Make Your Own DIY Succulent Checkers

I’m a little, okay, a LOT obsessed with the whole succulent phenomenon. And there are so many great faux succulents available that you can barely distinguish them from the real thing! I wanted to create a new game for my patio and thought incorporating succulents into the game would be so fun. So I came up with this natural-looking succulent DIY checkers game!

Supplies needed to make your own succulent DIY checkers:

• Moss Mat
• 12″ x 12″ Unfinished Wood Board
• Faux Succulent Garland
• Decorative Bark
• Scissors
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Hot Glue Gun
• Acrylic Paint
• Paint Brushes

A standard checkerboard has 64 squares, 8 horizontally by 8 vertically. So for this 12″ x 12″ board we need each square to be 1 1/2″ big. Cut thirty-two 1 1/2″ squares out of the moss mat. Remove the tissue paper backing on the moss squares and hot glue them in a checkerboard pattern to the wood board.

A checkers set comes with 24 pieces, 12 for each side. You will also need a few extra to use as King pieces since these can’t double as Kings. So we’re looking at about 36 total.

Break the bark into 36 small pieces no more than an inch wide in any direction. A pair of needle nose pliers will help break the pieces more uniformly. The pieces do not all need to match. It looks more natural if they are all different.

Remove 36 succulents from the garland. They will pop of very easily. Cut off the small tip at the bottom so they will sit flush on your work space.

Hot glue the succulents to the center of the pieces of bark.

To tell the difference between the pieces add a small daub of acrylic paint to the center of half of the succulents in one color and the other half in 2nd color.

We made enough extra for there to be 6 King pieces for each color. Add an extra color to these pieces. I used gold to signify the Kings on each side of the board (see below, right).

It’s time to set up your new DIY checkers game! You can play with the pieces on the wood squares or the moss squares, whichever you prefer.

The bark and the moss are messy to work with so be sure you protect your work surface while creating the project. They remain somewhat messy after completion, making this a great game to keep outside on a covered patio or porch.

Who will you challenge to a game of succulent DIY checkers?

Michele

Michele is the creator behind The Scrap Shoppe, a craft and DIY blog. She is a wife and mommy to 2 fun little boys. She gave up a job in science to pursue her dream of spending more time with her boys and becoming a full time blogger. The Scrap Shoppe focuses on creating fun, creative, and unique craft and DIY projects for the home that anyone can recreate.