Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Make A Clock

This week I was actually inspired by a request from Clara, which came by way of John’s mom. She was laughing as she told me that she overheard Clara telling her cousin that she didn’t have a clock in her room. Random, right? So I thought: I’ve never made a clock… but I bet I can make her something fun – maybe even something that she can interact with somehow. They sell those clock kits, so it can’t be too hard, right?

So here’s where I ended up…

Clock Straight Close

And here it is living it up on the wall in Clara’s room.

Clock After Full

I originally thought it could be fun to use a birdhouse and add the clock hands to it, but a lot of them jutted too far away from the wall and didn’t have enough of a “face” for a clock kit to complete full rotations without hitting some part of the birdhouse and getting caught. Then I came across this DIY cuckoo clock, and I loved it! She has awesome directions and even offers a free downloadable template for anyone who’d like to get exactly the same look, but I was looking to adapt it, so I just used the house-like concept as a jumping off point and decided to add some fun little 3D details that I thought Clara would appreciate.

Clock Dog Detail

So I hit up JoAnn and grabbed a small 12 x 12″ sheet of quarter inch plywood for $3 (thanks to a 40% off coupon), that I came home and cut down to be the shape of a house with the miter saw (if you don’t have access to a saw, this wood was so thin and light that I bet you could have scored it over and over again with an exacto knife and cracked off the corners to get the same affect).

Clock3

I had also grabbed a few little objects at the craft store when I grabbed my board for the background, like a small picket fence ($2.99), a little bag of variously sized disks of wood ($2), and a thin trim piece (90 cents) that I could use to add a little roofline. Here they are all disassembled…

Clock4

And here they are all put together. I just used craft glue to create a little ledge along the bottom as well as a smaller shelf about 3″ below the roof (that wood was leftover from my board that I used to create the house-shaped background) and also glued the little trim pieces along the top to create a little roof-like detail with a round disk of wood under it to mimic a cute little round window.

Clock7

The tiny picket fence was one of my favorite details, which I just glued and nailed with some small picture nails, so that it wrapped around the entire ledge on the bottom.

Clock5

Then I marked the center of where I wanted my clock hands and drilled a hole big enough for the clock mechanism to slip through.

Clock8

Next was painting time. I asked Clara what color she wanted (fully expecting her to say pink) and she said blue! Go figure. Thankfully, I had an old test pot of Embellished Blue by Behr leftover from this project, so I applied two coats for some nice even coverage.

Clock9

After that had fully dried, I moved onto the sketching part of the project. First I used an old coaster to trace a circle for my clock face with a white paint pen.

Clock10

Then I free-handed some cute other details, like a window frame around the round piece of wood I had glued on under the roof, and a few other windows with stems coming up from some window boxes (my inspiration cuckoo clock gave me courage since her sketchy/imperfect drawings were so charming to me). I also added stems along the bottom behind the picket fence and in both windows so I could use a red sharpie to add some flowers in those spots.

Clock11

Here’s everything all sketched out. Once that dried (the paint pen only took about 10 minutes to be fully dry) I moved onto my clock assembly. I had grabbed a clock kit from JoAnn for $6 (you know I used a 50% off coupon, right?) and originally considered painting it, but ended up liking the vintage-y gold finish. It just felt sort of cuckoo-clock-ish to me, I guess.

Clock12

It’s pretty simple to snap the clock together. You just put the mechanism in the back, slide the spire through the pre-drilled hole, and then slip on the hands and the nuts and bolts they provide in the recommended order.

Clock13

It probably helps to see the back of the clock too, so here’s how that looks. The black thing with the battery is of course the clock kit, and since that sticks out from the wall, I glued three pieces of scrap wood back there to make it more stable (so it sticks out from the wall the same amount along the top and bottom. Then I added one of those little metal hangers on the top block to hold the whole thing on the wall.

