Upcycled Tic-Tac-Toe

This month I took on the THE “CENT-SATIONAL SALVAGE” CHALLENGE. In the challenge I'm tasked with transforming a common item found at my local Habitat for Humanity Restore center into something "cent-sational." And I couldn't spend more than $15. April's featured building materials are kitchen utensils. Upcycling is a passion of mine and I had fun with this challenge. I was able to allow my creative juices to flow. While out shopping my my Restore Center I found these gems for $3! Yea Baby! I knew immediately I wanted to make a board game. Cutting board...board game, it just made logical sense ;).

I thought I'd get in there and bend and twist the forks and spoons I found. Yea, that didn't work.
One, the higher the quality of the fork or spoon the harder it is to bend much less break. Two, it was just too big for the cutting board that I picked up. Darn!

But then I remembered, I had some disposable appetizer forks and spoons I used for a previous dinner party.

Ok, Now where cooking!

First, using a medium grade sand paper I sanded and prepped the cutting board.
Once sanded, I applied a pecan color stain followed by shellac.

Once the board was dry I outlined the tic tac toe game with tape.
To add a little more visual interest to the board, I took some alphabet sticker letters and outlined Tic-Tac-Toe. Then I painted the cutting board using one color within the game and the other outside the game.

The game pieces are forks and spoons. To add visual interest to the forks and spoons I dipped both the forks and spoons in complementary paint and placed ondisposable plate to dry.

Once the paint was dry I removed the tape and stickers.
I then dipped the forks and spoons into the opposing color to make two-toned game pieces. Using a gold leafing pen I outlined the game board providing golden highlights.

As a final touch I accented the handle with a piece of ribbon.

Now it's time to play. Have fun and know that when you think outside of the box the world looks different. Embrace it and embrace what you've created. One man's trash is another's treasure.

For more information on ToolBox Divas and projects like this click HERE.