Have you ever had a piece of home décor lying around your house that you knew was a good idea to buy at the time but now you can’t stand to look at it? Yep, that recently happened to me.  About six years ago, I purchased a large clock from Walmart during Black Friday deals.  I got such a bargain that I never wanted to part ways with the clock.  Looking back now, I continue to ask myself “why would you have ever bought a clock that looks like that”.  Plus, with constantly watching Chip and Joanna, this clock wasn’t really living up to my current farmhouse décor style dreams. 

I really wanted to throw the clock away, but I’m always looking for ways to save a quick buck.  All of the clocks that I really liked online were $60+.  I didn’t want to spend that kind of money!  So, I started searching for other cheaper options, but I couldn’t find them.  One Friday night, I got the idea that I would just redo the clock and make it my own.  That all sounds great, but let me just say that during this process I almost threw the clock away twice.  (Not all DIY projects are as easy as I picture in my head.)

After devising a plan, I went to my local Michael’s store and purchased some supplies.  I bought some gray, white, and gold acrylic paint, foam brushes, black cardstock, and rustic white woodgrain paper.  I also had some newspapers lying around that I was getting ready to throw away so everything worked out. 

Here’s what the clock looked like before, minus the white around the bottom right edge.  (I forgot to take the before picture.) 

I took the clock apart and painted the outside frame a mixture of white and gray brush strokes.  After I was satisfied with the color variation and the paint dried, I watered down some gold acrylic paint to add an extra sheen/rustic appearance to the frame. 

Then I tried to use the center paper circle that was included with the clock as a template to create a white woodgrain background.  Clearly, you could see where I pieced four pieces of paper together.  FAIL #1 (I really wanted to throw the clock away!)

So, I resorted to Plan B and painted the old paper background a mixture of gray and white.  That looked much better!

I then drew the Roman numerals and the black strips for the clock markings on black cardstock.  When I was satisfied with how the numbers looked, I cut them out and glued them onto the paper backing. 

Then I tried to reattach all of the hardware, but those darn hands wouldn’t go on correctly.  I tried my best to force them on and I finally made it happen.  I put the clock back together only to find out that the clock hands were not properly lined up.  I wasn’t too upset about this because this had to be my fault.  So, I removed the clock from the wall and tried to line them up again.  It wasn’t until the third time that I had to take the clock off of the wall that I was upset.  I mean come on, how many times was I going to have to undo 300 screws from the back of that clock.  Needless to say, the third time was the charm and the clock was finally fully functioning. 

This project sounds so simple and looking back now, it was, but there were a few too many hurdles for my liking.  I hope you like the end result as much as I do.  Plus, I was able to redo the clock for less than $10.  Cha-ching!  It’s not the exact clock that I wanted, but it works. 

Branch out and try a new project.  No one has to know if you fail or if you have bumps in the road.  Honestly, if you are persistent enough, you can do anything!

Forever Yung,

Kyra