We had a backgammon set growing up in the 80s. It was brown pleather with tan and white triangular spaces. I loved everything about that set…I loved the snap of the clasps, the smell of the felt interior, and the smooth perfection of the playing pieces. Mind you I never played the game (I didn’t know how), but I loved to carry the set around like a briefcase holding important papers.
I finally learned to play the game during my senior year in college and gradually all of my roommates and close friends learned to play as well. We took our board everywhere…to the quad, to bars, on spring break, and to this day we still play when we’re together.
But now I’ve passed the love of the game onto my daughter Sommer. At only 7, she doesn’t have the most strategic moves and whenever I roll doubles, she declares that she’s going to lose. Whenever she sees a board at a friend’s house or restaurant, she insists on playing. And I’m always down.
I’ve seen lots of gorgeous backgammon boards, and I’ve always thought it would be the easiest of the classic games to make. Since the board itself is a lightweight bag, this DIY version is a perfect travel set. Your pieces can be virtually anything, but as I was crafting I wondered why I had never seen pieces that weren’t solid-colored circles. I thought about making ombre pieces, or patterned pieces, but then I settled on these charming, smirkish faces. And why Shrinky Dinks®? Basically because I am obsessed with them!
This is a great project to make as a gift or for yourself before a trip of any sort. Once the playing pieces are shrunk, they have a slightly rough texture which grips nicely to the felt board so no sliding.
What you’ll need:
- 4 colors of felt
- 8×10” drawstring bag
- Scissors
- Hot-glue gun
- Inkjet shrink film
- Circle paper punch (optional)
- Matchboxes (optional)
- 2 sets of dice
- Cut a piece of felt about 1/4” smaller than your bag on all sides. Hot glue it in place.
- Download and print this template and cut 24 triangles from felt, 12 in one color and 12 in another.
- Cut the strip that becomes the center “wall” of the game from a fourth color of felt.
- Glue spaces into place, alternating colors with the center wall down the middle.
- Print the pieces onto inkjet shrink film (here’s a free download!), and let the ink dry before cutting out.
- Use a 1 3/4” paper punch to cut out the circles, or just cut with scissors.
- Shrink the pieces in the oven or toaster over according to package instructions.
- Glue the 16th extra piece, to the top of a matchbox—use the matchbox as the receptacle for the backgammon pieces.
Have fun and here’s to a lifetime of double 6’s!
