Checking up on Checkers...A Checkers Bag Tutorial

When I ordered Scout's Boy Scout sash from Scoutstuff.org (don't ya jus' luv that name?) - I saw these giant checkers on sale for 88¢ - they're designed for a checkers grid that's apparently printed on the bottom of their tents - which I also thought was a cool idea...but I immediately started thinking of how we could take these big ole checkers camping with us this summer...they come in a black mesh bag - so my first thought was to thrift a red towel and print the black squares on that...but as luck would have it - I was unable to find a red towel for 25¢ - and not being willing to pay $5 for one at Stuff-Mart - I was, however, lucky enough to find a red pillow case for a quarter...and then I thought how serendipitous that was - because it's actually so much better - we'll just tie the checkers up in the pillow case and only have the one thing to tote instead of a towel and a mesh bag...so YAY!...

...the first step was to put some newspaper inside the pillowcase to prevent the paint from leaking through...

...then I laid out the checkers to make sure they'd fit...

...then I measured and divided for the eight by eight grid...

...I had an old scrubber sponge that I cut up to make the square...

...I squirted a little bit of Outdoor Gloss paint onto a plate...

...and mixed it with a little bit of water - I was going for more of an ink effect - and thought that the paint would be too thick...but you'll see in a little bit that I may have watered it down too much as some of the squares bled a bit...I still like it - but if you want crisp squares you'll probably not want to thin your paint...

...then I donned some gloves and dipped my sponge into the paint and started stamping...

...it's not an exact science and I just sort of eyeballed it...when your stamp runs out of ink and doesn't make a perfect square - it's time to dip it in the paint mixture again...

...when all the squares were stamped - I took a Sharpie and drew a line at each end - and this is the one step that I'm wishing now that I had NOT done - as I liked it better without the line...but it's up to you - and of course I couldn't undo it once it was done...

...so there you have it...the finished grid...

...ready to play...

...and then - because I really can't leave well enough alone...I turned the pillow case bag over...and turned my sponge sideways and just sketched in a tic tac toe grid as well...

...now we have two games in one...

...this will be fun to take camping...or just out in the yard...or to the living room floor...

...if you ranked the three of us in this house...guess where I come in...that's right...THIRD...and I'm sweetly reminded of all the games I lost on purpose when Scout was little and learning to play the game...I'm somewhat better at the Tic Tac Toe game...as the Cat usually gets most of them...

...do you like playing checkers?...