How to Make a Bean Bag Toss Scoreboard

At mom’s pool on Sunday, you’ll find family members swimming, eating, laughing and a bean bag tournament in progress {also known as ‘cornhole’}.

cornhole

There are two teams tossing bean bags. It’s similar to playing horseshoes except that bean bags are tossed to a platform with a hole. Points are earned when the bean bag lands in the hole or on the platform. Teams can also knock their opponents bean bags in or out. Game ends when a team has reached 21. Up until now, score keeping was done mentally but for Father’s Day, I made a DIY bean bag toss scoreboard.

Bean Bag Toss Scoreboard Tutorial

Materials:

  • 1×3 wooden beam (my piece was about 6 ft. tall)
  • primer
  • 2 colors of paint (I used latex semi gloss in white and mustard acrylic craft paint)
  • paint marker (in black)
  • FrogTape (I used the yellow Delicate Surface FrogTape)
  • 2 small pieces of dowel rod (about 2 in. each) small enough to fit into the holes of:
  • 2 small wooden wheels
  • Gorilla Wood Glue
  • 2 thumb tacks
  • craft paint (I used red and blue)
  • Krylon Crystal Clear (Indoor/Outdoor protective clear coat – satin finish)

I cut my 1×3 to about 6 ft. and used the miter saw to make one end into a ‘point’ like a garden stake.

bean bag scoreboard

I applied a coat of primer and two top coats of paint (allow to dry between each coat).

Next, using a 2″ scrap piece of wood to measure, I drew pencil lines creating 22 separate ‘boxes’ (using the scrap piece means my boxes are approx. 2″, starting from the top and working my way towards the garden stake point. {shown measuring on unpainted wood…but…do this step after wood is painted base color}

marking bean bag toss scoreboard

Using FrogTape, I taped off every other “box”, starting with the bottom box so it would be painted with the accent color (yellow). I made sure I rubbed the edges (burnished) for a good seal on the edges of the tape. Since I had just recently painted the white base color, I used Delicate Surface FrogTape because it’s safe to use on freshly painted surfaces (but at least 24 hrs) since it’s has a more gentle adhesive.

Interesting FrogTape fact: FrogTape is the only tape treated with patented PaintBlock Technology. PaintBlock is a super-absorbent polymer which reacts with latex paint and instantly gels to form a micro-barrier that seals the edges of the tape, preventing paint bleed.

FrogTape Delicate Surface

Tape on the ‘outside” of the pencil lines for every other square to be painted an alternating accent color.

painting bean bag toss scoreboard

I gave each accent colored box 2 coats of paint and immediately removed the tape after the second coat.

removing FrogTape Delicate Surface on project

Once that was dry, I used a paint pen/marker to number “0” to “21” going from bottom to top in every box.

DIY bean bag toss scoreboard

While paint was drying in the steps listed above, I worked on the ‘point markers’. I painted (two coats) one dowel/one wooden wheel set red and the other blue. TIP: In hind site – use Gorilla Glue and insert the dowel rod into the wooden wheel and allow to dry before painting (painting them separate will make it harder to fit the dowel into the wheel hole).

Once glued, painted and dried, I added a push pin (coordinating color) into the dowel rod where in the center of the wooden wheel to give it a more finished game piece look.

making bean bag toss game pieces

Back to the scoreboard: Once my painted numbers were dry, we drilled holes (that fit the dowel rod) into the side of the numbered sections. Choose a bit that will go all the way through. When finished, I pushed a screwdriver into the holes and rolled it around a little to smooth out the drilled space.

Sand a little and touch up paint.

I gave the score board and score keeping pieces a couple of coats of Krylon’s Crystal Clear. Dries in 10 minutes and everything has a protective coat.

I also used a little wax on the end of each dowel rod so they would fit into the drilled holes for score keeping a little easier.

Now, bean bag score keeping is more accurate and no one has to ask “what is the score again?”

how to make a cornhole scoreboard

Does your family play this game at summer get-togethers? What do you think? Purchasing a scoreboard online ranged from $25 to $90! My DIY version was less than $20 and coordinates with the Steeler’s themed bean bag toss at my mom’s. Just in time for Labor Day picnics and a family reunion. 🙂

Note: We will add a piece of gutter spout into the ground for holding the scoreboard in place but it could also be pounded into the ground, attached to a bench, etc.

This is a sponsored post brought to you by FrogTape. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience. Need some FrogTape project inspiration? Check out the FrogTape blog squad with projects being updated/added frequently for more ideas!

FrogTape Blog Squad

Lawn Twister – fun for Labor Day picnic!

 The DIY Show Off

When my daughter and I saw this on Pinterest, we knew it was a must for her outdoor graduation party so we made our own version!  This would be fun if you’re hosting a Labor Day picnic.

Materials:  
  • Cardboard (middle for circle spinner, the circle-frame to be used as a stencil for spray painting)
  • Upholstery tack (you may find a better solution, we were using what we had on hand – without buying more materials)
  • 3 colors of Krylon spray paint
  • Gorilla tape
Tools:
  • Utility knife
  • Dinner plate to trace
  • Markers
  • Ruler/yardstick
How To:
1.  On a large piece of card board, trace a dinner plate in the center and cut out circle using a utility knife.  The circle itself is used for the spinner.  The large cardboard with the circle cut out becomes a stencil for the painted twister circles.
2.  Using a ruler and pencil, divide the circle into 16 pie shapes.  Define sections using markers and write in names of colors (same as paint colors chosen). We love the recycled cardboard giving it a vintage toy look!
3.  On another rectangle square, trace the cardboard circle in the center.  Divide the rectangle into 4 sections. In the corner of each section label one of the following:  left foot, right foot, left hand, right hand. 
Close up of after it’s all together:

4. Cut out an arrow from a thinner piece of cardboard.  
5.  Using an upholstery tack, connect arrow to the circle then to the rectangle cardboard. It will fall out when upside down. However, it survived intact the duration of the party. 
6.  Gorilla Glue tape on the back prevents pinpricks!

7.  Decide on a flat large area of the yard. Place the stencil in the upper left hand corner and choose your first color. We chose red.
8.  Measure to the right of first circle 6 inches to place the circle stencil (the left inside circle border placed at 6″ as shown).  Spray paint another color. Repeat for desired size.  We did 4 different colors across. (Or decide on a pattern as shown in the Pinterest inspiration.)
9.  Start the next row with the 2nd color used in row one, ending with first color used in row one. Repeat.  We originally did 16 circles but then doubled to 32 for a larger playing area.  
10.  Let dry.
Time to play!

Spinner Tip:
(push arrow with fingers)

Fun!!!

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