So now, being in a house instead of an apartment, we have more rooms to play with for decorating. Granted that's taking a while, but small steps. First, curtains, then smaller accent pieces, then actually making the place look 'adult,' or at least less collegiate. In doing so, I have realized we have a drastic shortage of clocks in this house. I'm one of those people who needs to know what time it is, so clocks are important. I learned that they rank after curtains in importance on my Essential Decorating To-Do list, so I had to start looking for some nice ones for the house. And of course, also some creative ones, which brings up this post. One of the things I love about this house is having space for a whole craft room. And of course, a craft room can't have a boring clock!
In doing all this looking around, I was torn between this idea, with the embroidery hoop and buttons, (which is a good idea for a craft room, isn't it?) and this one, with the sushi (which is just plain fun). I eventually went with the sushi one, as, believe it or not, I actually have these erasers!
And how might I have a set of erasers found typically in 100 Yen stores? When Anne visited Tokyo a few years ago, this was one of the souvenirs that she brought back for me. They have been languishing on my craft desk waiting for something to do. They are waaaay too cute for simply erasing, aren't they? But what exactly to do with them was the challenge. This clock was the perfect solution!
So, in addition to the cute erasers, I needed scrapbook paper, number stickers (you can see one of the fonts I was debating there below) and a clock I could easily dismantle. I found a basic one at Target for about 4 bucks (it's the cheapest wall clock they had). The stickers and the paper I had in my stash. The blue paper is in the same color family as my curtains in that room, as well as being a nice contrast to the colors of the sushi. I was very pleased with it :) I eventually decided on black numbers (not in the picture below) to match the hands and frame of the clock.
So, in addition to the cute erasers, I needed scrapbook paper, number stickers (you can see one of the fonts I was debating there below) and a clock I could easily dismantle. I found a basic one at Target for about 4 bucks (it's the cheapest wall clock they had). The stickers and the paper I had in my stash. The blue paper is in the same color family as my curtains in that room, as well as being a nice contrast to the colors of the sushi. I was very pleased with it :) I eventually decided on black numbers (not in the picture below) to match the hands and frame of the clock.
The plastic front of the clock just popped off, once I removed two screws on the back of the clock. I took off the clock hands too - another simple removal, just one screw.
Next step was cutting the scrapbook paper to fit the clock face and adding the number stickers. If you're lucky enough to have a clock face that comes out, you can use that to trace out your scrapbook paper circle. Mine was already glued in place on the clock, so I had to estimate a little. Ended up with a circle that's probably not quite as neat and even as it could be, but it'll never be noticed from a galloping horse - a common standard in my crafting projects. ;) Marking out the numbers, however, was easier. Use the original clock face as your starting point, and mark out the points on the circle for your numbers. Add stickers at your time points, leaving space for your erasers.
I glued the paper face in place with some Mod Podge (decoupage glue, for those non-crafty types) and added a few coats over the paper to help seal in the number stickers. Don't want them peeling up, after all! You can see the shininess from the glue in the picture below. Make sure when you're gluing the paper and numbers in, that your numbers line up with how the clock will hang - check the back of the clock! I had to reposition my numbers once or twice, as I had lined up 2 o'clock with the straight-up position. So, unless you really want that extra bit of quirkiness, check before you let your glue dry! I'm so glad I caught it!!
Once the Mod Podge was all dry, I hot-glued the erasers in place. If you have more or fewer erasers, you can position them where you want. I had 4, so they are at the quarter-hour marks. To make the erasers fit under the plastic clock front, I did have to trim a little off the underside of each piece. An exacto-knife worked just fine, no fancy equipment needed - these are just soft erasers, after all. Check with your erasers and your clock, to ensure that you can still reassemble the clock after the erasers are in place. I also added a bit of hot glue on the erasers that come apart (the three sushi at 12, 3 and 6 are all 2-piece erasers and can separate). Just a little extra security keeping everything in place.
Let everything dry completely, then reassemble the clock! And you are done!
One extra step I did have to take, and you might have to as well, is that the hands on the clock needed to be trimmed a little. They were so long, they would have caught on the 3-D erasers, instead of passing over them as they swung by. My clock hands were simple light plastic, so regular scissors did the job. I trimmed the hands into little points, to make it a bit more decorative, but you can cut them however you want. Just make sure that you still keep the relative lengths appropriate - hour hand short, minute hand long :)
Let everything dry completely, then reassemble the clock! And you are done!
One extra step I did have to take, and you might have to as well, is that the hands on the clock needed to be trimmed a little. They were so long, they would have caught on the 3-D erasers, instead of passing over them as they swung by. My clock hands were simple light plastic, so regular scissors did the job. I trimmed the hands into little points, to make it a bit more decorative, but you can cut them however you want. Just make sure that you still keep the relative lengths appropriate - hour hand short, minute hand long :)
Ta-da! All done! Isn't it the cutest!? And here it is, at home on my craft room wall :)
No comments:
Post a Comment