Monday, September 10, 2012

Upcycled Ornate Frame into a Unique Clock

These vintage metal frames, Made in Italy, turn up every so often at thrift stores and I always seem to scoop them up. Sometimes they have glass or a mirror and sometimes they don't. This guy didn't have anything in the frame other than the original backing. I debated what to do with it. They are popular enough just left empty, but while I was taking the backing out of the frame, it hit me to cover it in burlap. My first thought was to paint a word or silhouette on the burlap and then, I thought, what about a clock?

 
 Why not a clock, so here goes my creative process on this one.
 
The first thing I did was trace the backing of the frame onto burlap, cut the burlap oval out and glue it onto the backing with craft spray adhesive.
 
 
Then I moved onto the frame. I sanded and cleaned it so I could paint it.
 
 
Well, as you can see,  first I painted it white. The white didn't contrast enough with the burlap, so then I painted it black and forgot to take a pic.
 
 
Then I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to buy the numbers and the clock mechanism.
My wonderful husband drilled a hole in the middle of the burlap covered backing for me while I spray painted the clock numbers, hands and bolts black. (They were gold).
 
 
 
 
Once everything was dry, it was time to glue the numbers into their places and assemble the clock mechanism and hands according to the directions on the package.
 
 
 
 

I placed the required AA battery into the clock and it works!!!
Well, there you have it, my upcycled clock!
 
 
I have 3 additional frames like this in different sizes, any ideas on what to do with them?
Let me know what you think.
 
'til next time,
Adina
 
 
 
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