5 Steps to Create an Awesome Sandglass Time Out Stool

Disciplining children is one of the most challenging parts of being a parent. As any parent knows, it’s a fine line between trying to teach them a behavioral lesson and making them feel that they’re being shamed.

This idea is a great help for parents — the sandglass time-out stool! We think it’s a much more positive approach than making a child go to their room or face the wall. You can tell them to behave quietly on the chair for, say, five or ten minutes, and you can properly discuss the matter at hand at the same time.

And as a bonus, it’s a great decorative furniture feature for the kids’ room or anywhere else in your home — a good weekend DIY project!

What do you think?

What you”ll need to make a sandglass time out of a stool…

Materials:

• 2 empty clear Soda Bottles
• 12″ Wood/MDF Circles
• 14″ Legs
• 2″ Wood Doll Head
• Spray Paint
• Washer
• Clear Silicone
• Sealant
• Clear Glossy Finish Spray Paint (optional)
• Pen/Marker
• White Sand/Salt
• E6000 Glue

Tools:

• Router Bit
• Wood Clamps
• Drill
• Saw
• Measuring Tape
• Scissors
• Sander

How to make a sandglass time out of a stool

1. Prepare the stool

With the use of an MDF board, drill a small hole at the center of the wood doll head. Use a 1” drill bit. You can use the top of a soda bottle as a pattern. Sand out the inside to make it smooth and fit. 

Using a router, we can create an indentation in the MDF circle to allow the soda bottle to sit snugly against the edges.  You can skip this step if you don’t have a router, but it just ensures salt won’t leak.

2. Paint the MDF boards

To have beautifully painted wood, don’t forget to apply two coats.

You can also do a clear coat of spray paint or some polyurethane to give it a nice shiny finish.

3. Drill holes

Next, we predrilled holes for the screws so that the screws would go in straight and there would be less chance of the wood splitting.

To prevent the screw head from poking out of the circle, cut a cone-shaped piece out of the MDF. Ensure both circles have evenly distributed holes for the legs by putting the two circles together and drilling all the way through them.

In addition, we drilled holes at the top and bottom of the wooden legs so they would be properly screwed in.

4. Make the sandglass

To make the hourglass with the use of recycled plastic soda bottles, measure the height of the hourglass. Cut the soda bottles.

If you don’t want your sand timer to last too long, play with the length of the washer before gluing it on. You might want to drill a larger hole into the top of the washer to make sure you have the correct amount of sand in your timer and sufficient sand to make it aesthetically attractive.  

5. Assemble them all together

Glue the washer onto the soda bottle top. You can add either sand or salt to the timer. In this project, we used salt to highlight the white color in the plastic soda bottle on the side without the washer. Now you can add the clear silicone to the soda bottle. Also, add it on the other side.

Attach the wooden doll head and both sides together.  Ensure that all the corners are securely sealed to avoid the sand getting out. Then, add the wood filler on top of the concave screws. To flatten it, scrape the excess off with any card or similar object.

Finally, you have finished your DIY sandglass time-out stool. You can have this used for your kid or it can be displayed in your living area.

Click on any image to start the lightbox display. Use your Esc key to close the lightbox.

You can get full step-by-step instructions from Christine Peterson over at Christiney’s Crafts!

If you liked this project, you might also like to view Craft supplies storage stool…