DIY Collapsible Cornhole Boards with Stenciled Design

Create your own collapsible cornhole boards painted using a homemade stencil then follow the tutorial for making your own cornhole bags using duck cloth. 

Hello Crafty Friends! With Father’s Day coming up this weekend I thought I would share the cornhole boards we made last year. They would make a great Father’s Day gift and are perfect for summer! We love setting our boards up in the backyard and playing bags while grilling out or hauling them to a baseball game and playing while we tailgate. 

We searched the web and found the American Cornhole Association’s page that not only lists the rules of the game but also the dimensions of the boards and bags.  We followed most of their recommendations except we did decide we wanted ours to be collapsible, for easy storage and transportation. We skipped putting the sides on the boards and added hinges that allow the back posts to bend in and collapse.

Below is a tutorial showing how we made our boards (including what we thought worked well and what we would do differently), how to paint the boards using a homemade stencil and how to make bags to use with your boards!

Building Collapsible Cornhole Boards

Supplies Needed

• Two 24″x48″ pieces of half-inch plywood or MDF. We used pre-cut 3/4″ MDF from Home Depot because it was cheaper and smooth, but plywood is what is recommended and is the stronger option and less likely to warp or sag over time. 
• Jigsaw to cut the hole
• Sanding paper
• One 8-foot 2×4
• Four metal door hinges
• Four angle brackets
• Four white window latches
• 1/2″ Screws for the hinges and angle brackets
• Wood glue
• Ruler
• Pencil 

Building the Boards

Step One: Cut holes in each board. Following the recommended dimensions, cut a hole with a 6″ diameter in each 24″ x 48″ board. Place the holes 9″ from the top of the boards and 12″ in on each side. We were lucky to have access to a scene shop where my husband used a jigsaw to cut out each hole.

Using a 2×4 board (which actually measures 1.75″x 3.5″ when purchased from the store), cut two pieces that measure 24″ long. Glue each piece to the front of both boards at a 90 degree angle. Using angle brackets to keep it in place and at a perfect angle. 

Attaching the Collapsible Legs

Step Two: Create the legs for the cornhole boards and attach them to the boards. Cut the remaining 2×4 board into four pieces that measure 11.25″ long so each board will have two back legs. The back of the cornhole boards should be 12″ from the ground. Since our boards were 3/4″ thick, we cut our legs 11.25″ for a total of 12″.

Attach the legs using metal hinges. You want the legs to be flush with the outside of the board, and the hinges should be placed so the legs fold under the board.

Adding a Locking Mechanism to the Legs

Step Three: Add a locking mechanism to keep the legs in place when using the boards. Since we wanted our boards to be collapsible we used hinges to attach them. This also meant we needed a way to keep the legs sturdy and in place while we play the game. 

We decided to use window locks so we could lock them once the board was set up. Mark where the latches need to go on both the leg and the platform so they will line up, then screw them into place. 

Update: Our window locks worked well but after a couple years they broke. We still use the boards without any problems we should have spent a little more on better quality window locks. We also wonder if lose-pin hinges or sliding bolts may have worked better? 

Now the boards will be collapsible and they can be stored easily in a garage or basement. 

Decorating the Boards using a Homemade Stencil

For our boards we decided to go with a baseball theme since we knew we would be tailgating and playing bags throughout the summer. Our favorite team is the Milwaukee Brewers so we decided to put their retro logo centered on the boards. We also added blue stripes associated with their retro baseball jersey as the background.

Decorating Supplies

• Paint in colors of your choosing – We used acrylic because that is what we had on hand. Outdoor Acrylic Patio Paint would also be a great option.
• Acrylic glaze or an outdoor sealant
• Poster board for the stencils
• Tape
• Scissors
• Paint brushes
• Ruler and pencil

Creating the Stencil

Step One: Create the stencils using poster board. I started by Google-searching the team’s retro logo and brought it into Photoshop, enlarging it to the size I wanted. I printed the logo out on several sheets of paper, then taped them together to form the large image.

