This Page

has been moved to new address

Button Checker Board TUTORIAL {cottage chic style}

Sorry for inconvenience...

Little Miss Momma: Button Checker Board TUTORIAL {cottage chic style}

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Button Checker Board TUTORIAL {cottage chic style}

Button Checkers Tutorial
Cottage Chic Distressed Checker Board




I hardly remember how to play checkers, but I sure had fun making this cottage chic distressed checker board with button pieces!  I was cleaning out my garage and stumbled across my current checker board--BORING and frankly, quite ugly!


So I made my own, and now you can too!
Here's what you'll need:

Supplies:
Wooden plaque {available at Michael's} mine is 6x6 and was about $1.50
Acrylic paint in the colors of your choice {I used turquoise and off-white}
Painter's tape
Paint brush
Sand paper
Pencil
Ruler

STEP ONE:
I didn't have off-white paint on hand so I mixed tan with white to get my desired color.


Paint the plaque a thin coat of the white.  You can even add a tiny bit of water to the paint to give it the white washed look.


I like that you can still see the wood grains through the paint.


STEP TWO:
A checker board is 8 squares by 8 squares {64 total squares}.
You will need to measure off your boxes.  Take the number of inches long of your plaque and divide it by 8.  This will give you the necessary width of each of your boxes. For example: if your plaque is 6x6 inches, take 6 inches divided by 8 boxes and you get .75.  This means each box will be 3/4 of an inch wide.


Use your ruler and pencil to mark off your measurements on all four sides.


Now connect all the lines.



STEP THREE:
Once you have all your grid lines marked off you are ready to begin painting your squares.  In order to get straight lines you will need to tape off each box with painter's tape.



Use VERY little paint when painting in your colored boxes, otherwise the paint will more like run under the tape {and it won't look as distressed}.





Once you have all your boxes painted, make sure they have dried completely.


STEP FOUR:
Take your sandpaper and begin to distress your checker board.
Sand extra hard on the edges.  I sanded enough to be able to see some of the original wood color.


See how much lighter my turquoise boxes are now?


And you can see the wood grains {which I LOVE}.


Take your pencil and go over any remaining pencil lines.


Go over the checker board with the sand paper again to remove the excess eraser goopies.

And there you have it!
Your very own cottage chic checker board.




Now you just need to pick out your favorite button checker pieces!


And check mate!
Oh wait, that's chess...







I will be linking up my new favorite tutorial to these rad link parties!

HAPPY CRAFTING!

Labels:

23 Comments:

At September 12, 2010 at 9:55 PM , Blogger Nina @ Momma Go Round said...

Super cute! I love that you have fun things hidden in your garage that give you inspiration!

 
At September 12, 2010 at 10:08 PM , Anonymous Leanne said...

Ashley, that is so cute. I love it. What a great idea for a fun present. I'm going to make one for my niece.

 
At September 12, 2010 at 10:45 PM , Anonymous Andrea @ TheTrainToCrazy.com said...

That is one fun checker board!

 
At September 13, 2010 at 5:19 AM , Blogger Erin @ Crafts and Sutch said...

Totally cute! I love the button checker pieces. How fun would this be for a Christmas gift?

Thanks for sharing!
Erin :)

 
At September 13, 2010 at 7:49 AM , Blogger Kari Sweeten said...

Thank you for sharing!! This is a perfect give for some of my neices for Christmas! I'll be linking!

 
At September 13, 2010 at 11:44 AM , Anonymous Debbie - Families and Literacy said...

That's adorable! I love the idea of making your own board games. Chutes and ladders, anyone?

 
At September 13, 2010 at 3:18 PM , Blogger B said...

Quit being so talented! Just kidding - keep it up! This board is awesome! I am loving the distressed look I'm seeing everywhere but have yet to try it. Argh. :O)

 
At September 13, 2010 at 6:08 PM , Blogger Doreen said...

Hi! I have been wanting to make a checkers game board for sometime now. Thanks for the reminder! I love the cottage chic look you created. If you get an extra moment, please visit my blog for some fun ideas, too.
http://altered-artworks.blogspot.com

 
At September 13, 2010 at 6:43 PM , Blogger B said...

Omigosh, I totally forgot to mention something....you should check out Billie Monster tomorrow. I'm not telling you why! You just should! haha.

~ www.billiemonster.com ~

 
At September 13, 2010 at 8:58 PM , Blogger The Autocrat: Haley said...

Too cute! Fabulous job!

 
At September 14, 2010 at 12:32 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

This is too cute! What an idea...thanks so much for linking it up!

 
At September 16, 2010 at 2:19 PM , Blogger Lori@Paisley Passions said...

What a darling project!!! I love it!

~Lori @ Paisley Passions
Join my Linky Party Thrilling Thursdays

 
At September 16, 2010 at 6:33 PM , Blogger Ginger said...

That is too stink'n cute! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

 
At September 17, 2010 at 4:55 PM , Blogger Sandy Ang said...

Thanks for the tutorial. Love the board.

 
At September 19, 2010 at 2:55 AM , Blogger Lisa said...

Woah. Buttons as checker pieces = genious!

 
At September 19, 2010 at 6:40 PM , Blogger Ginger said...

You have been featured at SSB!!! Check it out at the link below:

http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2010/09/mad-skills-monday-link-party-26.html

Feel free to snag my I was Featured button for your blog and display with pride!
xoxo
Ginger

 
At September 23, 2010 at 1:53 PM , Blogger TLF said...

Cutest thing ever!
I love!!

 
At September 30, 2010 at 4:21 PM , Blogger Minnie Burton said...

God I love your checkerboard! Eager to make my own! :)

Love from the UK!

Minnie

x

http://www.minnieburton.co.uk

 
At February 20, 2011 at 5:16 PM , Blogger Renee said...

cute...but how do u make the button a king? You cant turn it over or add a piece- maybe if you make circle buttons and when you are kinged you trade it out for a heart button??

 
At March 8, 2011 at 1:25 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

I featured this post on my blog today. You can find it here:
http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/scholarly-inspirations.html

You can grab a featured button from my side-bar if you'd like to post it on your site.

Thanks for such a fun idea!!
:)rachel from SunScholars.blogspot.com

 
At March 21, 2011 at 4:47 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Super cute...

 
At May 6, 2011 at 12:26 PM , Anonymous Pollie said...

Wow! This is absolutely adorable! Love the pictures and the colors you used :)

 
At May 11, 2011 at 10:26 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

adorable!!

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home