Back Clock

I also drilled a little hole in the base of the shelf and inserted a 4″ piece of trim leftover from the roof with a larger disk of wood, which I painted blue like the clock. It doesn’t swing back and forth, but I love that it adds to the quaint cuckoo clock feeling.

Clock Rooster Detail

Overall, it probably took me two hours to shop for it, cut, glue, drill, paint, sketch on it, and add the clock. And my total cost was under $15 ($6 for the clock kit, $3 for the wood backing, and $5.90 for the accessories like the roof pieces, the round disks of wood, and the picket fence.

Clock Angled With Raindrops

I think it ended up being another one of those crafty projects (like this one and this one) that could make a really cute holiday gift. Even if you just go simple and paint the clock white with gold or silver paint pen details. Without the extra shelves and the fence it could even be an under $10 project.

The best part of all is that Clara is SO INTO HER CLOCK. It’s adorable. I knew when I added the shelf along the bottom and the smaller shelf along the top that she’d get a kick out of seeing various little animals and dragons and fairies on those ledges (you’ve seen her playing with her pretty extensive collection of those here). We didn’t want to hang the clock too low since it’s somewhat delicate and the clock hands can easily get poked into the wrong “time” – so now our ritual is that every night before bed she tells us who she wants on the top shelf (like “Burger Statue!”) and who she wants on the bottom shelf (“Red Rooster and Kitty!”) and we put them up there for her and tuck her in.

Clock After Clara

Have you guys ever made a clock with one of those kits? Honestly the hardest part was probably drilling a big enough hole to slide the spire though, but that wasn’t even that hard (I just used a few different drill bits, gradually getting bigger, until the hole was the right size).

Comments

  1. Tanya says

    I will admit that I’m not normally a fan of the crafty posts and this project is something that I can 100% guarantee that I would never attempt to make but this post made me smile. :) The clock is super cute and I especially love the source of inspiration and new little bedtime ritual! Simply adorable. ;)

    Reply

  2. Hillary says

    Hi Sherry and John,

    You obviously own a lot of paint…. how do you organize it? Do you keep a spread sheet of all the colors in your house (and painted projects)? We are moving and I didn’t go a good job of keeping track of paints in this house…. hoping for a better system (or any system at all) in this next house. Maybe a short little post?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ever since we moved we just have all of our paint in the corner of the garage, so there are small test pots all together and then quarts sort of grouped and the gallons are grouped. They all usually have paint dots on the lid of the color that’s inside, so I just sort of sifted through the test pots we had and looked for one that met Clara’s request.

      xo
      s

  5. Maggie says

    Wow i love this! Is it bad if i copy this exact thing?! I always feel bad sometimes when create something and dont add any artistic flair of my own. Oh well…thats why we have you right?!

    Any homemade christmas toy ideas for a 6 month old? I havent found many good ones that i think will be age appropriate.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, do it and send pics. I’d love that! As for homemade Christmas toy ideas for a 6 month old, does anyone have any ideas? Maybe they sell wood puzzle boards at the craft store that you can paint with non-toxic paint in a pattern or word (your child’s name?) or picture that they like (ex: their dog, a school bus) and then they can put it together (with your help) or just play with the pieces? That might skew too old. Hmm. What about an eye-spy jar (search for that on Pinterest) or a homemade rattle with wood blocks strung onto a rope or something?

      xo
      s

    • Alex says

      Or felt food! There are tons of free tutorials online, and while they might not “get it” yet, it could be fun to play with them since they’re so soft and brightly colored.

  6. Carmen says

    I love this!! My niece is the same age as Clara. I love getting gift ideas for her! I don’t have kids yet, so it’s awesome for me to get good, affordable, and age appropriate ideas. Thanks for sharing! It’s adorable.

    Reply

  7. Mary Reynolds says

    Such a sweet project! I think I might try it!

