Throw a Board Game Party With Goodwill

I am so excited to share with you today some easy craft projects you can do to create a beautiful board game party theme for a fun game night with your friends.

I recently hosted a board game party and created all of my fun decorations from supplies I found at our local Goodwill and the dollar store. The total cost spent on all of these decorations was a mere $30 and I am so proud of how this theme turned out.

I hit our local Goodwill on a half off sale day to score these three vintage board games for a total of $2.44 (for all three)! What a steal!

The first thing I did with my supplies was to create a board game banner to edge my party table. For this you will need board game paper cards, a deck of cards (optional), play money, extra wide bias tape (I found this at Michael’s craft store in the sewing supplies), and a hot glue gun with glue sticks.

Using your hot glue gun, add two drops of glue on each side of the front of your board game piece and secure it to the inside front of the bias tape. For the reverse, add one drop of glue and then secure again to the opposite inside of the bias tape. Repeat this in a sequencing pattern all down your banner.

I decided to create two of these, one to edge my table and one above my table on my ledge. To secure it to your table, just use safety pins or straight pins to pin it to your tablecloth. Isn’t that the cutest?

I had a lot of food to serve and not a lot of platters to use. Good thing we have those board games, right? At Goodwill, pick up three clear glass candlesticks in the same size. If you can’t find them there, you can grab them at the dollar store. Using a primary spray paint color, spray paint these with your favorite color. Let them dry for an hour.

Clean off your board game with a Clorox wipe (we will be serving food on it). Invert your candlesticks upside down because we want the wide side of the candlestick to secure to the board game to create a more stable surface. On that side, apply your hot glue all along the edge and secure it to your board game on the bottom to create a base for your serving platter. Hold it secure for a couple of minutes. Repeat this process with the two other candlesticks, creating a triangle base on the bottom of your board.

Isn’t this the cutest serving platter? By raising your food up, you will have more room to add platters below and create interesting levels to your food.

You can also use other board games without a stand to place your food on lower levels. Doesn’t that look awesome?

To add some more interest to my table, I also created hurricanes to display the smaller board game pieces. Again, you just need clear glass candlesticks or even brass ones, that are often in abundance at Goodwill. Spray paint these your favorite color and then add glass bowls or containers on top to finish them off. If you can’t find these at your store, you can also check the dollar store for small glass fishbowls and vases that can be used.

Using an epoxy glue intended for glass (I used an Elmer’s epoxy glue that I picked up from my hardware store), secure the glass bowl to the top of your candlestick (just as shown above using a hot glue gun). Fill it with you favorite vintage board game pieces from the board games you bought.

I absolutely love the vintage pieces that you can find in old board games. Just remember, these hurricanes can be reused for other parties and spray painted again in whatever your party theme colors might be.

Since I was on a spray painting frenzy and I had so many great dishes to share for this party, I also created these DIY chalkboard food label frames. You can grab the tutorial for this project as well as the recipes for all of the dishes I created for this party to replicate what was created here.

Now grab your best girlfriends, have everyone bring their favorite beverage and board game (check out this list for great games to grab at Goodwill), and have a fun board game party evening that your friends will always remember!

What happens to be your favorite board game? 

Creating Fun Family Nights In

Life

If there is one thing that our family loves it is a good old-fashioned board game night, in fact, some of my most favorite childhood moments were spent around board games. I still remember the Sweet Valley Twins board game that I would play with my best friend and the endless rounds of Skip-Bo that I played with my sister when we were kids. Later, when we were first married, we had little to our name other than a futon for our bed, a card table for our kitchen table, and a stack of board games to keep us company. Those are still some of my fondest memories of those newlywed days.

Now board games are the ultimate frugal family fun night in our house. I try to get our board games at Goodwill because it is a great way for me to try them out without making a huge investment. Sometimes I buy games and we discover that it isn’t something we would want to play over and over again, but I know I don’t have to worry about it. When the games cost us only $1.50, it makes it much easier to donate it back and try something else out.
Here are a few of my favorite board games to look for when doing your Goodwill shopping.

