Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 2: Making an hourglass
• Part 2 of 2: Improving the hourglass
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need
• Making an hourglass
• Improving the hourglass

An hourglass can be useful in many cases when you need to count a short interval of time: for a short speech, quick meditation, holding your breath, a short phone call, a break while studying with your child, and so on. It is interesting to make such watches with your own hands, they are easy to make, and they can be used in a variety of situations.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Making an hourglass

1. 1 Find two clean plastic bottles that are the same size and shape. The lower the bottles are, the more stable your watch will be. Better to use pear-shaped bottles, such as Orange lemonade.
   • Remove all labels from the bottles. Use soap and water to remove the stickers from the bottles. Then wipe the bottles with rubbing alcohol.
2. 2 Remove the caps from the bottles, glue them together and wait for the glue to dry. Apply glue to the edges of the first lid. Be careful not to get glue in the center of the lid, otherwise you will not be able to punch a hole in it. Then press the second cover against it. Make sure that the covers are firmly glued in flat areas. As a result, only the inner surfaces of the covers will remain visible.
   • Use a strong adhesive such as superglue or epoxy. Regular paper glue or hot glue is not strong enough.
3. 3 Punch a hole in the center of the lids that are glued together. This can be done with an electric drill or a nail and hammer. Experiment with the diameter of the hole. The larger the hole, the faster the sand will pour through it.With a smaller hole diameter, the sand will pour out more slowly.
   • If you are a child, ask an adult to help you make the hole.
   • Some covers have a plastic disc inside. In this case, it will be more difficult to make the hole. Pierce the disc with a screwdriver before drilling the hole.
4. 4 Place the cap on the first bottle and screw it back on as you normally would. The only difference is that there is a second cover glued to the top of this cover - ignore that for now.
5. 5 Check that the sand you are using is dry. If you take wet sand, it will get stuck in the neck of the bottle. Even if you purchased sand from a store, it is better to pour it onto a baking sheet and set it in the sun for one hour.
   • Try colored sand. You can purchase it at a craft store or a kids' store.
   • Add some small glitter to the sand to give it a more colorful look. Simple sand with gold glitter will look pretty impressive. You can also use white sand and rainbow sequins.
6. 6 Take a second bottle and fill it with sand. If you don't care how long the sand will take in your watch, fill the bottle two-thirds full. If you want your watch to count down a certain interval of time, use a stopwatch when filling up the sand. For example:
   • If you want the hourglass to count down exactly 1 minute, add sand to the bottle for 1 minute.
7. 7 Screw the empty bottle onto the sand bottle. Place the sand bottle on the table. Take an empty bottle and turn it upside down. Align the cap with the neck of the sand bottle. Screw the cap tightly onto the sand bottle.
8. 8 Experience the hourglass. Flip them over so the sand bottle is on top. After that, the sand will start pouring into the bottom bottle. If you want to know what time interval the hourglass is counting down, start the stopwatch and stop it as soon as all the sand is poured into the bottom bottle.
   • Be careful when handling the hourglass. Remember that you have attached the lids with glue, and if handled carelessly, they can come off each other. Take the hourglass by the bottleneck (neck).
9. 9 If any changes are needed, make them after all the sand has been poured into the bottom bottle. Place the sand bottle on the table and unscrew the caps. If the sand does not flow smoothly enough, enlarge the hole. If the bottom bottle takes too long to fill, reduce the amount of sand. If the sand spills out too quickly, add some sand. After the necessary changes, reassemble the watch and screw the caps on the bottles.
10. 10 Wrap tape around the junction of the bottles. After you adjust the time interval, secure the bottles more securely. Take some duct tape (tape) and wrap it tightly around the joint. Start at the neck of the bottom bottle, work through the seam and finish at the neck of the top bottle. Apply multiple layers of duct tape for added security.
11. 11 Use an hourglass. Place them on a flat surface with the empty bottle at the bottom. After a certain time, all the sand is poured into the lower bottle. If you want to count down this time interval again, turn the clock over.

Part 2 of 2: Improving the hourglass

1. 1 Draw two large squares on a piece of cardboard. The side of the squares should be about 2.5 centimeters longer than the diameter of the bottom of the bottle. Use a ruler to make the squares even.
2. 2 Use scissors or a cutting knife to cut the squares out of the cardboard. If you are a child, ask an adult to help you.
3. 3 Find four wooden rods that are the same height as your hourglass. If the pins are longer, cut them off. If you do not have such rods on hand, glue three wooden skewers (skewers) together, and you will have one rod of the required thickness.For four rods, you need 12 skewers.
4. 4 Paint the cardboard and rods and wait for the paint to dry. Use acrylic or spray paint. You can use one or several different colored paints. Do not miss the edges of the cardboard squares when painting.
5. 5 Glue one cardboard square to the bottom of each bottle and wait for the glue to dry. Lubricate the bottom of the hourglass with glue and press it against the center of the cardboard square. Then apply glue to the top edge of the watch (bottom of the top bottle) and press the second cardboard square against it.
   • Any thick glue is suitable for this: paper glue, wood glue, hot glue or epoxy glue.
6. 6 Fasten wooden rods between the cardboard squares. Take a stick and apply a drop of glue to the tip, then press it against the corner of the bottom cardboard square. Then apply a drop of glue to the other end of the rod and slide it under the top square. Make sure that the rod remains straight. Do the same for the other three rods.
7. 7 Decorate your hourglass. You can leave the hourglass as it is, or you can decorate it additionally. There are several ways to do this:
   • Wrap colored ribbons around the wooden rods.
   • Cover the edges of the cardboard coasters with glitter glue.
   • Take glitter glue and apply patterns to cardboard coasters with it. Wait for the glue to dry before moving on to the next surface.
   • Cover the wooden rods with colored glass.
   • Decorate the cardboard coasters with glowing stickers.

Tips

• If you want to increase the time interval, use larger bottles and fill them with more sand. You can also make a smaller hole in the lids.
• Try making an hourglass with glass bottles and a cork stopper to hold them together. Drill a through hole in the plug first.
• To make a larger hourglass, take two 2 liter plastic bottles, cut off the top tapered portions and glue them onto discs or cardboard squares. After that, pour sand into the bottom half and connect the parts of the bottles as described in this article.

Warnings

• Be careful when piercing the caps. If you are a child, ask an adult to help you. If you are an adult, it is recommended that you wear heavy gloves to protect your fingers.

What do you need

Making an hourglass

• 2 clean plastic bottles of the same size
• Dry sand
• Sequins (optional)
• Strong adhesive
• Nail and hammer or drill
• Scotch tape (or other strong adhesive tape)
• Stopwatch

Improving the hourglass

• Cardboard
• Small wooden rods
• Cardboard scissors
• Acrylic paint
• Glue
• Sequins, stickers, colored glass, ribbons, and the like (optional)