    Did you make the art above it with Clara’s name? Can you share the directions for that one too?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That was from a place called Numsi a little after she was born (they make pretty colorful canvases with names and sayings on them). It used to hang on her frame collage wall in her very first nursery, so I have a soft spot for it.

      xo
      s

  9. Kristen says

    LOVE IT! Quick question- does the clock make a ticking sound? Would love to make one too, but I’m nervous to buy a clock kit, I’m afraid it’ll make a ticking noise.

    Reply

  14. GreenInOC says

    That is SO ding dang cute! Can’t believe you free-handed the details, they look perfect. I guess that’s one of the many benefits of being artistic!

    Reply

  15. Katie Z says

    My son was obsessed with clocks when he was a toddler. So much so that when he was two, he insisted I buy him a cheap-o plastic wall clock at Target during one of our weekly shopping trips. The cashier said it was first time she had ever seen a kid willingly choose a clock instead of getting a new toy or candy. As a result, he learned to tell time when he was three. Great for him, bad for me. It meant I couldn’t sneak in a few extra minutes into his mandatory afternoon rest time. When it was 3 p.m. and he wasn’t sleeping, he was up and ready to go!

    He’s almost seven now and still loves that cheap-o clock. I should show him Clara’s clock – making something similar would be a great project for us to work on together!

    Reply

  18. Diane says

    This would be so cute to make for my twin granddaughters birthday. Paint and decorate each a little differently. It bugs me that everything is digital and really knowing time is getting to be old school.

    Reply

  19. Stacey says

    I’ve been a follower of the blog for a looonnnggg time now, but have never commented. This project was too stinkin’ cute NOT to comment though! So creative! Now I want to have a bean so I can make it a cuckoo clock :) Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  23. Lauren (in PA) says

    So sweet! My first clock was an S & H Green Stamps clock…I remember saving up for ages and gluing them in the book. And just like Clara, all I wanted was a clock!

    I had it well into my 20’s.

    Clara’s is MUCH cuter!

    Reply

  24. Lauren says

    This is adorable! Since I’m already in the mood…I’m envisioning you also decorating it for Christmas with a mini tree and maybe some fake snow on the roof? Gotta get some Santa, Snowman and Rudolph statues for the bedtime rotation! : )

    You could even go ALL out with those mini string lights that are battery powered. Too far? Hehe!

    Reply

    • Lauren says

      Just wanted to drop in any say that I thought about you guys today while shopping at Michael’s. They have a section of tiny Christmas decorations that would be perfect for Clara’s clock! They had mini wreaths for the windows and even a mini tricycle that John would probably love! : )

  25. myamogabi says

    this is sooooo amazingly cute! I just love, love, LOVE it! Now I want to go and make one for my DD!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  26. Pamela says

    I love this! so cute! the Burger statue is my fav!

    random- do you guys know what color you are painting the upstairs hall? will it be Edgecomb? or are you doing to do something different?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, we picked that for the foyer and the stairs and the upstairs hall since they all run into each other. It’s just a nice neutral and since there are like 10 rooms off of those spaces, we hope it’ll go with everything.

      xo
      s

  27. Megan says

    This is adorable! Not only do I love your creativity, but I also admire how you complete a task so quickly. I seem to have all these great project ideas… but thinking and doing are two VERY different things. My favorite part is the ledge and ability to put new figurines up there. I am a SUCKER for those little toys. I seriously am like the “Mayor” of my kids playroom when it comes to the bins of characters and animals. I know where every.last.one. lives.

    Sidenote: I am envious of the pooling curtains and draped canopy Clara enjoys. Such tempting design details are not reality for many of us! Perhaps The Bun is a wild boy who will keep you on your toes a bit more than your sweet and gentle girl. :-)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, that’s what I’m betting too (along with the whole family). Clara’s so gentle and pensive, and the bun is already a little wild-man or wild-woman in my belly, so I’m bracing myself…

      xo
      s

  29. Sandy says

    Absolutely adorable! We need a clock in our master bathroom (so I can see what time it is while getting ready for work.) It would be fun to do a take on this and your inspiration clock. Love the sketchy look.

    Reply

  33. Liz says

    AWESOME!