skin in the game

Apples to Apples– If you have not played Apples to Apples before, you are really missing out on a treat. It is my new favorite game to tote around to all of our family functions and any opportunity where I can get a few friends together. Simply deal the cards out to each player and one person gets to be the judge. The judge will share a card and you select from your cards the best match to that card. Once everyone has given their card to the judge, the judge decides which card best fits the card they shared.
The fun is in the variety of unexpected comparisons people make, sometimes apt, funny, creative, or simply absurd. For example: people might match “Awkward” with “Oil Spills,” “My First Kiss,” “Dandruff,” and “Gold Chains. ” Or: “Painful” with “High School Reunions” and “Regis Philben. ” Strategy comes into play since, because each player takes turns being the judge, you begin to pick up on the preferences of each player and tailor your choices accordingly.
Honestly, if you find yourself hosting a dinner party where you are worried about conversation or a family gathering that you don’t have very much in common with, this is the game to break out to get through those awkward silences. Kid versions of this game are also available. (Age Recommendations- 12 and up)
Skip-Bo– As I mentioned before, this was my favorite game growing up and my sister & I would play this for hours and hours. Created by the makers of UNO, this card game is a delight for anyone of all ages. The game is a sequencing game of skill and strategy intended for two players or more and ages seven and up. Players create sequential stacks with cards on the board, the first player to use all the cards in their stack wins. The deluxe edition has a board with placeholders for all of the stacks of cards and score sheets to keep tabs of the winners. I love this game because it is easy to still have conversations while playing, making it a great game to socialize with other couples.
Trouble– Trouble is a great game for younger kids because it is a very simple concept and the playing time is perfect for shorter attention spans. Adults may remember this great game from their childhood. With this game, you just move your four pegs around the board and put them into the finish spots. If you land on an opponents peg while going around the board though, you can boot them back to the beginning and make their piece start all over again. Instead of rolling dice, you push the “Pop-o-matic,” in the center which throws the dice for you. My kids really love this game and you will too! (Age Recommendations- Ages 4-9)

Giant Connect 4

Connect Four– Connect Four is one of our favorite games and both the kids really enjoy it. The game is a vertical version of tic-tac-toe. Each player has a color and you drop the pieces in and try to get four in a row. The other player can block your moves with their pieces and this is a great game for strategy building to see if you can outsmart your opponent. This is another game that is short and sweet so it is perfect for children with short attention spans or for a quick game before bedtime.
Rummikub– This is a game that my husband loved to play when he was growing up, and now he has me addicted to it too! The game is intended for ages eight and up and can be played with two or more players. With rules similar to gin rummy, Rummikub is a classic tile game that’s guaranteed to get at least a million kid-hours of use in any family. Players take 14 numbered tiles and try to get rid of them as fast as possible by creating runs (for example, 7-8-9) and sets (7-7-7). The link provided is for their deluxe edition (which we do not have). This deluxe edition is cleverly designed so that the four plastic tile racks fit together to form a carrying case for the game. Junior editions of this game are also available.

Scrabble– What is not to love about this game? Intended for two players or more and recommended for ages eight to ninety-nine, you can play this game for years with your children. The game has been improved with a swivel board (less stretching required!), raised holders to rest the tiles into, and a bag to store all of the tiles. This is one of my personal favorites and we play this a lot in our house. Don’t forget to purchase a copy of the Scrabble Dictionary and store it with your game board. Take some time to study some words and really beat your opponents! Want to see what Scrabble obsession looks like? Rent the movie, “Word Wars.” It is all about the Scrabble championships that are held and people who attempt to make a living from this sport. Junior editions of this game are also available.
Upwords– Along the same vein, this is another fabulous word puzzle game, but with a twist. You build words just like Scrabble, but you can build up and up (five letters high) to change words into new words. The more you stack, the more points you earn. I think it is more challenging than Scrabble, but the scoring is much easier to do. This game is for two players or more and recommended for ages eight and up. This game can be a powerful tool when your children are beginning to read because it can help teach them how to change words using different letters. Consider it a cheap version of “Hooked on Phonics” and a game that they can enjoy for years after they have learned to read!

Yahtzee– A classic game of dice that has been around since 1956 and is still played in millions of homes today. You can play alone (which I don’t think would be as much fun) or with more players. The ultimate in this game is to actually get Yahtzee or five of a kind. This game is so much fun and also a great teaching tool for children. Children can learn basic addition and subtraction, as well as sequential ordering.

Monopoly– I had never played this game until high school, and I can honestly say that my husband is always the winner, which is why we don’t play it as much! This game is a great teaching tool in money-management and in buying real estate. We have a couple of different versions of this game, but my favorite is the Dot Com Monopoly, which we purchased when Dot Coms were ruling the world. Few of the companies on the board exist anymore, which makes for interesting conversation and fond memories before the dot com bomb hit for computer nerds and geeks alike!
We have many more games in our collection and the last time I hit Goodwill, I picked up another stack of new ones. Our collection keeps growing and we hope to have a game collection that our kids will enjoy someday with their friends. In a day of technological bliss, game nights now seem “retro.” Why play on a board when you can just grab your game system or play a computer game online? I hope that board games will last the test of time because they can be an essential part of family bonding and creating a family night to remember!
What are your family’s favorite board games? Have you ever found any great ones at Goodwill that have become part of your family night? Please share here!