A Green Christmas Gift from A Not-So-Handyman

A few months ago, I got the wild idea to make a gift for some of the grand kids. I had seen at Largestretailerintheworld-Mart or in a magazine a beanbag toss game that had an Angry Birds theme. It was a piece of cardboard with varied sized holes with different point values. At first I considered something like that, but in the end, I decided to make a child's size corn hole game instead. I consider it "green" since everything (but the duct tape) was stuff that I had on hand or picked from the scrap at work.

It was child sized for two reasons. Reason #1: It was for children to play with, the oldest of these being 10, the youngest, almost three. Reason #2: The frames were made entirely out of scrap wood pieces that I got from work. The longest of these being 27" long.




The top was made from some fiberboard pieces that were also from work. They protected some expensive material. More scrap that was being used for my project.



I brought the wood home and cut it into piece that would make a 27"X13" frame. I had cut the fiberboard at work on my pneumatic shearer. I then had to make a 6" hole in the fiberboard. I used a coffee can to get the size I needed, after measuring out where it would need to go. I made pilot holes with a 1" drill bit and a sabre saw to cut out the hole.






I then printed out a coloring page and traced out the red bird and the king pig onto a transparency. I brought home an overhead projector from church and cast the images onto the fiberboard. I traced them with a sharpie and painted them with acrylic paints. To prove to folks that I did indeed paint the pictures, and not just added a decal, I took pictures of them as I just started painting them.










To attach the top, I needed to drill pilot holes into it to avoid splitting. I nailed it on with finishing nails.


The legs were the hardest part. I used a fruit can to mark the curve, then cut it with the sabre saw. I then measured the center mark and drilled it out. there was a lot of sanding done on the legs before they worked properly. I fastened them on with nuts & bolts found in the various cans of hardware I have in the basement.


Since the fiberboard had some sharp edges, I sanded the edges intensely. My wife then suggested that I used duct tape to cover the sides to not only protect but to decorate the sides. We found red & green duct tape.




We wrapped them and gave them to two sets of our grand kids. They were a big hit.