I saw this on Pinterest a while back and thought that it would be pretty simple to make.  What a great way to have an ongoing game of chess that is out of reach of little ones and “off the table” as it were.  Here is the original link that I pinned (notice the $299 price tag?) :

And here is what I did:

First I purchased a shadow box frame from Hobby Lobby that was 50% off, a $5 chess set from Target, and two lattice strips from Home Depot.

I had to break the glass in the front of the shadow box and then I cut a picture mat from a previous project to make the back of the shadow (inside) box.  Taking measurements of the king, the tallest piece, I cut the slats the width of the inside of the box and nailed them in spaced evenly (well, as evenly as possible for me) inside the box.

After some painting of the slats and squares (rectangles) with some paint I had lying around, here is the finished result:

It may not look as professional and polished as the one for $299, but it functions the same way at a grand total of $20.  I still have to make a marker to hang on the side so we will be able to tell who’s turn it is.  But, beyond that, I think it turned out great 🙂  What say you?