Ikea Hack – DIY Glitter Clock

Dear Auntie Moonbeam

You know what’s a great sound?  A clock ticking gently in the other room.  Especially in the middle of the night when the cacophony of the city falls away – phones, traffic, airplanes – and all that’s left is the persistent tick tock of a proper clock.  It’s a far more comforting sound than the faint buzz of the digital devices that litter our lives!

I wish I could say my reasons for making this clock were as poetic as all that but the truth is I have girly fascination with sparkly things and hot pink. The resulting romantic sound was a happy by-product!

You might have already spotted this clock on my art wall.  Today we’re going behind the scenes to see where it came from!

Materials:

It began with a door from an Ikea cabinet.  I got this for five whole dollars in the as-is section because it had two holes drilled through the top.  The holes weren’t exactly what I wanted but I loved the glossy white surface.

I also collected one little container of powder glitter, restickable glue (the same glue used in mounting my paint chip art), rubber cement and a clock kit.

Construction:

To begin I found a picture of a clock online that had the approximate numerical font I was after – something scientific with no excessive curlicues. I like the juxtaposition of the schoolhouse letters and hot pink glitter.

I printed out the clock on regular stock paper and cut out the numbers with an exacto knife.  Then I used the restickable glue to secure the paper to the face of the door.

I lightly coated the space left by the cut-out letters with a thin layer of rubber cement.  On top of the rubber cement I drizzled the glitter powder.

Also, don’t forget to use this time to mark the centre point of the clock.  You’ll need that mark when you go to install the clock mechanism.  I cut through the paper and added a small dab of glitter.

Here’s where I’m going to point out the one mistake I made for this project – although I kinda think it’s unavoidable.  Because I used something sticky on the door it left a slight residue.  And glitter needs only the suggestion of stickiness to adhere.  I spent for-freakin-ever individually scraping tiny specks of glitter off the clock face…..

Finishing:

Unfortunately I didn’t take great pictures of the installing the clock hands.  It was from a kit I got at Micheals and was pretty foolproof.  The only thing to note is that the depth of the cabinet door was much thicker than a typical clock face substrate.  Initially the post for the clock hands wouldn’t stick out far enough past the face of the clock to allow room for the hands to be secured.  I solved this by using a wood chisel to create a groove in the back of the panel.  This recessed the clock power box into the panel and thusly the post stuck out further.

After I had the clock assembled and ticking away I knew I had to do something to cover up the holes.  I toyed around with many different ideas but in the end I decided to use some leftover molding.  It was a simple fast solution and with a coat of glossy white paint looked downright intentional!

Sure some of the glitter has worn off. And the final product ain’t perfect. When the sun hits it just right – man, how it sparkles!

Linking up to Craft With What You’ve Got #4

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