I love a great up-cycle project, don’t you?  But what I love even more is a super easy up-cycle project that is not only useful, but an awesome and fun decor piece too!  We are sharing how to make this awesome rustic Tin Can Clock.

Supplies Used:

• Small tin can
• Clock Movement
• Metallic Copper Spray Paint
• Small sheet of balsa wood
• Wood Pegs or a wood dowel
• Black Craft Paint
• Scissors
• Hammer
• Nail
• Hack Saw (I actually used a steak knife – but a hack saw would have been a little easier!
• paint brush
• pencil
• glue gun
• Q-tip
• Spray on Clear top coat
• E6000 glue

I spray painted the tin with the metallic copper spray paint.  Then I sprayed a small section of it with metallic gold – only because I was unsure of what I really wanted to do and I was playing around.

I needed to make a hole in the bottom of the can that was large enough to fit the clock movement shaft through.  I’m not much of a power tool user, so I used a nail and a hammer. I first placed the nail in the center and hammered it in, pulled it out and then as close as I could get to the first hole I made, I hammered in another one.  I kept doing this around the first hole until I expanded the hole to the size I wanted.

I used a pair of scissors to bend the metal inward to lay flat against the inside bottom of the can.  A screw driver would work for this too.   Note:   The clock movement covers the rough edges in the inside of the can once it is glued in.

I made sure the clock movement shaft fit through the hole I made.   The hole doesn’t have to be a perfect circle – mine isn’t, but it can’t be too large either.  You want the hole to be able to be covered by the washer that comes with the clock movement kit.

I used the tin can for a template and I traced around the can with a pencil on a small sheet of balsa wood.   I chose to use this because it is easy to work with and because I happened to have some in my craft supply box.  Isn’t that handy?    After I drew the circle, I cut it out with a pair of scissors. Honestly I didn’t know if it would work, but it did.

I actually cut just slightly inside the circle so that I would have a nice snug fit into the back of the tin.  I trimmed where necessary to make sure I had a snug fit.

Once I was satisfied with the fit, I cut out a slit to be able to pry the back off in order to change the battery when necessary.

I painted the balsa backing with standard black craft paint.

I purchased this bag of wood pegs at Hobby Lobby because I thought they would be perfect for the feet on this clock.  However, a dowel rod could easily be used.

These were longer than I needed for the clock and I wanted to cut them in half.   Unfortunately, Mr. Hobby was not home at the time and I had no idea where the hack saw was.  Being the resourceful woman that I am, I decided to saw them with a steak knife. It probably took longer – but it got the job done.

These little wood peg feet were spray painted with the copper paint.

The tin can was coated with black craft paint – spread thinly with a Q-tip to allow some of the copper to show through here and there.

The clock movement came with brass hands, so I spray painted all the brass pieces with the copper spray paint.

To secure the clock movement box in the tin, I glued it down with E6000 glue.  And the Feet were attached using my trusty glue gun.

Note:  Before attaching the clock movement – spray the painted can with a clear top coat to protect your finish.

I love my new little clock!  I made this in an evening – which is why my pictures are not as good as they should be.  Sorry about that.

The tin can be painted in whatever colour you want to go with your own style or décor.   It could be covered in twine, or beautiful paper  . . . . the possibilities are endless!