Corn Hole Game Design's

how to make a cornhole game

diy cornhole game

How to make cornhole boards, two ways! Get this DIY cornhole tutorial for both regulation boards and a kid-sized game so that the whole family can enjoy playing this summer.

Is there any better addition to a backyard hangout than some good ol' cornhole?

I love having some outdoor games around while we're entertaining in our backyard. It's a great way to keep kids and grownups entertained, encourage mingling, and help break the ice on any party that needs a little pep.

By the way, did you see our backyard renovations? From the DIY outdoor kitchen design to the modern pergola and outdoor tile patio, it's become our little oasis!

And when it's just our own family hanging out, I love that this DIY cornhole game gets us up, out, moving around, and having fun together!

(Psst — if you love DIY games, check out this masterpiece!)

DIY Games for Indoor and Outdoor
Two Ways to Make DIY Cornhole Boards
A Kid-Sized Cornhole Game That's Super Easy to Make
How to Make Regulation DIY Cornhole Boards
Two Ways to Paint Your DIY Cornhole Boards
How to Paint the Triple Mountain Design
How to Paint The Alternating Pinwheel Pattern
How to Make DIY Cornhole Bags

DIY Games for Indoor and Outdoor

Our library of DIY games is one of the things I'm most proud of here on Lovely Indeed!

I love creating things that bring friends and families together in more ways than one. These DIY projects are fun to make together, and then even more fun to play together.

They're each created to be lasting, colorful, beautiful, and functional. And the same is true of these two DIY cornhole games!

For more of our other indoor and outdoor DIY games, check out some of my favorites:

Make a Wes Anderson Guess Who Game
How to Make a DIY Winter Checkers Game
How to Make a Shut The Box Game
DIY Battleship Sweets Game
How to Make Your Own Boggle Game
DIY Chinese Checkers Game
Make a Los Angeles Chutes and Ladders Game
DIY Yahtzee Game
DIY Mancala Game
Leather and Cement Checkers Game

Two Ways to Make DIY Cornhole Boards

When our kids were little, we wanted to create a DIY cornhole game that was smaller in scale so that it would be kid-friendly for all of their little buddies.

It was also very small and compact for storing! It stores pretty much flat, and is great if you don't have a lot of room for storing your outdoor gear.

The smaller sized cornhole game you see here is the one with the triple mountain paint design.

Once the kids were older and we created more storage space, Ryan wanted to build a DIY cornhole game that was regulation size. It definitely takes up more space, but it's worth it if you play a lot or have more adults playing cornhole.

The regulation sized game you see here is the one with the pinwheel paint design.

So let's get into how to make and paint each of these DIY cornhole games!

A Kid-Sized Cornhole Game That's Super Easy to Make

The smaller sized game is incredibly easy to make, even for novice woodworkers! It's a great project that you could start and finish in a day.

Materials

Five shades of paint (We used Behr paint in Glass Tile, Rainwater, Little Bow Pink, Inked, and Shea)
1″ plywood
Four large hinges
Drill
Saw
Sander or sandpaper
Paintbrushes
Painter's tape

Make Time: 4 Hours (Plus Drying Time)

Cut out your wood pieces. Note: We made our game a little smaller than standard size, to accommodate kids and small storage spaces. Feel free to size up your pieces if you want regulation size! See below for a regulation cornhole board tutorial.Cut two small rectangles, each 8″ x 18″. Cut two large rectangles, each 34″ x 18″. At the top of the large rectangles, cut a 5″ circular hole in each. Sand all of your pieces.
Connect your large and small rectangles by drilling hinges into the wood.
If desired, paint a coat of primer or white paint on your wood to prepare it for painting.

How to Make Regulation DIY Cornhole Boards

To build our regulation cornhole boards, we used a great tutorial that we found right here!

That's a great tutorial if you want to create boards that have all of the measurements for regulation game play.

Two Ways to Paint Your DIY Cornhole Boards

For each DIY cornhole game, we dreamed up a different paint pattern.

The smaller game has what I'm calling the "triple mountain" pattern, because it looks like multicolored mountains rising up the board. (To be honest, this was inspired by my niece, who thought that it was a picture of the mountains where Elsa builds her ice castle in Frozen.)

The larger game has an alternating pinwheel pattern. This was inspired by our outdoor tile patio. I thought it would be a cool touch to have them match. I painted it this way as a surprise Christmas gift for Ryan!

How to Paint the Triple Mountain Design

Here's a breakdown on how to paint the triple mountain design on your small DIY cornhole game. You could also paint this pattern on the larger game!

See above in the post for images of this paint technique.

On the top of the large rectangle, paint a layer of your first color. Work your way about halfway down on the edges to create a rough triangle. Do this on both boards and allow to dry.
Mask a triangle shape with painter's tape, just above where the first color color ends. Paint a stripe of your next color, again leaving a rough bottom edge.
Continue working your way down the board until you have all the stripes you'd like. Finish with your last color creating a large triangle at the base of the board.
With a 1″ foam brush, paint a ring around the hole cut in the board.

How to Paint The Alternating Pinwheel Pattern

To paint the alternating pinwheel pattern that you see on the larger boards, here are the supplies you'll need.

