Project: wall clock

I get a great sense of accomplishment when I come up with an idea, execute it, and have success. Hence why I like projects. One of the things that I like to do is take normal things and use them for something else. Does that sound too much like Martha Stewart? Please say no. This has stemmed mainly from being astounded at how much inanimate objects costs.

We moved into an apartment a few months ago and, like most modern apartments, everything is slightly white. Not 100% white. I'm not even sure that exists anymore. Maybe it's morning mist or silver cloud or angel's kiss. But between the walls, ceiling, tile and carpet, it's very bland. So we need some something.

One large space in particular is in our dining area. It looks like this. I started one project to put on this wall but it ended up looking like crap so I pulled it down and started brainstorming again. One idea was a clock. I love large clocks but they tend to be expensive. So, as with most things that I think are too expensive, I try to find a way to do it myself. I did some internet researching and found a clock kit for a clock that mounts directly onto the wall. I've been looking for one of these for a very long time and finally found one big enough!

The process was as follows:

We pulled out the kit and made sure we had everything we needed. The numbers that came with it are black and boring. I decided to either paint on numbers myself or make my own. I ended up using the existing black numbers and traced them onto that scrapbook paper, cut them out and glued them onto the numbers.

After I got the numbers cut out and glued, Jericho did all the measuring to make sure it would be symmetrical and look like a clock. He is the engineering mind and I am the creative mind. It would have taken me all day to measure all those lines.

We put the numbers up first before the hands. Spacing these numbers was much harder than I thought it would be. We used the lines that we drew as general guides but ended up having to put Jericho across the room to eye-ball it.

And so, our boring, blank wall now looks like this! Yay! Now when we're eating and we need to know what time it is, we don't have to stretch to look at the clock on the stove! The best part is that it works. The clock kit was only about $20 so the mechanism isn't exactly top quality. We continue to rejoice throughout the day when we check the giant clock and the time is still correct.