I followed Ana White's instructions to a tee and things turned out great! I chose a dark brown wood stain and used an exterior Helmsman Spar Urethane for protection. Because the sandbox will always be outdoors, I ended up putting 5 layers of urethane on it.
I also attached a tarp (not seen in the pictures) to the bottom to hold the sand in. This way the sandbox can be dragged if you want to move it's location.
Estimated Cost
I bought all of my wood from Home Depot, as well as the wood screws, brushes, stain and spar urethane, so it ended up being a little bit more than I expected. All in all, it was around $125, but it could definitely be made cheaper if you have wood already on hand or the screws, brushes, stain, and urethane readily available.
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate