Soap Tin Clock
April 15th, 2007[-alteration, crafts, how-to-]
by Nancy Waldman
Here’s a fun little project that grew out of The PCQ’s Alteration Challenge.
It took less than a half an hour to put together. If you have your own tin (they are easy to find at garage sales or online auctions) you can make one of these for well under $10. The ‘clockworks’ can be found at hobby stores.
Just take your drill - you do have one, don’t you? 
- checking the package to find out what size drill bit you need to use - and drill a hole. Insert the metal piece inside the hole and attach the battery pack to it from the backside of the tin’s lid. From the front and still using the simple directions on the clock works package, put on the spacers and the hands of the clock.
From there you just put in a battery and watch (pun intended 8)) it go!
I used a Sharpie permanent marker to draw in the numbers but you can find press on numbers that would serve the purpose.
I wanted this one to be a counter clock since the word “soap” was written on side; I can even use for storing - yes, that’s it - soap. But the same clockworks can be used to make a hanging clock.
Here’s another idea. This is a photo of a clock I bought. It’s made from a metal tin that is open on the back side. The face of the clock is a piece of paper glued to the front. This brings up endless possibilities. Find a great picture and paste it on or better yet, do a collage. Fabric could also be used. Just be sure that your clockworks are high enough to lift the hands away from the face of the clock, especially if your collage gets a bit thick. They do come in several heights so this shouldn’t be a problem.
Easy. Quick. Fun. Functional. And, what great gifts they would make.
Originally published in the April 2006 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: alterations; edited slightly for republication
