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Home » Recycled Crafts » The Easiest DIY Sandbox

The Easiest DIY Sandbox

April 15, 2015 By Jamie Dorobek 46 Comments

Note: This post is sponsored by Discount Tire, as always, all opinions are my own.

In honor of Earth Day (April 22) I’m sharing a DIY sandbox made with a recycled tire and a door knob. This project is also a check off of the ol’ to do list. (Maxwell needed a sandbox.) This was also one of those if you give a mouse a cookie projects that inspired us to get our backyard well, usable. And more kid friendly. (We did this project at the same time we did the vertical planter and rocks!)

DIY tire sandbox

Here’s what you need to make a sandbox:

  • A tire (Mine is 22 inch in diameter.)
  • Treated plywood (Assuming your sandbox will be out in the elements.)
  • A circular saw
  • Drill and screws
  • A compass (Or my DIY version that includes a thumb tack, sting, and pencil.)
  • Door knob (We had an old one hanging out in our garage.)
  • Chalkboard paint
  • Chalk
  • Sandbox sand
  • Dremel (to cut off part of the door knob.)

First, determine how big of a circle you need for the base of your sandbox by measuring the tire’s diameter. Then, draw the right size circle onto your wood and cut it out with the saw. The DIY compass is super simple. Just measure a piece of string 2 inches longer than you actually need it and tie one end to the thumbtack and one end to the pencil. Voila.

DIY tire sandbox

 

After you circle is cut, you will need to sand the edges down to make it smooth. Oh and make sure your circle fits on the bottom nicely!

 

 

DIY tire sandbox

 

Next, drill in screws every inch or two. Andy drilled in screws about every inch. (I don’t think that’s necessary!)

DIY sandbox

After the bottom is cut out, you will need to do the same thing for the top of the sandbox. You can skip this step if your sandbox is under cover. But, we have a lot of stray cats that hang out in our backyard so we are attempting to avoid our sandbox turning into a litter box. Andy used the Dremel to cut the 2 long prongs off of the door knob so that he could attach it to the top of the sandbox.

DIY sandbox

After you sand and paint the top of your sandbox with chalkboard paint, just screw in the door knob! Check out this post if you need deets about painting and conditioning chalkboard paint.

DIY sandbox

And here’s what Max thinks about the sandbox. Just a little sand between the fingers and the toes. He’s obsessed. (At least for now, ha!)

DIY tire sandboxIf you’re looking for more ways to up-cycle a tire, here are 22 more awesome ideas!

 

Filed Under: Recycled Crafts

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Comments

  1. Jenni Fer says

    May 12, 2015 at 9:39 am

    No yard? I remember my mom filled a huge (but kinda shallow) plastic tub with mixed, uncooked BEANS! We LOVED it! Sorting, filling, pouring, sifting, running threw our fingers… THANK YOU for bringing those good memories back!

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      May 12, 2015 at 10:47 am

      How fun is that?!

      Reply
  2. Theresa @DearCreatives says

    May 7, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    Thanks for sharing at the Inspiration Spotlight party! Pinned, shared. Hope to see you again soon. Great project for this summer for the kids. Thanks for the tutorial.

    Reply
  3. Cathy says

    May 6, 2015 at 11:48 am

    What a great use of recycled items. Love the cover for your tire sandbox. So cute. Thank you for sharing at Share It One More Time. Cathy

    Reply
  4. Lauren @ Mom Home Guide says

    May 5, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Such a cute idea! I love it!

    Reply
  5. Katherines Corner says

    May 3, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    great recycle project too. love it. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop xo

    Reply
  6. Mrs. AOK says

    May 3, 2015 at 8:23 am

    This is such a cool idea! Thanks for sharing with us at Mommy Monday!!
    XOXO

    Reply
  7. Tania says

    May 3, 2015 at 8:14 am

    This is so cute! At first I thought “how is that big enough?” but after seeing him sitting in it I can see it’s perfect! It would be cute to paint the tire a color too, I have two old tires that I painted and stacked on top of each other and then put a piece of glass on the top for an outdoor side table.

    Tania

    Reply
  8. Kimberly says

    May 2, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    Cute idea Looks so good. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7, we can’t wait to party with you! Lou Lou Girls

    Reply
  9. Creatively Homespun says

    May 2, 2015 at 9:26 am

    This is a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing at the frugal crafty home linkup!

    Reply
  10. Echo says

    May 2, 2015 at 9:20 am

    This is such a cool idea! I love it. Thank you for sharing this at the #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup!

    Reply
  11. Nancy says

    May 1, 2015 at 5:45 am

    LOL, Sandbox made of tire!!! Okay, awesome, and #pinned, #turnituptuesday

    Reply
  12. Jenna says

    May 1, 2015 at 5:44 am

    This is such an amazing idea! It’s perfect size for our campsite….I’ll be putting our handy guy to work this weekend when we open our camper. Love it!

    Reply
  13. Vanessa says

    April 30, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    I love this post! This is such a creative post and great use of cardboard materials! Thank you for linking up on “A Little Bird Told Me” Wednesday link up party! You have been featured on Mama’s Happy Hive blog.

    Reply
    • Vanessa says

      April 30, 2015 at 7:40 pm

      Oops! I meant to say a great use of recycled materials! 🙂 This is a wonderful way to use an old tire.

      Reply
  14. Bonnie says

    April 30, 2015 at 1:56 pm

    This might just be the cutest sandbox ever! What a great way to upcycle a tire.
    ~Bonnie

    Reply
    • Jamie Dorobek says

      April 30, 2015 at 2:04 pm

      Thank you! xo

      Reply
  15. Timisha says

    April 30, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    This is so cute! Great idea.

    Reply
  16. Kristina & Millie says

    April 29, 2015 at 8:03 pm

    So creative! I love this idea. I think my kiddies are a little big now, maybe a tractor tire for them, haha. Thanks for linking up to Snickerdoodle Sunday!

    Reply
  17. Diane says

    April 28, 2015 at 11:59 pm

    What a cute sandbox idea!
    Thanks so much for linking up at #Purebloglove link party! The party starts every Thursday night at 8 p.m. est! It runs through the week end. I’m hosting at http://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com. Can’t wait to see what you bring next Thursday. We love your ideas!

    Reply
  18. [email protected] Crafty says

    April 28, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    Hi Jamie! Great idea! (And I love how you used your chalkboard to title your project instead of a graphic!) Thanks for linking up at The Handmade Hangout!

    Reply
  19. Sarah R. says

    April 27, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Fantastic! Heck, you could make an entirely tire-themed playground with tire swings, etc. Appreciate you bringing these to our Snickerdoodle Sunday link party and I hope you come back this weekend!

    Sarah (Sadie Seasongoods)

    Reply
  20. All that's Jas says

    April 26, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    Great idea! So creative! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things. I hope you will join us again this Thursday!

    Reply
  21. Kyla @HouseOfHipsters says

    April 24, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    This is tooooo cute! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  22. Ann Marie @ white house black shutters says

    April 22, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    This is SO cute, Jamie!

    Reply
  23. [email protected] says

    April 22, 2015 at 9:13 am

    Super Cute!

    Reply
  24. Natali McKee says

    April 21, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    I see old tires all the time. This is a great idea for my Preschool!

    Reply
  25. Melissa French, The More With Less Mom says

    April 20, 2015 at 10:44 pm

    This is such a great idea! Thanks for posting. Hello from Tutorials & Tips Link Party.

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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