The Watchmaker in Me

Way back, the profession I went to school for, was sales and I worked in a jewelry store. I guess a little bit of that has stuck with me and I now have a "thing" for clocks.

For quite some time I have been looking for a antique alarm clock and on this trip I found one! Sure it was over wound, but I wanted to take on the challenge and fix it.

When I opened it up I discovered that the insides were not screwed together, but riveted together. Until I figure out how to open and close up the insides - there will be no fixing this alarm clock.

I still love the look and it has a place on my night stand.

On a different day we visited one of the antique shops in Caldwell and this beauty called out to me.

Now to the real cool thing about it, it's a travel clock! You can flip up the back and roll up the front.

Is that cool or what?

I don't know what it is about this era, but I love the design, and the shape...everything.

And you know what, the best thing about it is that it actually works and keeps time pretty good too!

Aloha A Hui Hou!

Mantle Clock

So I finally got to put my little hands on it. The mantle clock I discovered on Craigslist and mentioned a few months ago.

The wood needs some TLC, I need to replace one of the feet in the front and the glass is scratched up a bit - but over all a real treasure.

On this trip I wanted to do so much more, but all I could do for the clock was put in a new quartz movement.

It was easy enough to take apart and put in a new movement, especially if you have been putting quartz clocks together for as long as I have.

The tapered shaft of the new movement had a different shape so I was not able to reuse the original hands of the clock. The ones that were included with the movement were gold, don't dig that too much - But the clock works!  As far as the hands go, I'll paint them next time, maybe even swap them out.

All in all, knowing that I can keep the existing face plate and just have to clean up the wood makes me very happy.

I placed it on the mantel for now, hoping to put it on top of the hutch once we have that in place.

Can't wait to get my hands on it again!

Aloha a Hui Hou!

Re-styled clock

OK, to tell this one I'm going to have to go waaaay back...around 7 years back....

There we were, still living in Waikiki, still diving...you know, back in the day. Rogers' old kitchen clock gave up and we needed a new one. I got lucky at Pricebusters and found a kitchen clock for a buck fifty....I can't even buy a quartz mechanism for that money. Of course I bought it. It looked kinda like this

We enjoyed the clock for a few years, until IT gave up. So I was looking for a new clock. On eBay I came across a seller that will personalize your kitchen clock. I picked one out and had it personalized.

The tops of the hands were originally black and they didn't pop off the face of the clock so it was hard to see the time. I took it apart and painted the tips red...there, that's better. Another thing, the clock was kinda small.

But wait, I'm crafty. I still had the other clock and the black clock fit EXACTLY into the middle of the frame from the other clock, so I glued it in place. To match the faceplate I painted the silver trim gold and the outer rim a tan color. It looked great and really fit in our kitchen.

I was looking forward to hanging it up in our new kitchen. So I packed it up and shipped it over.

Now I have some good news and some bad news. The good news it made it from Hawaii. Bad news is  that even though I packed it very well, the plexiglass had a small crack...but I think I can live with it.

ANYway, looking at it next to the cabs - the colors didn't work. That meant I could go to the craft store - which can always be a dangerous thing - and buy some paint. Which I did, along with some other craft items...of course.

This is how it turned out. I think it goes well with the colors in the kitchen and fits perfectly over the new archway.

I love that we have things that are uniquely ours.

Aloha a Hui Hou!

The Light Guides Me

I know. I shouldn't do it, but you just can't help but look and plan what you want your house to look like, or what you want to have in the garden.

So, there I was cruising thru Craigslist looking for a wood trunk like my dad's old army trunk that I had been using as a couch table when I was still living in Germany. One post caught my eye, titled "Junk in the Trunk". What the heck could that be? So I clicked and the seller had 4 pictures, each of a different item and one of them was a sundial.

Loved the aged look of it, and just the fact that it was a sundial - So COOL!

This is the pic that was in the ad

This is latin and means - The light guides me

I called the number in the ad and it was still available. He told me that it was about the size of a dinner plate and that Lumen Me Recit was embossed on the edge. He also said that in the picture it was filled with water. It was then I realized that the sail of the dial, that throws the shadow for the time, was actually a sail boat. It had our name all over it! The price was $40 and he said that he would hold it for us.

I asked Lisa if they were going to be in Boise (where the guy with the sundial was located) and as luck would have it, they were going to be in Boise on Monday and Tuesday.  They were so kind to pick it up for us while they were in town. Thanks so much Lisa & David.

Another thing to look forward to and I can't wait to get my hands on it and find out some more about it.

Aloha Hui Hou!

tic toc. tic toc

In my previous life I worked in a jewelry store and have liked clocks ever since. I've had kukucksuhren and wall clocks and anniversary clocks.....and when I think of our new home I think of a mantel clock.

Another thing that I've done in my previous life is make clocks, out of Fimo, plaster and wood....

Once again I started looking thru craigslist and found one. It looked like it was from the 50's or so, it was electric, nice form...all wood, but the cables were cut. I loved the look of it and knew I could buy a new mechani.

I looked around and I should have no problem getting a new mechanism for the clock and no problem to swap it out.

So looking forward to making this baby shine and tic toc again~

Aloha Hui Hou!