We are all still in a patriotic mood aren’t we? After all, July isn’t over yet, and here in Utah festivities have begun for Pioneer Day on the 24th, which are celebrated much the same as the 4th of July with rodeos, parades, flags, and fireworks – and the town demolition derby! (small towns – gotta love ’em) I’m pretty much in Red, White, and Blue mode from Memorial Day until the first of August. So now seems like the perfect time to share our newly finished Stars and Stripes Corn Hole Boards.
Corn Hole isn’t necessarily a Utah thing. In fact, I had never heard of it until we moved to North Carolina, where it is very popular – so popular that when we were invited to a wedding, along with the dancing and the food, they also had a few Corn Hole boards set up. For all of you that may have needed an explanation of the game (as we did) Corn Hole is basically a beanbag toss-type yard game played individually or in teams. The rules are pretty simple and so is the set up, so of course it wasn’t long before my husband wanted to try to build his own set of boards (they are pretty pricey to buy, especially custom ones). And once they were built, he very quickly wanted to improve them LOL. We ended up with three sets, two of which we left with friends in NC when we moved and brought one of the unfinished sets with us across country.
They sat in the garage until the end of June when the husband insisted that we try to finish them to use at our big family BBQ on the 4th of July. I did finish them all right – but then we forgot to load them up and take them with us to the BBQ! (haha – still shaking my head at that one) I am determined that they will get used this summer – really they will! But until I follow through with that, I may as well show them off here on the blog, right?!
Typically the boards have some sort of theme like sports teams or colleges, etc. The husband may have been into that but it’s not anything I truly have a preference for (and no, I did not want to make a Dale Jr NASCAR one LOL) so I went with the Stars vs Stripes. Not only did that seem like a good fit for us as a military family, but it allowed me to use one of my favorite finishing techniques – masking off the design before staining so it becomes part of the item instead of an applied accessory.
Isn’t that pretty? I like the contrast between the two wood colors and though the shapes can be seen clearly, the stain does bleed a tiny bit which gives it more of a hand-made distressed or vintage look. And look – I even threw together a quick tutorial so you can try out the technique too!
Easy right?! And such a pretty final product. I have also used the stain technique on some decorative quote boards (see one of my favorites HERE) and love the result. You just have to be sure the lettering or shapes aren’t too thin or too tiny or the stain will go under the edges too easily. I cut the vinyl stars myself using my Silhouette machine, but if you don’t have access to one of those it wouldn’t take long to hand cut the starts using self-adhesive vinyls sheets from the craft store.
I did finish them off with a few coats of spray Polycrylic which gives them a nice finish and should hold up if we accidentally leave them outside in a rainstorm. For anyone that is interested, the plans we used for official measurements to build the boards can be found on this website. As always, if you do try out the boards or the stain technique I would love to see your creations so feel free to drop me a comment or an email.
Oh – one other thing (this may be kind of an important one! lol) The official set up and rules for a Corn Hole game can be found on this site.
There. Now we’re all ready to play. Who’s going to challenge my husband to the first game? 😉
Interested in other great tips for Inexpensive Summer Fun with the Kids, great ideas for getting together with friends and using your new corn hole boards like my Splash Bash water party, or check out some great Summer Themed Gift Baskets under $25 along with the other recent posts on my blog!
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Linking to: Made By You Monday, Merry Monday, LouLou Girls, Turn It Up Tuesday, Project Inspired, Your Turn to Shine, Thursday Favorite Things, Wow Me Wednesday, Pin Me Party, BFF Open House, Pretty Pintastic Party, DIY Sunday Showcase, Saturday Sharefest, Snickerdoodle Sunday,
Well done! I’m down South, and this is played all of the time – this and Washers. 🙂 Maybe that will be next for y’all!
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Washers…I’m going to have to Google that one. Add it to the list of things I don’t know about the South 😉
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LOL! 🙂
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These look great! Thank you for linking up to the Merry Monday Link Party!
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I love those vintage-looking colors! And cornhole. 🙂
Great to be co-hosting the #homemattersparty again with you this weekend!
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Thanks! I’ve been having fun co-hosting too. Hard to believe July went by so fast!
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I LOVE these corn hole boards!! The design you chose as well as the staining technique is just perfect! I’m from Northern KY and corn hole was actually created in Cincinnati (little bit of trivia for you) so we’ve played it for as long as I can remember. It’s one of my husband’s favorite things to play at cookouts (and he’s actually really good at it!). I’m sure your DIY boards are a big hit at outdoor gatherings I’m also featuring you at this week’s Merry Monday! Thank you so much for this inspiring idea! 🙂
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Oh that’s great – thanks! I will be sure to stop by!
Isn’t it interesting what different people/areas have in common and how they differ? It was always the little details I noticed while living in NC.
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I have to admit that corn hole is something that I have never heard of lol. But these are cute and the game looks like fun. It’s been fun co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you!
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These look like so much fun!! Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Oh my! This looks so fun! Pinned and tweeted. Please join us tonight at 7 pm, and party with us. I can’t wait to see your new masterpieces or amazing classics! Lou Lou Girls
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These are turned out really great! I’ve seen this game played before but never knew what it was called. Glad that I now know the name! Happy to be co hosting with you again on #HomeMattersParty.
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Congratulations! This post is going to be featured over at Diana Rambles tomorrow and has been pinned in the Featured at Diana Rambles board at Pinterest, Tweeted, and Stumbled. Please grab a featured button off my button page or via the post guidelines graphic. Thanks for sharing this awesome idea!
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That’s fantastic! Thanks! I’ll be sure to check it out.
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Can you tell me where you found the stars? My dad builds cornhole sets and we are making a set together to raffle off at a beef and beer for my mom. I think these would be perfect and a crowd pleaser!
Thanks!
Seasen
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They would probably be a great raffle prize! I cut the stars myself out of vinyl using my Silhouette machine. You could probably make a set yourself if you wanted to cut them by hand out of contact paper, vinyl or something like that, find a friend with a die cutting machine of some sort, or there are quite a few sellers on Etsy that do vinyl lettering and such and would probably cut some out for you.
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What did you use for boards looks like some kind of plank flooring?
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My husband picked up the supplies, but I’m pretty sure it’s furniture grade plywood.
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Hi! What brand/type of stain did you use?
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Just your typical Minwax stain which can be found at any home improvement store, or even Walmart.
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I love your design for the boards. Do you know about how big the stars are and how thick the painters tape you used to make the stripes? Thanks so much!
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Loved It so much I featured in my article Everything You Need For Your 4th of July Party!! Your take on this was simple yet beautiful!
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I didn’t see how their made only how their stained. If you don’t mind could you please share, the detentions of the cuts an what kind of board did you use? Also how did you raise them?
Thank you so much. Annette
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