Quick and Easy Crafts: Favorite Character Clock

Everyone, everywhere has a clock somewhere in their house, and if you are like me, almost every room. The clocks you have, are they really you? Do they really reflect who you are, or are they dull and drab? Want an easy way to make your own clocks and have it easy enough that the kids can help or even make their own? Your local craft store has everything you need to make your ideas come to life.

Here is the list of standard clock making supplies you will need from your local craft store: (Some of these items are not used for the Garfield clock.)

Clock movement
Clock face
Clock numbers
Acrylic paints
Spray varnish
Medium sponge brush
Newspaper
Paper plates
Pencil
Black Fine Tip Permanent Marker
Small cup of water and paper towels to clean brushes
Acrylic paint brush
Battery for your clock movement (check the package for size)

There are many different styles of clock bases. The unfinished wood section of your craft store should have an ample supply of many different styles of clock bases, from simple to elaborate. Any piece of wood can become a clock base, as long as you watch the thickness. You don't want it too thick for two reasons; the thicker it is means the heavier it is to hang on your wall, and also you want to make sure the clock movement will fit snugly on the base.

The clock movement is the most important part of the clock. The clock movement consists of a set of hands, the shaft and the battery powered clock mechanism. Without it, you have a painted sign for your wall that does not tell time. The clock movements come in three sizes, 1/4" 3/8", and 3/4" thick. When you decide on your clock base, you will want to size it up to the correct shaft. Many clock movements come as a set, including the numbers along with the hands, but if you want to personalize your new work of art, you can purchase just the movement and hands, and the numbers separately.

Clock faces can come as pre-printed stickers. You just peel the back off and adhere it to the base. It takes the worry about lining up your numbers right and they come in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes. They can also be made, as the project below will show you.

The clock numbers also come in a variety of shapes, styles and colors. These are also stickers that just adhere to the clock base. If you choose to have a simple, yet elegant, face on your clock, you can skip the clock face and arrange the numbers. It all depends on what interests you and your décor.

Designing Your Own Clock: Pick Your Face

You want to start out with picking the design your clock's face will have. Will it be contemporary, nostalgic or comical? Mine was comical: Garfield. What I did is get an old full face picture of Garfield, with his trademark smirk, and drew it on my own paper. It was not as cute as the original, but it worked. You can also take a coloring book of your or your kid's favorite character and choose what you would like on the face of your clock. Keep in mind the size and shape of your designs.

Designing Your Own Clock: Pick Your Base

For example, my Garfield clock ended up having a smaller, round, clock base with a beveled edge because the picture of Garfield I chose was round. If you were to do a pony or a racecar, then you would want a more rectangular base. There are also different styles of wood out there. Check out your local craft store, in the unfinished wood section, and get a feel for the different kinds before making your final decision. Another bit to keep in mind is that if you find a nice piece of wood that does not already have a center hole, you can make one yourself. All you need is a drill and the right size bit. The hole doesn't always have to be in the middle, too! Get creative!

Designing Your Own Clock: Pick Your Colors

The paint colors I chose for my clock were Folk Art Cobalt Blue, Pumpkin, Baby Pink and Yellow Lemon. The Cobalt was the color for the base and the rest of the colors were for Garfield's face. I only did his face, not his body or his teddy bear Pookie.

Designing Your Own Clock: Putting It All Together

Now that you have all the supplies and creative ideas for your clock, let's put it all together. Let's make my Garfield clock.

First, take out the newspapers and protect your table. Then, squirt some Cobalt Blue paint on a paper plate. Take your clock base and using the medium sponge brush, gently paint it and cover all the areas, including the beveled edge. This will take two coats of blue to make it nice and bright. The back should only need one coat.

Next, while the base is drying, take out your Garfield face. Since I used a front view, it won't matter if we transfer copy it on. To do that, get your pencil and trace around every detail of Garfield's face. Make sure you get enough of the graphite on the page to properly transfer to your project. After the base is completely dry, take your Garfield face, graphite side down, and line the nose up with the center hole for the clock movement. Gently rub the sheet of paper to transfer the picture to the wood. After that is complete, you will want to gently trace over the markings left of the base with your pencil. It would be beneficial to leave indentations as you trace it because that will give you, not only a better idea of where to paint, but also when you finish up with your permanent marker. Make sure to remember his stripes, too. You can really 'make it your own' if you like. You don't have to have all the details, or you can even add more if you like. It is your clock and your ideas that make it special.

Painting the face is very simple; orange for the face, yellow for the smirk, and pink for the nose and tongue. (The nose is mainly a hole, but you can paint some around it.)

After the face is completely dry, take your permanent fine point marker and carefully draw in all the black lines and stripes. (See above picture as reference.)

Wait about 15 minutes to ensure that everything is dry prior to spraying on the varnish. Read the label on your can of varnish for use and care instructions. Wait the allowable amount of time as directed.

Finally, take out your clock movement and follow the directions of the packaging to properly install your clock hands and shaft.

You are done! This particular clock did not have numbers on it. I tried to find the best way to show off the cute Garfield face, but whatever I did, the numbers took away from it.

When you design your own wall clock, let your imagination go wild and come up with things you would never find in a store. Make it as unique as yourself.

If you want to stain your wood instead of painting, try this article: Ten Quick Tips for Staining Wood Furniture

Sources:
Personal Experience and Ideas
Michael's Craft Store and Michaels.com
Pursur Skoledagbok 1995-1996 (Garfield School Day Book)