DIY clock

Making a clock out of a picture frame, genius! At least that is what I thought when I saw this great tutorial.

Ingredients:

• Picture Frame - I got one at Goodwill for $3
• Clock Mechanism - $7 at Michael's
• Spray Paint - Any color. I used Rustoleum Bronze Metallic
• Paper & Scissors - Or someway to cut out numbers for your clock

I loved this idea at once and went to get the necessary items. I knew I wanted to get a cheap, old frame from Goodwill, but that week they did not have anything I liked. Bummer. But I found a fun frame this week so I am in business. Luckily I still had spray paint from my DIY Dresser Tutorial. Then all I needed was a clock mechanism. They had several to choose from at Michael's. I did not need one with numbers because I would make them myself, and they are cheap looking anyway.

1. Sand the frame.

You want to sand it really well so the paint will stick. This took me about half an hour. I put a sheet down because it made a mess. I would have done it outside but the Portland winter has begun and I prefer to stay warm and dry.

2. Wipe down the frame with a damp cloth. This removes all the dust that you just made sanding.

3. Spray painting is a no no inside, so I took my crafting outside. Luckily I have a covered porch (Yay!) so I did not have to wait until next spring. I did not bother with priming it because it will not be messed with after it is hung on the wall. It did take a couple coats of bronze to cover up the deep forest green.

First coat. You can still see so much green!

Second coat. Looks a little better.

Third coat! Looks amazing now. I definitely hosed this thing down with paint to make sure it was covered.

The can says to let it dry for 30 minutes, based on 70 degree F weather, so I decided to double that since it was probably around 60 degrees and raining. While waiting for this to dry I worked on the clock face.

First I decided on a color scheme and the paper I wanted to use. I have this beautiful leaf cardstock that I knew would look amazing on the clock.

Make sure to find paper that looks good with the frame!

Then I cut out the numbers. I have a Cricut Machine which is this amazing contraption that cuts paper for you! I recommend it to anyone.

As usual I made the project harder than it needed to be. I wanted the leaves on the cardstock, but not the brown background. So, I went to work cutting out leaves. I used an x-acto knife for this as it was so detailed.

Next I had to put a hole in the center for the clock mechanism to go through. I wanted to do this now before I put the decorations on the paper, just in case I ripped it badly and had to start over. I measured the paper to find the very center (do this on the back). Then I took the washer and traced the inner circle on the paper. Using the x-acto knife I cut out the circle. I did this to the background paper and the cardboard backing.

To attach the leaves you could use a normal glue stick, but I have something much better. It is called a sticker creator. You feed the paper into the front, turn the handle, and out pops your paper with stick-em on the back. genius! For the bigger pieces I used a glue pen.

Gluing everything on was the best part of this project. I finally got to see these cute leaves in action!

The clock mechanism came with no instructions; lucky me. It was pretty easy to figure out on my own though. First I stuck the main mechanism through the center hole. Then I attached the first hand.

Then the second, followed by a tiny screw.

And finally the last hand which just pops in on top.

I added the last few embellishments and it is done!