I have wanted to incorporate a cuckoo clock into Ivie’s room for such a long time. For some reason they are practically impossible to find in St. George. I even went as far as working one up in my Silhouette program to make a pillow or a piece of art.
But as luck would have it (the thrifting gods were smiling at me that day!) I found one at the DI (Utah’s version of Goodwill). It was in not good shape, pieces were missing (like the ticker and the crown) BUT it was a Cuckoo Clock!!
This is a simple update that anyone can do.
Wipe your clock down with a damp rag to remove all the dust that you can out of those cute carvings.
Tape off the areas that you want paint free. (The little painted details of the people were just too cute to cover up!!)
I decided to paint it Sun Yellow by Krylon. When you are painting something with a bright color (like yellow or orange) instead of having to do 5 coats, give it a white basecoat and your color will be truer and brighter. I didn’t even use primer I just used white.
Because the clock was not functional I clipped the super long chains and put the pinecone weights on at the lengths I wanted. They are sort of rusty and I love them!
Such an easy project and huge statement rolled in to one fabulous package!
Here are some of my favorite colorful cuckoos:
Source: sweetpaulmag-digital.com via HutchDana on Pinterest
Source: gizmodo.com via Jen on Pinterest
Source: thecompanystore.com via Torri on Pinterest
Source: 3.design-milk.com via Iris on Pinterest
Source: jomelrosedesign.com.au via Tracy on Pinterest
How bad do you want a Cuckoo Clock now?!
Love Your Guts, Mandi
That’s effing awesome. Yeah, I want one now.
Love it! We have a real cuckoo clock that does work. Love the look but it’s annoying at 3am.
I have a cuckoo clock sitting around! I’m not sure if it works or not. Maybe it needs a colorful facelift! My husband’s grandfather had a clock shop before he passed. He has a bunch of wood clock shells I hope to have time to craft with soon! Your’s turned out great! Love the bright yellow!
love cuckoo clocks! I made one with contact paper for a ‘minimal-effect’ !
https://www.inspirationrealisation.com/2012/03/diy-vinyl-cuckoo-clock.html
Yeah! I saw this on instagram (akapjthegreat) So glad you got it!
I love it! I love it! I LOVE IT!
MUST. HAVE. – – love it!
A girl after my own heart….I just painted a cuckoo clock of my own…and it’s yellow. Wish my photography was as good as yours 🙁
Love me some quirkiness!
https://www.aswellplacetodwell.com/2012/07/cuckoo-in-coconut.html
dang you! REALLY BAD! Time to thrift… again.
I love the bright yellow.
Such a fun statement piece! I would love to have this in my house.
so sweet 🙂 reminds me of afternoons at Gramma’s….and that is a good thang!
That is so amazing!!! I love the color you picked!
love! so fun!
LOVE THE CUCKOO CLOCK THE COLOR IS FANTASTIC,
LAUREN
I love this with my whole heart. My parents have one and I’m tagging it as mine when they kick the bucket.
Me! This is so stinking cute! Maybe I can convince my BFF to spray paint hers. It’s broken but hanging in her ultra kitch basement.
Nikki Kelly @ the ambitious procrastinator
i totally want one now!
Oh my…I have ALWAYS loved cuckoo clocks, but this takes it to a whole new level of awesome…I SO want one!
That is amazing! I love your yellow, I don’t care that it doesn’t work, it looks beautiful!
Oh my!!! I absolutely love it!
Want??? I NEED a cuckoo clock now! Yours is awesome! That rabbit and the pheasant…rooster…cuckoo???? Love the color and everything about it.
What a great little project! I love that ‘modern cuckoo’ with the stripes and the tiny little bird. How witty! This bedroom is shaping up to be incredible… Can’t wait to see it all finished someday!
Mandi, you so rock cuckoo clocks!! We had a co-worker of my husband’s pick one up for us when she went to Germany years ago. He gave her a tidy little sum of money to get us a really nice one… um lets just say she spent a total of $22 and came back with a bunch of change. Umm yeah… can you say made in China… seriously ugly and did NOT work worth anything!! We just got rid of it but man this would have been such the perfect makeover! Maybe the person who bought it will see this and will totally rock it!
So super cute, fabulous, and fantastic! I love it. Also, I noticed your new picture up top (may be late on this since I read mostly in google reader). You are so pretty and look like a lot of fun! 🙂
So bad.
Hi Mandi!
This is so down my ally. I’m from Germany. I started my blog with cuckoo clocks and dedicated my blog name to them.
cuckoo4design.blogspot.com
I would be so honored and thrilled if you would check it out.
I made several for my house including one for my daughter’s room.
https://cuckoo4design.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-lovehate-relationship-with-cuckoo.html
this one is colored:
https://cuckoo4design.blogspot.com/2012/07/lillys-cuckoo-clock-is-done_20.html
And, did you ever check out the German artist Stefan Strumbel and his insane, over-the-top cuckoo clocks?
I love your blog, you rock!
I love your clocks but i think the pink is my favorite!
Great idea! Most of my house is ‘done’ in primary colors (AZ). I’ll be lookin’ for a cuckoo now {yes, I do mean a clock}.
Love it!! I’ve always wanted one. When I was little my neighbor had one and I’d go to her house on the hour to hear it go off. They are so hard to find. Nice score!
So cool, cool, cool.
Ha! Love it! I have been searching ebay for a couple of weeks now looking for the perfect cuckoo clock, but i cant find one for a decent price – i would rather have DI prices 😉 I havent seen one yet there – lucky girl!
So AWESOME! You’re right- I totally want a cuckoo clock now!
I NEED one so ba now!!
An ex gave me a broken cuckoo almost the same as yours a few years ago! It had an elk head on the top and two rifles (looks like where your clips were on the roof). I took them off…too manly. It’s been hanging in the kitchen as is for a while now. Perhaps it’s time to paint!
I so want to do this!
I love the yellow! Love the picture of you too,(with the twitter,facebook,RSS, and all that jazz), SUPER CUTE!
Smiles!
Sammy ~ Renew Redo
I am now on a mission to find a cuckoo clock. I.LOVE.THIS.
When did you do this to me 🙁
We have a similar cuckoo clock… I love this idea! I’m all about painting our current hand-me-down clock! Love it!
Yes! Wonder how it would rust up?! 😀 This is so fab!!
Donna
I have a cuckoo clock given to me by my mother in law that I’ve been tempted to paint! I love these bright colors!! Thanks for sharing!
Barbara @ Chase the Star
Hey Mandi —
This is sooo weird…I just bought a broken Cuckoo Clock at Goodwill for $4.99…everyone was like…”oh, I remember those.” It took me forever to get all the guts out (since it didn’t work and my daughter wanted all the brass stuff for a steam punk collage). I just painted it glossy white and am headed to the craft store tomorrow for new works (quartz, thank you very much)…am leaving the pinecones and chain rusty, too! Great minds! I’m a newbie to crafts and such, but I’ll try to send you a picture when it’s done. Thanks for the confirmation of our “shared” good taste!
Its really informative post about glamor photography and found great comments at all.
This is such a great idea! I love the results, and seems super easy to do. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
https://styletrials.com