Under $25 Sand"box"

Remember how much fun it was for us to have a trampoline?

Well, on a crazy 90mph south windy day, this happened...and yes, I cried...and yes we had ground anchors on it.

So it started my quest to find something for Eli to play outside without spending a TON of money. Well, news flash, outside toys are expensive. We got a really good deal on our trampoline on Black Friday, so purchasing another one right now just wasn't in the bank. So I started looking at sand boxes and they are all around $70. There were some that were cheaper, but they didn't have lids and I don't want my son playing with cat poop. $70 is pretty steep and I'm not good at going to garage sales in search of such things, so I improvised.

45" round pool ($8.88), 6' x 8' medium duty tarp ($3.98), Babyville Boutique fold over elastic ($5.08, it was for 2 so technically I only used $2.54 and I already had it on hand. You might be able to purchase elastic for cheaper somewhere else).

I started by tracing around the pool with a sharpie marker.

Here's the traced circle. Then I used a ruler to measure out 6" from that circle in order to go over the lip of the pool.

Then that's where I cut.

Then I used this glue that I already had...and it didn't work. You'll see...

I folded in about half-way all around the circle...

And as you can already see, the glue isn't working...

So I had the genius idea to use clothes pins to really seal it...that didn't work either.

So I ended up hand-sewing the tabs down using a heavy (or heavier than normal thread) upholstery thread that I already had. This was a little time-consuming- I think it took a nap-time for me to sew all the way around.

Then we added 3 bags of play sand ($6)...I think he approves.

And here it is complete!