White and blue paint
Removable adhesive vinyl
Paper cutter or scissors/ruler/pen
Small paint roller

Start by painting the entire visible surface of your DIY cornhole game with white paint. This may take 2 coats to achieve your desired coverage.
Use the paper cutter to cut 8″ squares of your adhesive vinyl. You'll need 9 squares
Cut each square on the diagonal to create triangles. You should have 18 triangles total.
Once the white paint is dry, remove the backing on your adhesive vinyl triangles one by one and start placing them on the white surface of your cornhole board. Use the image below to place them correctly; you'll be placing them to match the white areas of our board.
Smooth all of the vinyl triangles down to make sure that they're adhered around the edges.
Roll the blue paint onto all of the uncovered areas on the face of your cornhole board. Once the first coat is dry, add a second coat if more coverage is needed.
Remove the adhesive vinyl to reveal the unpainted areas and create your pinwheel pattern.

How to Make DIY Cornhole Bags

You can also sew your own cornhole bags! These bags are a perfect fit for the smaller, kid-sized DIY cornhole game.

Materials

Fabric
Dry beans
Sewing machine and notions

Cut out 16 squares of fabric, each 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. If you'd like different colors for different teams, and a gold side to your beanbags like ours, cut out 8 gold squares and four squares each of two different colors.
Put right sides together and sew a straight stitch around all sides, leaving about 2″ open.
Flip the bags right side out.
Fill the bags about 2/3 full of dry beans. Sew them closed with a hidden stitch.

Note: These are a great size and weight for kids to play. The regulation cornhole bags are larger and heavier. If you'd like to make regulation bags, the finished size should be 6″x6″ and the weight should be 1 pound. To make these, cut your fabric to 6 1/2″ and stitch them together with 1/2″ allowance. Fill each with 1 pound of dry beans.

Get your cornhole on all summer long! I tell you what, this game is addictive. If those beanbags are laying around, you can bet that sooner or later you'll have a full on cornhole tournament fired up in your backyard.

If you try one of our DIY cornhole tutorials, leave a comment and rate our DIY below! xoxo

Materials

1" plywood
Paint in 5 colors
4 hinges
Fabric
Dry beans
Optional: removable adhesive vinyl

Tools

Drill
Saw
Sander
Paintbrushes
Sewing machine and notions
Optional: paper cutter

Instructions

Cut out your wood pieces. Note: We made our game a little smaller than standard size, to accommodate kids and small storage spaces. Feel free to size up your pieces if you want regulation size! See below for a regulation cornhole board tutorial.Cut two small rectangles, each 8" x 18". Cut two large rectangles, each 34" x 18". At the top of the large rectangles, cut a 5" circular hole in each. Sand all of your pieces.
Connect your large and small rectangles by drilling hinges into the wood.
If desired, paint a coat of primer or white paint on your wood to prepare it for painting.
If you want to paint the triple mountain pattern, follow steps 5-8.
On the top of the large rectangle, paint a layer of your first color. Work your way about halfway down on the edges to create a rough triangle. Do this on both boards and allow to dry.
Mask a triangle shape with painter's tape, just above where the first color color ends. Paint a stripe of your next color, again leaving a rough bottom edge.
Continue working your way down the board until you have all the stripes you'd like. Finish with your last color creating a large triangle at the base of the board.
With a 1" foam brush, paint a ring around the hole cut in the board.
If you want to paint the pinwheel pattern, follow steps 10-16.
Start by painting the entire visible surface of your DIY cornhole game with white paint. This may take 2 coats to achieve your desired coverage.
Use the paper cutter to cut 8" squares of your adhesive vinyl. You'll need 9 squares
Cut each square on the diagonal to create triangles. You should have 18 triangles total.
Once the white paint is dry, remove the backing on your adhesive vinyl triangles one by one and start placing them on the white surface of your cornhole board. Use the image below to place them correctly; you'll be placing them to match the white areas of our board.
Smooth all of the vinyl triangles down to make sure that they're adhered around the edges.
Roll the blue paint onto all of the uncovered areas on the face of your cornhole board. Once the first coat is dry, add a second coat if more coverage is needed.
Remove the adhesive vinyl to reveal the unpainted areas and create your pinwheel pattern.
Cut out 16 squares of fabric, each 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". If you'd like different colors for different teams, and a gold side to your beanbags like ours, cut out 8 gold squares and four squares each of two different colors. Note: to make regulation sized bags, cut them 6 1/2" square and stitch with a 1/2 inch allowance.
Put right sides together and sew a straight stitch around all sides, leaving about 2" open.
Flip the bags right side out.
Fill the bags about 2/3 full of dry beans. (To make them regulation, add 1 pound of beans to each bag.) Sew them closed with a hidden stitch.

Notes

When our kids were little, we wanted to create a DIY cornhole game that was smaller in scale so that it would be kid-friendly for all of their little buddies.

It was also very small and compact for storing! It stores pretty much flat, and is great if you don't have a lot of room for storing your outdoor gear.

The smaller sized cornhole game you see here is the one with the triple mountain paint design.

The regulation sized game you see here is the one with the pinwheel paint design.

So let's get into how to make and paint each of these DIY cornhole games!