Here's an easy way to make your own clock! I absolutely adore clocks, but the ones I like the most tend to be too pricey {which is probably because I like really big clocks!}.
I was searching around the Internet to see if there were other examples of DIY clocks but alas, I was left disappointed. There really aren't very many tutorials in Cyberland on how to make your own clock. I only found a few on CraftGawker, but they weren't to my liking. So I figured out a way to make my own, and I'd love to share step-by-step instructions with you on how I made mine!
What I used...
~ Frame of any size {I used a 16"x19" frame from my dad's house. You can even buy cheap picture or art frames from Goodwill or Salvation Army. DO NOT BUY A BRAND NEW ONE! Save your money.}
~ Sandpaper {I used 180 grit}
~ Kilz spray primer
~ Spray paint {Krylon is an awesome brand}
~ Clock Kit {I bought my 3/8" kit from JoAnn's}
~ Mod Podge
Optional Items: Card stock, acrylic paint, stencils
What I did...
{1} Select frame. I took that picture of our family dog in high school so I'm going to save that!
{2} Sand down the frame, but ONLY if you don't like the way it looks! If you want to keep the frame as it is, skip down to Step {5}, you lucky dog, you! This was an absolute pain for me to sand because this beast had so much detailing to sand around! Wipe the frame down with a slightly damp rag and let it dry.
{3} Primer the frame by spraying multiple coats of Kilz. Make sure to wait for each coat to dry before spraying your next coat. This step can actually be optional as well, I just like to have a nice bright white base for my top color to stand out beautifully. If you would rather stain and Polyacrylic your wood after sanding, then you definitely shouldn't primer.
{4} Spray paint your frame. This one took several coats because it's such a light color but I absolutely adore how bright and happy it looks! Just lovely!
{5} I taped a stencil to the sheet I wanted for my clock face with painter's tape and then started painting with a gorgeous subtle silver acrylic paint. I globbed the paint on and wasn't going for a perfection at all, especially after I smeared the paint after pulling the stencil off {I bet you can't see it though!} I was thoroughly thrilled with the result.
{6} Poke a hole where your clock kit will go. I used a screwdriver to poke a hole through the cardboard that came in the frame and my painted {but now dry!} stenciled clock face sheet.
{7} Grab your clock kit!
{8} Follow the kit's instructions for installing it into the hole you made.
{9} The clock hands that came in the kit were way too short for the size of my clock, so I had to improvise a little bit by cutting longer hands out of cardstock and gluing them on with Mod Podge to the hour and minute hands from the kit.
{10} I cut out my clock numbers from the same cardstock after stenciling them backwards {so the pencil lines don't show on the front!}. Glue the numbers on with Mod Podge. I also used a flower punch in the cardstock for the remaining clock numbers.
Now I can see how late the time is getting when I'm busy crafting in the craft room!
What do you think? If you make your own clock, I would really love it if you shared with me!
