Okay so yesterday I decided I was going into hibernation!! I am sooo over winter. I know we don’t have it that bad here in Oklahoma, but honestly, I’m done. Gray skies, and temperatures so cold that are not pleasant to be outside in are not good for my soul. So, in an effort to fight off the winter blahs, I got a little crafty.
Thank you so much for the wonderfully sweet comments on my kitchen!! I am sooo loving it. I am recovering from the work and from my wonderful weekend filled with lots of giggly girls!! But, soon I will be tackling some other project in there for sure!!
But, for today I just needed to get my creative mind going. So, I did this!!
Isn’t she awesome??? {Before you say anything, yes I know the 2 and 3 are a little close together – didn’t measure, gonna have to redo it tomorrow because it’s bugging me too!!!}
This is what I started with…
I got this years ago. I love the size of it and it still works, but it just wasn’t working with the new direction of my decor. I have priced clocks this size, and honestly didn’t want to spend it. So, my wheels started turning and I went to the garage to retrieve these.
The chalkboard paint being leftover from the kitchen, and the gold paint I shared with you here.
I started by taking the hands off the top of the clock.
Most clocks have a tiny screw thingee that holds the hands on. Unscrew that and gently wiggle the hands free from the center piece. I considered removing the center piece, but couldn’t figure out how, so I just left it on.
I began with a couple of coats of the chalkboard paint over the whole surface. I also started painting the gold on the hands.
I will have to admit that a craft paint or rub’n’buff probably would have been easier for the hands, but I was working with what I had. I decided I wanted to add some sort of gold accents to the clock face itself and decided on polka dots. I’m not a fan of perfect, so I just free handed some dots using my paint brush. Can you say “fail”? Ya, not good. So, then I decided to paint over the gold with more chalkboard paint – another fail – I forgot the gold is not water-based…
So, I decided to try some sand paper over the gold spots that were too big and just downright awful.
This worked perfectly – I sanded down all the dots and then applied another coat of the chalkboard paint on top – bye bye big gold dots!!
I still wanted an accent and still really wanted polka dots, but I decided smaller might be better. I got smart this time and did a test run on my paper bag.
This is more like it!! I simply used the eraser end of a pencil as a stamp for the dots. I also painted the edge and a small little band around the clock face, and I made dots where all the numbers should go.
I have to confess, I am a careless crafter. I don’t usually plan things out ahead of time. Things just happen as they go. I very rarely measure – the reason my dots around the circle are not in the right place. I never do test runs. I hardly ever worry about things being perfect, because to be honest, things never are!! So, in hindsight, I should have taken a little extra time and measured around the circle {blah, blah, blah}.
I used a chalk marker, like I showed you here, to make the numbers. I did use a ruler to try to get the numbers close to the same height. The beauty of it being chalk is that I CAN erase that 2 and put it in the right place!!!
Here’s a before and after for your viewing pleasure. 🙂
How do you handle winter?? Do you love it, or are you ready for it to be gone as soon as it comes?? Do you struggle with the winter blahs?? Try doing something creative – it works!!
Blessings friends!!
Linking up with Alison at Nancherrow / Abby at Just a Girl and Her Blog / Aimee at It’s Overflowing / Leslie at Lambert’s Lately / Kristina at A Mother’s Niche / Ruth at Living Well Spending Less / Wendy at The Shabby Nest / Jane at Finding Fabulous / Jen at Tatertots and Jello / Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Beth at Home Stories A to Z / Mandy at Sugar Bee Crafts / Stacy at Not Just a Housewife
Your clock is great! I like it the way you did it! Perfect Schmerfect! 🙂 Very cute! Funny I ran into your post, as I just made a little serving bowl and used a pencil eraser to put dots on it!!!
SOOOO over winter too! I was over it in November! C'mon Spring!!!
Have a great weekend! Julia
What a fun transformation! Such a great snow day project! Thanks for linking up at Hit Me with Your Best Shot– have a wonderful week!
~Abby =)