DIY Yard Yahtzee Dice Set
Before we get into the specifics of how to make this DIY yard yahtzee dice set, you need to know a little bit about us.
We’re games people. A couple years into us dating, back when we used to live in a small, central-Kentucky town, we took a day trip to Cincinnati, which was only a two-hour drive from us. We didn’t have anything planned for the day, but we wanted to check out one of the bars downtown known for its wide collection of board games.
Neither of us can recall the first couple of games we played while nursing our overpriced craft beers, but we do remember the next couple of hours we spent playing Yahtzee. Emma had never played before – but after landing not one, not two, but three Yahtzees in her first game, she was hooked.
Flash forward four years later, we decided it was time to upgrade from the falling apart thrift store version we have tucked away in our games chest for something a little more impressive. Emma had the great idea to reuse some of the leftover 4x4s we used while making our DIY outdoor table – she over calculated the amount we’d need for that project, so scrap pieces were in abundance. Typical.
One of the best things about this DIY yard Yahtzee dice set is you need minimal materials, and even fewer tools.
Since you only need a small amount of each material, this only cost about $10.
Here’s how to make your own DIY yard Yahtzee set:
On This Page
Tools
Materials
Measure and Cut Your Cubes
Measure out five sections of 3.5 inches on the 4×4, which will be your five dice. Line them up and cut with your miter saw.
If you don’t have a miter saw, you can also use a circular saw and cut that way. Because the depth of a circular saw isn’t the same as a miter saw, you’ll need to cut across the 4×4 then flip the piece upside down and do the other half as well to make one full cut.
Or, if you’re buying from a major hardware store like Lowe’s or Home Depot, they often have someone who can make these cuts for free.
Sand, Sand, Sand and Sand
Did we mention sand?
This is by farrrrrrrrrrrr the longest part of the whole project, but it largely is up to you how rounded you want the edges of your dice to look. If you want something that looks like it would hang from the rearview mirror of your 1970s Austin-Powers-mobile, you’ll probably want to spend close to 10 minutes per dice really making sure those corners are smooth AF.
However, if you just want something that will take your wood stain without looking awful, you probably only need a minute or so per dice – primarily focus on smoothing the cut sides.
Stain
Next pick whichever stain you like and one by one evenly spread over all sides and corners of each dice with a paper towel. REALLY get into the cut sides to make sure any unsanded grooves get some stain.
You don’t have to drench it like you’re masking an awful salad with some ranch, but make sure all areas are covered and wipe away quickly with a dry paper towel.
Check the stain you’re using but they shouldn’t take longer than an hour or so to dry, especially if you let them bake in the nice summer sun.
Add Your Dots
This is the most difficult step, and the one open to some interpretation on how you want to add the dots yourself. You can paint them, drill some holes and stain another color, you can add stickers.
Whichever style you like best.
We used a stencil Emma cut out using her Silhouette for each side of each dice (I think it’s wizardry).
How to Order the Dots
When painting your dots, the number opposite should add up to seven. So for example if you start by painting a one, the opposite side of the dice should then be painted with six dots. The two and five should be opposite, and so on.
And voila! You’re done! Now you can enjoy your DIY yard Yahtzee set.
Bonus: You can find an inexpensive Yahtzee rules and scorecard sheet here!
If you liked this quick and easy project, check out our other fun, step-by-step tutorials like to make a giant DIY chalkboard, how to build a DIY photo ledge (in under an hour), or turning leftover scrap wood and tile into a cute DIY entryway shoe tray.
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These dice seem so easy to make and look like so much fun, gotta try this, pinned!