By Monica Ewing, Sunset senior designer
I decided that I needed a big, beautiful clock to make a statement on my wall, and couldn't find anything like what I imagined, so I figured out how to make my own clock out of a $7 lazy susan from IKEA. And—surprise—I got two for one. Here’s how I did it…
Big Red
This one is made from the top of the lazy susan. It’s 15” in diameter.
Step 1 Play
The fun part about this project is that the possibilities are endless. You can use paint, decoupage, stencils—the list goes on and on. I chose to use wooden shapes that I found at Michael’s. After I tried out several patterns on the clock face, I chose this flower design. I’m also making another with this circle pattern.
Step 2 Sand & paint
After lightly sanding the top and sides of the lazy Susan and the edges of the wood shapes, I removed the dust with tack cloth. Next I covered my work surface with a drop cloth, and painted a primer coat on all the pieces. (Special thanks to my neighbor Kristi for priming the petals for me!) Then I applied 2-3 coats of paint. For the big clock, I used Benjamin Moore paints: Umbria Red (1316), Space Black (2119-10), and a custom white created by Susan Delurgio. For the baby clock, I used Behr paints: Prelude (740E-3) and Lake Stream (PMD-24). Finally, I let the paint dry overnight.
Tip #1 Don’t disassemble the lazy susan until after you’ve painted it. It’s a cinch to paint the sides by just rotating it around.
Tip #2 Some of the pieces require a light sanding along the edge after the paint dries.
Step 3 Deconstruct & drill
I flipped the lazy susan over, and used pliers to unscrew the nut. Then I pulled the base straight up and off. Next I removed the four screws holding the turning mechanism. Using a ruler, I drew an X by connecting the screw holes. Then I drilled a hole through the middle of the X with a 5/16” bit.
Step 4 Glue
I applied a thin coat of wood glue with a toothpick to the back of each wooden shape and lightly pressed it down. For the flowers, I glued the centers down first to provide an anchor for placing the petals.
Step 5 Assemble
I bought quartz movements with free hands from Klockit, and assembled them according to the instructions. I used 7" hands (#66981) for this clock and 3 1/8" hands (#66930) for the Baby Blue clock. The movements came with a heavy-duty hanger, so all I needed to do was add a AA battery, set the clock, and hang it.
Baby Blue
This one is made from the base of the lazy susan. It’s 7” in diameter.
I followed the same steps as the big clock, with a few exceptions: 1) I drilled through the existing smaller hole. 2) I painted the sides a different color. Using a small paintbrush, I painted from the center outward to get a clean line at the edge where the two paint colors met. 3) To glue the blue dots in exactly the right spots, I measured with a protractor and placed them every 30 degrees.
In two weeks: Sunburst mirror.
