers, 2) green plates, and 3) mini cupcake stands topped with a small terracotta pot and flower.
- Centerpiece Items {Layer Vertically}
- Large plant (I used my Pothos)
- Game pieces (yard dice shown here)
- DIY game boards (see instructions above)
- Place Setting Items {Layer Horizontally}
- You will need one of each item per guest at your table.
- Small terracotta pot
- Small wooden coaster
- Mini Cupcake Stand
- Green Plate
- Tea Towel (instead of napkins)
- 12.2 inch Terracotta plant saucer (as plate chargers)
- Flowers (faux or real)