Next, I cut the logo out and taped it to a piece of poster board. I traced around the entire logo to make my “yellow paint” stencil and then carefully cut it out leaving the borders of my poster board.

I followed this same process for my “blue paint” stencil and cut out the parts of the logo I wanted to be painted blue, making sure to leave bridges so my stencil would stay together. I cut out the small area between the M and B after I painted the blue area so I could use the same stencil to add white paint.

I free-handed the baseball in the center of the logo, but could have made another stencil for this part.

Be sure to add registration lines (in this case a pencil line down the center of the stencil) to each poster board stencil to help you line them up.

Painting the Boards

Step Two: Paint the boards – on both sides!  I first painted both boards with two coats of white acrylic paint. You will notice in these pictures we only painted one side of our board but we should have painted both sides as this will help the boards not warp over time.

Next, I painted the logo onto the boards using my stencils – starting with the yellow paint, then the blue and finally adding the white area between the M and B and the baseball on top. I let the paint dry in between each coat of paint. The thin blue stripes were added after the logo using a ruler as a guide.

Step Three: Seal the boards. After everything looked good, I coated the boards with an acrylic glaze. You could also use an outdoor sealer. Be sure to cover not jus the top of the board, but the sides and bottom too. And ta-da, they were ready to go!

How to Make Bags for Cornhole

To play cornhole, you need 4 bags for each team – we made 5 so we had a back-up for each team just in case. The finished bags should measure 6.25″ x 6.25″ and weigh between 14 and 16 ounces. To make the bags, we visited our local Joann Fabric Store and bought duck cloth in our team’s colors, yellow and blue. Duck cloth is nice durable fabric that worked well for these bags!

Update: We’ve used these bags for 10 years and they are still in great shape! 

Supplies for Cornhole Bags

• Duck Cloth (cotton canvas) in two different colors
• Matching or contrasting thread
• Ruler
• Fabric Scissors 
• Beans or Poly-Pellets

Step One: Cut the fabric.

Cut two squares of fabric that measure 6.5″ x 6.5″ for each bag. Since I was making 5 bags for each team I cut 10 squares of blue duck cloth and 10 squares of yellow duck cloth. 

Step Two: Sew the bags.

Put 2 squares together, right sides facing, and stitch around the edges 1/4″ away from the edge of the fabric.

Leave a hole in the center of one side so you can flip the bag right side out and fill it with beans. Be sure to backstitch well on either side of the hole. 

Once you have sewn around the bag, clip the corner making sure not to get too close to your stitching. Flip the bags inside out and stitch around them with contrasting thread 1/4″ away from the edge. This will help make the bags even stronger and this follows the guidelines from the official Cornhole Rules site. 

Step Three: Fill the the bags.

We chose beans since they gave us the correct weight and were more available than the traditional corn feed. (Update: You can also use Polyfil Beads. At the time we made these that option wasn’t listed on the website so we didn’t think of using them.)

Use a funnel (or an icing bag which is what we had on hand) to help funnel the beans into the bags. Once filled I hand sewed the opening closed as securely as I could. These bags get thrown pretty hard so the sturdier you can make them the better. If you can use thicker thread to close up the hole, that will be even better!

The bags are finished and it’s time to play cornhole (or bags as we call it)! I hope this tutorial was helpful and will give you some ideas on how you can make your own boards.

Our Boards 10 Years Later

It’s been ten years and we still use these boards! The paint has held up and they honestly still look like new. We do store them in our garage when they aren’t being used. The bags have also held up really well, none have broken or tore.

If we could go back in time we would have painted all sides of the boards, used plywood instead of MDF and purchased higher-quality window locks – or tried a different locking mechanism. 3 of the 4 locks no longer work on our boards yet we are still able to use the boards without any problems on our lawn so we haven’t replaced them.

In the last couple years we have noticed the boards have a very slight curve to them that we think is due to not painting the boards on all sides and using MDF instead of plywood. MDF was smooth and cheaper at the time but MDF is also more likely to sag or warp when compared to plywood. Plywood is the recommended wood on the Cornhole site so I would suggest following that recommendation.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it helps give you ideas on how you can create your own cornhole game boards!