Faux Pocket Watch (wall art)

How to make a faux pocket watch out of an old table top! Crazy, eh?

I LOVE old table tops. They are round and generally have a perfect routed edge. They are great for making faux clock tables.

This is a curbed table, if you look closely you will see that it has some screws sticking up-that’s because it was a tiered table. I didn’t actually curb this table, my good friend Jan picked it up and then passed it on to me. Isn’t she sweet?

I removed the screws and patched the holes with wood putty.

Can you see a faux pocket watch?

I sanded the finish off of the top, using an 80 grit, and then a 220 grit to smooth it out.

 

For the routed edge I used Zip Strip.

Spray Paint Faux Pocket Watch

I wanted to have layers of paint, so I started out with some spray paint.

While the paint was drying I started looking for a part to serve as the stem and the ring, thinking this chair part is a little too large.

I dry brushed some oops samples on top of the coat of spray paint.

Make the Face for Faux Pocket Watch

I found the center and used one of those push-in pieces that are on the bottom of chair legs to hold a string. (see the picture above with the chair leg)  I wanted to go right to a painted black line, but I had a helper that day (nephew Bubba) and he talked me into using a pencil first.

Not shown: You know how you get into the middle of something and it doesn’t work out—you don’t stop to take pictures because you are frustrated and you just know it’s not going to work out? That’s where I was. The pencil didn’t really work, and the lead would not erase. I had to sand it almost all the way back and start all over again.

I painted a couple of coats of two different browns. I didn’t use the spray paint this time.

I then opted for a paint pen and a piece of embroidery floss. This worked a LOT better.

Design & Place Numerals

I used my Silhouette SD to make some roman numerals out of contact paper.

I actually put little squares around my numerals so that I wouldn’t have to cut them. Epitome of laziness? yeah, probably!

I put all the squares on the watch, then I found two round items to draw circles for the second hand.

How to Prevent Bleed While Stenciling

I painted a little brown over the numerals first to allow for a little bleed protection. I then used some black paint  for the numerals. (see the stem up there? I never really took any photos of it.)

I love the fact that if you’re impatient (like I know MOST of us are) and you’re in the middle of a project, simply jump online to the Silhouette store and purchase a single image for .99 cents. I had to do that for the watch hands. The second hand I designed within the program.

I also did the watch hands on the Silhouette SD out of contact paper. I buy clearance contact paper to use for stencils instead of using expensive vinyl.

It is so hard to divide up a circle evenly. This McDonald’s bowl had some perfect little hash marks ¼ of the way all the way around! How sweet!!!

I used the paint pen to make the little hash marks for minutes and seconds.

Old Table Top into Faux Pocket Watch

The Pottery Barn pocket watch has a brand across it. So far, I haven’t really thought of anything clever to put on mine.

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Source  $149.00

Close up of the “stem” which is actually a lamp finial and part of a paint can handle. I drilled a hole through the finial to insert the wire.

I’d say this color is more true  than the one below.

My kitchen being so dark, not getting much natural daylight, it was very difficult to get a picture without glare. I wanted to make the time something special like a birth date, but I couldn’t get anything to be up in the center, not mixed up down in the second hand circle. While this was laying on the table and I did the placement of the hands, I actually thought I was making the time 12:12. Let’s say that it’s running a little fast and the time should actually read 11:11, since today is 11/11/11.

gail

Check out what I did with the bottom of this small table.