    We made a clock for our balcony after coming up empty finding a nice and modern outdoor clock for sale…

    I took a board (actually a leftover shelf from IKEA!) and painted it with chalkboard paint. We put an outdoor clock mechanism in it at one end and a thermometer mechanism at the other end. I chalked on the clock and thermometer numbers, and we have a space between the dials for cute fun quotes, drawings or greetings for our guests!

    I was really pleased with the end result, and how EASY it was!!

    Reply

  34. Theresa says

    My what a big paintbrush you have! That is super cute! Did you use a pen for the numbers? If not then you have one steady hand.
    Wonder if anyone knows of a source for a “modern” clock kit?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I’m laughing about the paint brush comment! It’s just my room painting brush that I grabbed! As for the numbers, yes, I just used the paint pen and sketched them on. Anyone know of a modern clock kit source for Theresa? Maybe try ebay?

      xo
      s

  37. Steph Nelson says

    This is the best craft project you have done so far!! Looks so cute!

    Every time you post a picture of Clara, I just can’t get over how big she is!! Where does the time go?

    Reply

  38. Koliti says

    Love your faux interactive cuckoo clock design!
    Clara is quite the inspirational design partner.
    And I love that your craft tool arsenal inclues a hammer, miter saw, and drill. Craft on, Sherry :)

    Reply

  40. JustAng says

    So cute! Love the ledges! At 2 years old, my daughter started asking me what time it was. It came out of nowhere and I said, “Um 3, o’clock?” She wasn’t happy with my answer, “So she asked again…and again…and again. That’s when I realized it wasn’t the “time” per se, but the activity she was asking about. i.e.: “It’s ‘play time'” or “‘It’s breakfast time.'” She loves all the “times,” except “bed time,” of course.

    Reply

  41. Marie says

    Warning random question…I was watching love it or list it last night and I thought of you guys…maybe its too personal but I was wondering have you ever done a post that outlines how much you bought your old house(s) for, how much you spend in all your renovations, and how much you recovered/made from all your work? Did it increase your home value substantially or did you just break even? Again, maybe not something you want to share with the internet…which is totally understandable…but I figured I’d ask just incase I missed the post or something.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yeup, we actually did a “how much we spent vs. how much we made when we sold” post (essentially answering “did we make a profit”) for each of our last houses, so those are here and here for ya.

      xo
      s

  43. Connie says

    It’s neat that the clock face is a bit smaller than the hour hand because that will make teaching Clara how to tell time—”the big hand” will really be enough larger than “the little hand” so she can easily tell the difference.

    On the other hand, you might want to adopt the one-handed-clock idea and make a clock that has only an hour hand, which is much easier for kids to understand. Once the idea of hours and before and after the hours is thoroughly understood, adding the minute hand is a cinch.

    Reply

  45. Lisa says

    When you mentioned holiday gift ideas it made me think that you usually make something for Clara for Christmas – anything plans for this year?

    Reply

  46. Briitte says

    Such an adorable craft and it gives Clara a daily opportunity to make decisions about how she wants her space to look. This is perfect, especially at her age when they are all about making their own choices and taking some control over their lives. Not only cute, but a great “developmental” learning tool! I also love that the clock got incorporated into the bedtime ritual. Clara is apparently a good sleeper, but for some kids, having a really defined bedtime ritual is a huge tool in convincing them to finally. go. to. sleep! (I do not have very willing sleepers and the ritual is key). Thanks for sharing this.

    Reply

  49. Caity says

    This is so sweet!! You are such an amazing mommy. Clara is lucky to have someone who takes so much time and puts so much love into these types of projects. I hope to be a sweet, loving mommy like you someday!

    Reply

  50. Hayley says

    Super Cute! Though, in our house, we’d have to hang it even higher. I keep finding my kids stealing the bathroom sink stool and using it to grab anything they can. No matter how many times we talk about how “the stool stays in the bathroom.”

    Reply

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