Teacup Clock

By Mandi • 08/27/2010

This has been the longest project of my life. I have been working on it off and on since april. It just wasn’t ever right.
Do you brilliant minds ever have stuff like this? 
But finally it got done. I wish I could say that I as the creative genius behind it but alas I am not. Erika @ Retropolitan Hip is. Her blog is awesome and she is my partner in crime in many an idea/business venture. She is probably the funniest person that I know and I love her so much! The inspiration piece:

Cute right? Its like $400.00 from Umbra
This lovely is Erika’s version:
And this is mine:

The teacups were all found at antique stores, thrift stores, or TJ Maxx.

So do you want to make one too? Here are the steps:

1. FIND A CRAPLOAD OF CUPS! I have probably 6 more sets that I didn’t use. You have to play with them and get them in the right spots so that it flows. It would be much easier if you were only doing a few colors but who likes to do things the easy way???! pfssh not this girl. After you have it set up the way you want number them!!! That way you wont forget!!

2. I got the wood at Homie D’s. It was months ago so I don’t remember how much I spent. Its just particle board. I stuck a pin in the board and attached a string and pencil to it and drew a circle. Then I had Macho cut it out for me.

3. I modpodged paper onto it. I hated it. So then I modpodged tissue paper onto it. eeeh. So then I painted it white. Much better.

4. Of course I covered the center mark. Awesome. I had to rediscover the center so I measured the width and marked the center point at a few different angles and it looked like this:

Then Macho drilled a hole for the clock mechanism. I just used one off a clock that I already had but I am sure you can buy stuff if you want to go the “expensive” route…ha ha ha.

5. I used Gorilla Glue Epoxy to epoxy all of the teacups to the saucers and then the saucers to the wood. Seriously this is the strongest stuff on earth. period. end of story. Dont even try to use something else…you may regret it.

6. Then I had Macho mount it to the wall. This thing is freakin heavy. I was kind of worried about it falling off and killing someone so I had him screw it directly through the clock face into a stud. Then I painted the screw and you cant even tell.

There you have it! This treasure cost less than $50.00 and I LOVE it!

”DIY

DIY Club

85 thoughts on “Teacup Clock”

  6. I could not love that more! I think I have to add that to my project list. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Tatertots and Jello.

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  12. Totally AWESOME! Love it! I want to steal it or copy it or something! (I guess it would be difficult to steal since you had to screw it into the stud… darn!) Very cool!

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  16. Aweome! But I admit I was LOL at your writing. Hilarous! This thing looks HUGE. I can’t wait to think of my own rusty rendition of something similar. Great idea!

    SNS sidebar love for you this weekend! 🙂

    Donna

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  17. Wow! This is just lovely and interesting. What a conversation piece! I would love something like this for my kitchen. I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Grab my “featured” button.

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  18. Mandi, I just had to come back here and post a comment again after you said that you also had a greedy sister in the bosom department. Well, you know my greedy sister and I know you can attest to it – Marissa Hafen. LOL. Just had to let you know. 🙂 And don’t you just love her – she’s pretty darn fun and hilarious.

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  19. I absolutely love it!! I love how colorful yours is!! Beautiful!!
    By the way, I did my own mini wall of mirrors!! It’s on my blog! Thanks for the wonderful ideas and inspiration!!

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  27. This is amazing! I would never have thought of it and I actually have a collection of tea cups and saucers but I love the contemporary look. PERFECT for a kitchen. But sadly, I do not have enough wall to fit such a big clock. Ah but the dining room…So awesome.

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  28. I cannot believe how amazing this is! What a creative way to use tea cups and the colors, wow! I found you through Someday Crafts!

    Stop on over to my blog 1funkywoman.blogspot.com for a wonderful giveaway!

    Megan

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  32. Wow!!! You are sooo creative! Hi, Im Meme from Screaming Meme…I stumbled upon your blog and love it! Your clock is so cool! I look forward to reading your blog and seeing more wonderful treasures you create! Stop in sometime for a visit! Meme

    Reply

  35. This is just gorgeous! I want to try it with all red cups and saucers for my kitchen, I like it so much. I will probably have to paint them, there are zero chances of finding matching sets at thrift stores. Clever idea, well done!

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  37. that is crazy cute! I love it! I’m going to have to hit up all the antique/thrift stores here. You’ve been busy! I haven’t had time to read for a week or so and there’s so many new things! You’re amazing!

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  38. this is freaking awesome, I want to make one now….I made a clock a month or so ago using a cake plate. I have plenty of spare cups and saucers and think this would be awesome fun to do.

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  42. Wow, this is the third thing today that I must do. I stinkin love this project. You can bet I’m on the lookout for my own set of tea cups. Loving it, thanks.

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  45. what an awesome project! I’ve collected teacups for a long time, saving them for maybe a bridal shower, however, after that…it’s going to be a clock for sure!

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  47. Holy cow … that is crazy cool. I’m in love … and wish I was cool enough to pull something that fun and bright off in my kitchen.

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  49. I found you through the linky on Antique Texan. Love, love, love this project! How fabulous! Mind if I share a link to your post on my FB Fan page? I know my readers would totally dig this incredible project. I’m so happy to have found your blog today! Your newest follower, Jenn

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  51. Awesome! Thanks for sharing this great project. What a beautiful idea, and soooo simple to recreate. I really appreciate all the time you took to post this and share with all of us. It certainly was worth my time to stop by today.

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  57. Oh my gosh! I wish I had a place for this in my home. I LOVE THIS! Thanks for the tutorial, you know, in case I move and will make sure my new house has a place for this!

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  61. oh man i am so going to have to make one of these for myself love the idea. thanks =)

    i have a ton of spare tea cups just hanging arround hehe..

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  69. I LOOOOOOVEEEE THISS!!!!! I saw it aaaaaages ago, bookmarked your tutorial and started collecting tea cups when I had money/time, and I FINALLY have all I need to make it. Question though, because of the humongous size of it, I’m really thinking of just screwing it directly like you did, but have you thought of what to do when it runs out of batteries?? I’m totally calling my version of Macho over to help me put this baby up, I’d like to not have to screw/unscrew this when I have to switch batteries up… Have you thought of something different to use to hang it up? or heard of anyone who did something different? I’m seriously worried about the weight of it and not using something strong enough to hang it up…
    By the way, I freaking LOVELOVELOVE your stuff!!!

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  71. I love, love, love this! My Mom is a teacup collector so I MUST make one of these for her. Thank you to Kim at Today’s Creative Blog for sending me over here!

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  73. This is a cute idea, but may I suggest using only 4 cups and saucers, at 12, 3,6, and 9. Or making it smaller by using little girls’ teaset instead of full size…just a suggestion…it would weigh a lot less, too…
    …thank you for all your great craft ideas…
    …I am Blue Wolf…

    Reply

  76. I saw this and wanted to try it, but the clock is too large for any wall in my small two bedroom apartment. So, I used minature teacup/saucer sets. It worked like a charm. Thanks for sharing your amazing idea.

    Reply

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