I have been dreaming up this project, ever since I purchased a copy of DIY Magazine a few years ago, and finally, my Dad brought me his tub of old watches! The original inspiration was a square (plywood, maybe?), with the numbers typed out in different fonts, inserted in the watch faces, glued to the clock. It was super cute.
I, however, did not have the time (wua-wuah..) or patience to purchase a clock mechanism. So I started digging around in a bunch of "donation boxes" (I quote, because they have yet to make it out of the barn, and I keep finding new uses for the discards!). I found this old, not-my-kind-of-style-ugly clock.
It worked. I wanted the mechanism. Let the dismantling commence! Unfortunately, I could't figure out how to remove the mechanism without actually destroying it, so I did what I do best; I made do!
I pulled it apart, removed the glass successfully, peeled off the ugly sticker inside, replaced it with a piece of cardboard gift box, painted, tried to reassemble...
...and maybe forced the glass a little too hard.
So I asked my husband, and he didn't really care--so I decided not to care either!
I put it back together, and hot-glued on my watches.
...Then half of them fell of.
I then painted it a better color and let it sit around for a few weeks until I remembered our Loctite Power Grab! Which worked swimmingly, btw.
Here it is!
And my favorite part about this project:
Growing up, I remember my Dad always fiddling/tinkering with watches, and he always had a box full of leftover, discarded parts--you never know when you might need a new watch pin! And when he handed over the requested watch faces, I think I might have seen a glimmer of pride (correct me if I'm wrong, but since you don't use the internet Dad, I'm going to go with pride ;]) as he realized I had found an exciting new use for them, stating, "This is my life in watches, right here!"
These watches were part of a story--some his, some mom's, my brother's, and some my own--stories of the day-by-day history that has molded us into the people that we are--the person I am--today. They maintain some mystery, but as my bedroom clock, this serves as a reminder of time lost, and time left to be lived as I get ready for my day in the mornings.... (OK, I didn't see that until just now, but it's a start.) ;]
I actually think it would look better on a square plywood, (so may attempt that later, when I find myself in the clock section of a craft store...) but I will not be changing out the faces for number print-outs, as to me, they hold all of the character.
