Thursday, August 7, 2014

Crafty Thursdays: Clock Ornaments



Today's craft is an extension of our Christmas in July series. If you've been following the series, you know that while I dislike it when stores decorate early, I do like to make a few Christmas crafts over the summer. I thought I'd post a few now so you have plenty of time before the holiday mayhem starts to decide whether or not you'd like to try them at home. 

Last week we showed you how to make holiday photo ornaments and this week, we show you how to turn the insides of last week's watches into ornaments. So let's begin.


Materials:

  • An old pocket watch that you don't mind dismantling. You can get these on Ebay, at swap meets or flea markets. You may want a few options to play with. 
  • Gorilla Glue
  • A Bail (this is the metal piece that goes at the top)
  • Flat cork or another backing material
  • Three beads
  • About 5 inches of chain
  • Ribbon to hand your ornament
  • Pliers - round nose for jewelry - they are little smaller than the regular kind

Step One:
Dismantle your pocket watch. You do this by using pliers to pry the back open. Every watch is different. You might have to play with this a bit. The knob on the top will provide resistance, so I pull it off, if possible, or unscrew it. The watch hands may come off in this process like they did in the example today.  

Our watch example had a calendar wheel behind this. Our crafty group decided to glue it permanently on the 25th of the month to mark the celebration. Many pocket watches won't have this feature, so you can skip this step. 

Step Two:
Glue a bead in the center, if you want. If the watch hands are in tact, go ahead and skip this step



Step Three:
Glue a bail to the top of the watch like you see above. I use Gorilla glue because it dries fast and it's strong. 

Cut a five inch piece of chain and slip one of the ends through the bail. Use the pins to secure the beads to the two ends. You'll need round nose jewelry pliers to do this. Stick the pin through the bead hole, then make a loop with the pliers. Slip the loop through an open hole at the end of the chain. Wrap the wire around the top of the bead and then snip the lose end of the pin. 






Step Four:
Slid your ribbon through the bail at the top to create the hanger. Once the ornament is hung you can see how beautifully the chain hangs below to give the ornament a little movement. 



To be entered to win this ornament, simple comment below. For an extra entry, like our Facebook page or if you've already liked the page, comment on the Facebook post for this blog post.

10 comments:

  1. Lovely and very clever. I am taking a break after making a bracelet using stretchy cord. It broke when I tried it on and the beads went flying. Back to the beading board!

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    1. I use two crimp beads on stretchy bracelets and you have to make sure they aren't too tight. And even so they don't last forever.

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  2. What a creative and great idea. A treasure which is unique and attractive. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  3. I am in awe of this talent and beauty. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  4. How cool, these appeal to my Steampunk fetish too!

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  5. What a clever idea for an ornament.

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  6. Even I could do this. And I just might.

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  7. Hope I'm not too late to enter. I love Steampunk! I do Steampunk style of hand embroidery. Urban Threads rocks these patterns!

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  8. Our winner is Petite! Look for an e-mail shortly.

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