DIY Desk Clock Makeover by Andrea Landis

diy, home office

DIY Desk Clock Makeover

By Our Concrete Home on Mar 12, 2013

Many weeks ago I picked up this dated plastic clock at a thrift shop. It was $0.99 and I thought it had nice lines, and the face swiveled, so I brought it home.

For some reason, this little clock reminded me of the appliances in the The Brave Little Toaster. I was lucky enough to have a little sister who loved watching this movie over and over so I know it quite well. For those not familiar with the animated film, it’s a story about forgotten appliances left in a family’s summer home that take an incredible journey to be reconnected with their young master. Oh, and the appliances sing. The premise is a little bizarre, but somehow the movie works. Trust me kids love it.

To me, the movie had a very strong message about using the things we have instead of constantly upgrading to the newest version. And in the case of this thrift store clock, I was reminded how many cool items are out there for the taking. So, long story short, I was really excited to do a little makeover on this clock and bring him into our concrete family.

For the makeover, I contemplated painting him all white, but in the end I decided to give him a pop of yellow instead. The back of the clock was missing, so I decided to make one. (The clock was pretty loud without one.)

First I did my best to tape up the front and back to protect the clock.

Then I sprayed about five thin coats of yellow paint until the whole clock was covered.

I stashed the clock in our unfinished bathroom for about a week to let it dry completely. Then I removed all the tape to see what I wanted to do next.

Once I saw how bright the yellow was against the black clock face, I decided to soften the look with a thick, white line. I picked up a white chisel paint pen at the craft store, then slowly traced around the clock face with it.

This technique isn’t perfect, but after a couple of applications, I got a nice opaque line. There was an inconsistent gap between the plastic clock face and the frame, so I used some white puff paint to fill it in (like caulking). I softly smoothed over the paint with my finger.

I left all the paint to dry overnight before I could do anything to screw it all up.

Next, I worked on attaching a piece of blue ribbon to the back of the clock. This would become the pull that would allow the cork backing to be removed once installed. I glued the ribbon to the backing with a little super glue and cut it down to size so only a short tab shows when the back was inserted.

I liked the idea of using cork with the yellow/white/black color scheme for a more modern look. With my trusty X-acto knife, I also cut out a piece of cork for the clock to sit on.

Then I measured and cut a circle of cork to fit in the back of the clock. Cutting cork is a big pain because it crumbles. I found using a sharp knife after lightly steaming the cork worked the best for me.

With all the glue dry, I began putting the clock back together by screwing the clock back into the frame.

Then adding a battery and inserting the cork backing into place.

And there you have it: a simple upgrade to a black alarm clock. The photo shows a summary of what I did on the front of the clock...

and here's what I did to the back.

Overall, I am really happy with the makeover. The clock now has a cheery persona. The cork accents make it current and modern while the yellow/white/black color scheme keeps it classic. I’ve put it in my office for the time being. It looks great with all the black and white accents in there.

I should also mention that this project took weeks to complete. A lot of it was drying time, but I also spent a lot of time playing with the white paint to get it right.

With this clock finally completed, I am excited to find my next “brave little toaster” project to work on. You never know when inspiration may strike.