Homemade Bean Bag Board

 A simple, inexpensive gift I made for my little girl's first birthday were these bean bags and bean bag board. The bean bags took very little fabric, and I used scrap wood and paints that I already had laying around for the board, so it didn't cost much more than my time. But it was a huge a hit. She loved putting the bean bags through the holes in the board!

To make the board, I simply painted a piece of scrap wood with the design I wanted, and then I had my husband use his jigsaw to cut three holes that were slightly bigger than the bean bags. I just lean the board up against a wall, so I didn't create any sort of stand for it. It is also much easier to store when it is completely flat.

To make the bean bags, I began by cutting out two squares  for each bean bag. I just made the squares slightly larger than I wanted the final bean bags to be to allow for a seam. On one square of each set, I appliqued one of the letters to my daughter's name. You could applique letters, numbers, or designs, or you could leave the bean bags blank. I thought it would be fun to do the letters of her name so we could use the bean bags later when I teach her to spell her name. Here is a tutorial on how to applique. After I finished with the letters, I sewed the sets of squares for each bean bag together (right sides together), leaving a small opening to flip the bean bags right side out. I left enough of an opening to allow me to then easily scoop in beans to fill the bean bag. Once the bean bags were full enough, I sewed the opening shut. Here is the finished product! As I said, my little girl couldn't have been happier with them...