Ready for Tailgating

I have the best brother ever. Seriously. 

He spent hours building a bags set for me. 

(PSA: Ever since I was a little girl, this game has always been around at family get togethers. Bags, is what we called it. When I looked up the proper dimensions, it seems the correct name is Cornhole!? I like bags better.)

He is such a handy man! He has never done anything like this and did an awesome job. Once he built them, I couldn't wait to put a nice paint job on them and begin using them at tailgates this fall! I am so excited for fall to finally be here. It is my favorite season, although I love them all.

I set up shop in my garage and was ready to go! Unfortunately we only have 2 saw horses so I used boards to prop up the other.

I used spackle to fill in the holes of the wood and the screws. Taking a chunk in my fingers and spreading it.

Then wiping away the excess using this tool. I let the spackle sit for about 15 minutes before painting.

Next step: sanding! I cut sheets in half and then folded it in thirds for a better size.

I made sure all edges were smooth to avoid slivers! 

 Now it's time to prime! I used a thin roller and it worked well. I covered the top and sides with the primer and let it dry overnight.

It took me forever to decide on the pattern, but once I finally decided, it was time to used Blue Painter's Tape. I wanted the white strip to be immediately to the right and left of the hole so I measured how far away the tape needed to be from the outside edges and made marks down the board. I connected the marks with a line using the level and put tape directly on the line to ensure it was straight.

Paint colors were another tough decision! I decided to go with a pretty blue and yellow. I picked up a quart of each and have plenty left over - I'm excited to use the extra on another project!

The paint went on very smoothly!

I let them dry for a few hours and then peeled the tape off. It's good to take the tape off before the paint is completely dry. Although I used the chisel to ensure the tape was bubble free, there was still a bit of bleeding with the paint. 

I used a small foam brush to touch up and add a second coat of the primer for the white strip.

Next I propped up the legs to paint them. I used a foam brush to paint these as well.

I let the stripes and legs dry overnight.

My aunt's mother is making me the bean bags to toss - this project was a team effort!
I can't wait to finally be able to use them next weekend as we tailgate.