With Christmas right around the corner, now’s the time to start planning your homemade gifts. Use these step-by-step instructions and a few inexpensive dollar-store items to craft a DIY Tic Tac Toe board game for the hard-to-buy people on your list.
Are you planning a simpler holiday season this year? I am. Over the past five or so years, I’ve been trying to replace some of the “store-bought” gifts I give with homemade ones.
Last year I experimented with a mason jar pancake mix that turned out really well. And the girls and I have had so much fun making peppermint foot scrubs to give as gifts, too. In fact, we’ve made several types of sugar scrub soaps and other homemade health and beauty products.
This year, I’m sharing a couple of new DIY gift items for my family members who aren’t as interested in beauty products. And one of the easiest is this DIY Tic Tac Toe board game.
They’re inexpensive to make, so it’s easy to create several wooden games to gift. If you have time, consider sewing a simple cloth gift bag with a drawstring, as it makes it easier to keep all the pieces together.
DIY Tic Tac Toe Board Game
One of the things I love about this project is that it’s so easy even a child can make it and give it as a Christmas gift. The supplies are easy to find on Amazon, Dollar Tree, or Walmart.
It’s also an easy project to customize by choosing colors or painting a cute design on the board. In fact, you could even create a cute and easy DIY Tic Tac Toe Board for your family. That way, you can take it in the car to keep kids occupied during long trips or while waiting at doctor appointments.
Supplies Needed
Now, I can get all my supplies for this DIY Tic Tac Toe board at the local Dollarama dollar store. That includes the paint, tray, and wooden cubes.
- Unfinished Wood Trays
- Unfinished wood cubes
- Craft paint
- Paint Pens
- Paintbrushes
- Wood coffee stirrers or think craft sticks
- Glue gun
You'll find the Amazon links down below if you’d rather buy them online.
How to Make a Wooden Tic Tac Toe Board
Paint the entire unfinished wooden tray in the color of your choice. Let it dry completely. Add a second coat if needed. And once again, dry completely.
Cut two long wooden coffee stirrers a little smaller than the inside of your tray. Next, cut six short pieces. The wood is thin enough to cut with a good pair of scissors.
Your short pieces need to make up the cross pieces of the tray and should be just shorter than the width of your tray minus the width of the long pieces.
Hot glue the pieces into place. Then choose two colors to paint the wooden tic tac toe board game pieces.
I use two easy methods to paint small pieces like the blocks. First, you could place them in a paper cup and roll them around in paint, using a paintbrush to coat them.
Or you could use paint on a baby wipe to rub paint all over the cube. Either way works just fine.
Dry the painted wood squares on a piece of waxed paper or silicone mat so they don't stick as they would on paper.
Once dry, use your paint pens to make x’s in one color on half the blocks and o’s in the other color on the other blocks. Let them dry. Honestly, I found the paint markers dry pretty quickly and should be ready to use in an hour or so.
Tip: You can also use the little tray to store all your tic-tac-toe pieces when not in use.
How to Make a Wooden DIY Tic Tac Toe Board Game
Create a fun DIY Tic Tac Toe wood board game for your family. Learn how to make this simple, timeless game with easy step-by-step instructions.
Materials
- unfinished wooden tray
- unfinished wooden cubes
- unfinished wooden craft sticks or coffee stirrers
Tools
- craft paint
- paintbrushes
- paint pens
- hot glue gun with glue sticks
Instructions
- Paint the entire unfinished wooden tray in the color of your choice. Let it dry completely. Add a second coat if needed. And once again, dry completely.
- Cut two long wooden coffee stirrers a little smaller than the inside of your tray. Next, cut six short pieces. The wood is thin enough that you can cut it with a good pair of scissors.
- Your short pieces need to make up the cross pieces of the tray and should be just shorter than the width of your tray, minus the width of the long pieces.
- Hot glue the pieces into place.
- Choose two significantly different colors to paint the wooden tic tac toe board game pieces.
- There are two easy methods I use for painting small pieces like the blocks. First, you could place them in a paper cup and roll them around in paint, using a paintbrush to coat them.
- Or you could use paint on a baby wipe to rub paint all over the cube. Either way works just fine.
- Dry the painted wood squares on a piece of waxed paper or silicone mat so that they don't stick as they would on paper.
- Once dry, use your paint pens to make x’s in one color on half the blocks and o’s in the other color on the other blocks. Let them dry. Honestly, I found the paint markers dry pretty quickly and should be ready to use in an hour or so.
Notes
You can also use the little tray to store all your tic-tac-toe pieces when not in use.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
UPINS 30 Pcs Flat Paint Brushes, Small Brush Bulk for Detail Painting -
Package 5.5 Inch Wooden Coffee Stirrers -
Betem 24 Colors Dual Tip Acrylic Paint Pens Markers -
Magicfly Acrylic Paint Set, 14 Rich Pigment Colors -
DIY Wooden Cubes ½-inch, Pack of 100 Small Blank Wooden Blocks -
6pcs Unfinished Wood Trays
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Sarita Harbour is a long-time freelance writer, blogger, and homesteader who has been creating online content for over 15 years. She’s the founder of An Off Grid Life, where she shares practical advice on self-reliance, homesteading, off-grid living, and homeschooling based on her 11-year adventure living in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories.
