Upcycle Tile to Resin Coated Chess Board

Hello resin crafters! Today I am excited to share this fun upcycle project with you. In our home we have a nice glass chess set but I am constantly worried about my kids breaking it (because, let’s be real, they are the reason I can’t have nice things.) To fix this problem I wanted to create a new one that they could play on that would be much more sturdy and they could take it to play anywhere in the house. We have an excess supply of tile from when our bathroom was tiled and it occurred to me the other day that it would be the perfect size to make a chess board!

In this post I am going to share how I upcycled an old tile and turned it into a Resin Coated Chess Board. Next month I will show you how you can duplicate all the pieces and make them any colors that you want, so stay tuned for that project in a couple weeks. Here’s how I made this chess board:

Upcycle Tile to Resin Coated Chess Board

SUPPLIES:

• An old 12″x 12″ tile
• Stencil for chess board (You could also create your own with tape. I used a vinyl cutting machine.)
• Paint and paint brush
• Envirotex Lite Pour On Epoxy
• Disposable measuring cups and stir sticks (2)
• Vinyl Gloves
• Disposable work surface (I used cardboard box)
• Micro-Butane Torch
• Cork pieces for bottom
• Super glue

Step One: Paint Tile

Place your stencil onto your tile and paint it with your chosen paint. I went with a gray paint that matched my tile.

Peel your stencil away from the tile once the paint is dry.

Step Two: Resin

Gather your supplies for the resin portion of the project. You want to have everything close at hand.

Put on your gloves and begin with the Envirotex Lite mixing. Pour 3 oz. of Part A into a disposable measuring cup.

Pour the same amount, 3 oz., of Part B into the cup.

Mix thoroughly with a wooden mixing stick. Stir until the mixture is clear, not cloudy.

Pour the mixture into the second cup and mix again.

This is called the two-cup method and is important to ensure that the entire amount is completely mixed.

Place your tile over an old cardboard box or some other disposable work surface that will catch any excess resin. As you can see, I’ve used my box for a couple resin pour projects so it has colorful resin in the bottom of it.

Pour the resin onto the painted tile.

I like to be sure to pour some toward the corners to make it easy to cover the entire tile. You may need to tip the tile slightly to get it to the edges.

Make sure you completely coat the entire tile, like so.

Use your micro-butane torch to pop all the bubbles. Quickly run it over the surface but be sure not to leave it for long because it can burn the resin.

Now that all the bubbles are gone, it’s a beautiful glass-like surface! Make sure it is in a warm and dust-free area and let it cure for 24 hours.

Super glue cork stoppers to the bottom so that it raises to tile off of a table surface making it easier to play anywhere but also preventing scratching any table.

Finished!

And there you have it! A beautiful, shiny, glass-like chess board that can be moved and played anywhere.

See how perfect and shiny that surface is? I just love it.

Place it on your game table and get ready for an epic chess battle. Just as soon as you create the pieces…I’ll have the full tutorial for duplicating chess pieces next month to add to this board! What colors would you use for each player? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you like this tutorial! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or ideas for the color of the pieces.

I’d also love it if you’d share this on Pinterest so you don’t lose it (and others can see it!)

Thanks again for reading!

–Sheri