Handmade "Whatever, I'm late" Clock

This Monday, May 20th, is one of my best friend's birthdays.  Allison and I met in 5th grade and she is one of my dearest friends.  We have been through so much together and I can honestly say she knows me better that most people.  She is incredibly smart, witty, talented, creative, caring and I'm lucky to have her in my life.

Now with all that said, punctuality is not one of her redeeming qualities (sorry Al)!  We often have to tell Allison that functions start hours before they actually do in order to get her there on time.  A few months ago, I had my girlfriends over for dinner and Allison was of course, fashionably late.  We started joking around that she had some crazy Willy Wonka-like whimsical clock that had hands pointing everywhere, multiple faces, colors and  cuckoo birds popping out and singing at all different times etc...

Our friend Leah found this clock on Etsy and I thought it was perfect!  I had every intention of ordering it through the vendor but with all my traveling this month, it just didn't happen.  So I drove myself to Hobby Lobby and decided to make my own... at a fraction of the cost!

My sister Kristina helped me with this today.... Thank you!  I could not have done it without her... or her Cricut! That machine is a crafting savior.  I'm thrilled with the finished product and hope you might give it a try to make for that punctually challenged person in your life!

You will need:

one 12x12 canvas
white spray paint
mod podge clear acrylic spray
clock attachment
larger clock hands
metal bracket for back to hang
Elmer's glue
x-acto knife
letters and numbers
(we used a heavy black card stock and cut out the letters and numbers on her Cricut. If you don't have a Cricut, any type of flat, stick-on letters will work)

If you do have a Cricut, we used the following fonts and sizes for the letters:

Font = Tall Ball
All lowercase except the I
Whatever, = 1.5 inches
I'm late anyway = 1 inch
1 5 0 = 1 inch
2 3 7 = 2 inches
4 8 = 3 inches
9 6 = 3.5 inches

First, secure the metal bracket to the back of the canvas so you can hang it.  Then. take the canvas outside and liberally spray on one coat of white spray paint.  After it is dry, measure the exact middle of the canvas and mark a small dot with a pencil.  This is where the clock hands will go.

Prior to gluing,  arrange the letters and numbers where you want them on the canvas. Pick each letter up and glue it into position.  For the larger letters, we simply placed a small amount of Elmer's glue on the back and stuck them to the canvas.  I intentionally tilted the letters different ways so it looked a bit more "scrambled".

For the smaller letters, we spread a thin layer of glue on with our fingers, then placed the letters on the canvas. Once all of the letters are glued on and dried, spray on 2 coats of Mod Podge, waiting 10 minutes in between each coat.  Let dry overnight.  

Here it is in the morning, all dried and ready to assemble.  Poke a small hole with a sharp knife through the center dot.  Use an x-acto knife to slice a small X in the hole.  

After I pushed the front through canvas, I used a hot glue gun to secure the clock to the back of the canvas. 

Now it is time to assemble the face of the clock.  Follow the instructions on the package.  Be careful because there are a lot of tiny parts.  At first, I chose to omit the second hand but later changed my mind.  

Here is a better view with everything assembled.  The final test was to put a battery in and thank heavens  it worked!