Let me tell you about a bandwagon you need to jump on asap – Giant Jenga! After playing a couple of rounds at Good People Brewing Company in Birmingham, I created a set for my dad’s birthday (with lots of help from my grandmother). And it proved to be a crowd favorite when a bunch of family came to visit for a weekend in June.

I credit my grandmother for constructing the wooden blocks. When the idea came to me, I faced the set back of not having access to power tools. I knew that if I had a circular saw, the project could come together quickly. When my grandmother heard about my dilemma, she offered up the services of the woodworking shop where she lives, and before I knew it, she had turned my idea into a reality.

Since I didn’t cut the blocks myself, I’m a little vague on a few details, but for the most part, the guys at the woodworking shop used my original instructions:

First, my grandma purchased 2x4x10 pieces of wood. (I believed she purchased white pine, but I could be making that up.) Then, using a circular saw, they cut the wood until 10.5-inch long pieces. Once cut, they sanded the edges, which my grandma said was a pretty laborious step.

They made 72 pieces, so when stacked in rows of 3, the set would be 24 blocks high.

I went back and forth about painting the blocks. (I saw one idea on Pinterest that only painted the ends. Then by creating a corresponding wood dice, it created another version to play the classic game.) But in the end, I decided I liked the look of the untreated wood.

Trust me, this game is a crowd favorite. It’s fun to join into the games’ strategy, and it’s hilarious to watch the huge tower come tumbling down.