Halloween Cornhole
Our fun, spooky season take on the classic lawn game
With the weather cooling down, we are ready to enjoy even more outside time than usual, and so we embarked on a Halloween-themed cornhole build this week. This post is not a step by step tutorial but rather a general look at our process. We aimed to make the set as close to regulation as possible while adding some flair by creating gravestone boards paired with ghost and skeleton beanbags.
Materials list
2 sheets plywood (4 ft long by 2 ft wide)
4 - 2” x4” x 8 ft boards
16 - 3” wood screws
40 - 1 1/2” wood screws
4 - 3/8” carriage bolts (to add foldable legs)
16 - 3/8” washers
8 - 3/8” nuts
Paint (we used a blend of leftover interior and exterior house paint to be thrifty)
Water-based polyurethane
Medium weight fabric
7-8 pounds dried beans (or corn)
Board Details
A regulation sized cornhole set is 4 feet long by 2 feed wide. Ours is slightly smaller because we lobbed the upper corners off to make a headstone shape. The plywood is attached to a frame made with the 2”x4” boards. The 3 inch wood screws hold the frame together and the 1.5 inch screws attach the plywood to the frame. The hole is 6 inches in diameter and positioned centered on the board 9 inches from the top. Chris used a jigsaw to cut the curved top of the tombstone and the hole. The feet are attached with the carriage bolts, nuts and washers to allow the games to lay flat for storage. See the video at the bottom of the page for a peek at the back of the boards.
Painting details
Part of the reason we love Halloween is that it’s a wonderful time to embrace imperfections-the old, dingy, warped, and distorted fit right in this time of year. Think: haunted houses with slanted floors, cracked tombstones, and cobweb covered furniture. Heather freehanded all of the decorations on the set instead of using stencils. Each one was painted with a mix of leftover project paints. On both, she started with a base coat for the background color. Once dry, the board was dry brushed with a contrasting color to add some texture. Next, each one was outlined with a black line made to look like engraving and to accentuate the shape. From there, details were added- RIP text, scrollwork shapes, cracks, grass, and spiderwebs. Lastly, some green and brown paint was sponged on to simulate moss. Once the painting was complete, the set was coated in a water based polyurethane for a smooth finish and added protection against wear.
Beanbag details
Regulation sized cornhole bean bags are 6 inches x 6 inches, so we started by cutting 16 fabric squares in 6.5 inches by 6.5 inches in order to make a total of 8 bags. Once we had fabric squares, we beveled the upper corners on all of them. From there, half received a jagged edge at the bottom to create ghost shapes. The other half received a cut at the bottom to make a skull jawline. We painted faces on them with a black fabric paint before starting the sewing process. We stitched them together 1/4 inch in from the edge with the painted side facing in, flipped them inside out, and then filled each one with around 14 ounces of beans. Once the opening was stitched up, we were ready to play. We do recommend a medium weight fabric and/or double stitching the seam as the game play can be rough on the beanbags.
A look at the build and some gameplay
