Have you ever heard of the game ‘Cornhole’ (also sometimes referred to as Baggo)?  It is basically a bean bag toss game using a pair of angled boards with holes cut in them.   What started as a beer-drinking tailgate game, has become popular for all occasions.

In fact, a hot new activity to do during the break between weddings and receptions is allow guests to play cornhole.

Via CharlestonEvent

I think the thing that is most fun about cornhole is that it is easy enough for kids or adults to play, but it is challenging enough to turn a group of people quite competitive when playing.


Cornhole boards are commercially available, but I’ve never bought a set because they always seemed like a lot of money for a holey board with legs.   I thought they would be perfect for this month's power tool challenge, which was "Summer Fun"

The other bloggers in this month challenge also came up with some awesome outdoor activities!

I had the idea to take the easy way out of this project when vI was browsing the “as is” section of IKEA I found this pair of VEDDINGE cabinet doors and I knew they would make PERFECT cornhole boards.  They were marked $5 and even if it didn’t turn out, I wasn’t out anything..
The beauty of these doors is the perfectly smooth high gloss finish.  Which will allow the beanbags to slide beautifully.  They didn’t even had drill holes for door hardware.  They were the perfect blank slate.  Plus the edges were beautifully finished, which would be a nicer look than say, plywood.

The doors I found happened to be 15x30 (and you can buy new ones for only $13) but you can actually get VEDDINGE doors sized at 24x50 which is the regulation size of the American Cornhole Organization (yes, the ACO is an actual thing!!)  I didn’t care if my boards were regulation size, and the smaller size made them easier to store.

I am not including actual measurements in this tutorial because you will have to adjust all the cuts to fit your own cabinet door.  (I didn’t even measure, I just marked everything using the door as a template).  I built the base out of 1x3 pine lumber ($3.50)

I just screwed the corners together with a butt joint. If you want to get fancy you can use a rabbet or half lap joint at the corners instead, but I didn’t have the desire (or time) to bother with that.  You also could use a Kreg Jig to assemble the box if you didn't want the hardware to show.

Next my handy helpers got to decorating.  I knew that I wanted a University of Wisconsin theme on these boards (my alma mater) but I didn’t want to buy additional paint.  We needed up using the extra Raspberry Truffle paint sample I had from the baby’s nursery makeover.  It isn’t 'Badger Crimson', but it is okay for a yard game. 
Next I worked on the legs.  I followed this tutorial by DIY Pete to make the legs. You can see his board is much larger and he uses 2x4s so mine was obviously scaled down to use the 1x3s. 
Just like the example, I rounded the board, and drill through it and the frame.  I used a 3/8 inch paddle bit. The hardware I used was:
(2) 2inch 3/8 inch carriage bolts, two washer and two wing nuts.  ($4).

Next came the hole.  A standard cornhole opening is 6 inches.  Even though my board is smaller, I wanted the opening to be the right size (so we could use standard bean bags and so it wasn’t too hard to hit)  I used a cereal bowl as a template. 
I pre-drilled a hole with a 1-inch paddle bit and then used my jig saw to cut out the hole. The cabinet door cut BEAUTIFULLY since it is only MDF.  I did use a “circle cutting” blade and made sure to take my time, so not to chip the finish. 
I sanded the hole smooth and then painted it with some “IKEA White” paint I had leftover from the mudroom built-in project (the color formula was perfect, since the door was from IKEA. A dry fit run showed the finished product.  But it still needed to be decorated. 
I dragged out my Silhouette Cameo and did a little vinyl layering.  Obviously if you don’t have a vinyl cutting machine, you could paint anything you wanted on the doors. 
Since cornhole reminds me of college, I had to go with my favorite college mascot: 
To attach the door to the frame, I used finishing nails.  You could also screw them in from the bottom with pocket holes, but the finishing nails worked great. I just used a little wood filler and white paint to hide them.
I also made my own corn-filled bean bags to play with, but I’ll save that tutorial for another day.

All in all it was a great project and I’m happy with how it came out.
The kids have already spent the last three afternoons trying to beat each other.   And I can’t wait to drag them out at our next block party or barbecue.  Nobody will ever believe they came from IKEA!

Final project budget (For ONE board)

Cabinet Door: $5 (Ikea AS IS section)
(2) 8-ft 1x3 furring strips (frames/legs): $3.50
(2) 3-in 3/8 in carriage bolt: $2.28
(2) 3/8 inch washers: $0.36
(2) 3/8 inch Wingnuts (had to buy pack of 3): $1.19

TOTAL COST:  $12.33 
Compare that to this set that retails (at Kohl’s) for $375!!
WHAT THE WHA?!?!?  Mine is cuter! 


And if you don't have the need for a Cornhole set but still want some fun projects with IKEA doors, here are some other ideas:


Distressed Faux Vintage Welcome Sign: