While you're gone - Home-time Clock

My husband is going to be gone for several weeks this summer to take a class for his PhD in physics (yup, he's my smarty-pants!).  He will be staying in a teeny-tiny room with blah cinderblock walls.  As such I wanted to send him a few surprises to brighten up his stay!

He will only get a suitcase, as he is flying, so anything I send must be small and light.

Since he will be in  a different time-zone I thought it would be cool to have a clock that can remind him what time it is for us so he can know the best times to Skype in and say good-night (or good morning, no 4am wake-up calls please)

So here's what I did,

I bought this $3 clock at walmart

Using a little tape as leverage/to get a grip on the clear cover, I pulled off the clear face cover.

Then I pulled gently pulled the hands off the clock and laid them out in order.  I did NOT want to forget the order they should go back on in!

Then I pulled the face off the plastic casing and was pleased to find it was just a plastic sheet.  I laid it over a picture of out family and traced it.  Don't forget the center dot!

I cut it out and punched the center hole.  Well, technically I ended up having to use an exacto knife to cut it, but you get the picture.

When selecting your picture and figuring out the placement, keep in mind that the hands will completely cover one point in the middle so print it super small (ideally probably around wallet size, I had to go with a 4x6 that I zoomed out as much as possible to make us as small as possible) and consider something a little off centered or at least without something in the middle.

Then I used the old clock face to write the four main numbers on the plastic casing.  I wrote them backwards on the inside with a fine tip permanent marker.  I did this so they would appear forwards from the outside and also so the numbers wouldn't rub off.  you could do all twelve or none at all, I just felt like the usability of the clock for us would be increased if it had some numbers. 

Then, put the new face (your picture) back in.  I used a titch of glue stick to help the picture stay put.  Then put the hands back in, following the order you took them out.  Finally put the clear cover back on and voila!  All done!

Now this clock can be used for our purpose of keeping our home time while away, or just as a personalized clock for just about anywhere!  At home, the office, school, on a trip, dorm room, you name it!  Show me your creations!

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