Decorative Chess Sets

Last week, I turned a $2 second-hand cabinet door (from the recycle area of the county dump) and a garage-sale box of wooden chess pieces for $1.50 into… a cool and colorful chess set for our family room. It was crazy simple!
I cleaned up the board and spray painted it in a color to coordinate with the marbled paper. I used the images that I posted HERE to create the checker-board pattern and end pieces. I’m including them here for you to download and size for your own set if you like these colors. (Of course if you know how to use Photoshop well, you can change the colors to suit your own decor.) Simply print to size two copies of the board pattern halves and one copy of the end pieces and trim out with a craft knife. I used spray adhesive to mount my paper to the board beginning by butting the two checkered pieces together in the middle and then adding the end pieces. I then sprayed the entire piece with clear matte acrylic.
HAPPY ACCIDENT: I chose the same blue-green spray paint color as I used for the board for one set of chess pieces, and a dark red for the other. After spraying them all outside, I went back into my studio to work. Looking out the window I realized the wet pieces had blown completely off their paint surface, into one another and onto the ground. After picking grass and dirt out of the paint, I found they actually looked pretty cool roughed up with random paint spots! I love when that stuff happens, but it helps to keep a good attitude, because I do know how some crafting mistakes can be stressful.This isn’t all I have to offer in the way of ideas for chess sets- please read my latest commissioned post over at SC Johnson’s Family Economics HERE!