Reuse A Broken Clock To Make A Brand New Vintage-Inspired Timepiece

There's nothing more rewarding than finding ways to reuse old or broken items in your home. If you have a clock with a cracked face or damaged frame, you can remove the hands and power source and create a whole new timepiece. All you need is something to use as a new foundation and a way to mark the time. In a fun and funky hark back to the age of soda shops and poodle skirts, YouTube user, Crafty Panda Bubbly, upcycled an old music record for this task, which we're using as a jumping off point of inspiration. 

This craft involves gluing dominos onto a vinyl album to mark the hours, and then attaching a battery pack and the hands of a broken clock. The finished product gives a mid-century modern vibe with bold colors, playful accents, and kitschy Americana touches. If you're looking for home decor ideas to bring back the '50s, this vinyl timekeeper is a great place to start. Check out how to make your own DIY clock with a few old or thrifted items and some hot glue.

For truly artistic wall clocks that you'll want in your home, your best option is to design one yourself — and there's no better place to gather materials than an old timepiece you can no longer use. Step one for this craft is carefully disassembling the broken clock to retrieve the hands and power source. You'll also need a glue gun, a vinyl record, and a box of colorful dominoes, like the 4SGM double six batch. Once you've collected your supplies, it's time to DIY.

Begin by attaching the hands and power source to the center of the record. These should click back together the same way they did when you removed them from the original clock. If the center hole is too large, adhere a piece of cardboard to the back and poke a hole through it with a pencil to add the hardware. Next, hot glue the dominoes around the face plate from one to 12. You may want to use a pencil and ruler to measure where these go before gluing so they're evenly spaced. That's all there is to it. Who knew you could upcycle your old vinyl records as home decor? The best part of this project is the many levels of customization you can achieve.

There are endless opportunities to personalize your upcycled clock. The reuse of a vinyl record means you can play with the theme of your design a little bit. Stick to the mid-century modern aesthetic by opting for an album by a notable '50s singer like Elvis Presley or Buddy Holly, or go modern with an EP by The Strokes. Swap out the dominoes for stickers, like the black Lrogoe waterproof adhesive numbers to refine the look or stencil (or draw) on new ones. You can also completely hide the fact that you're using a record.

TikTok user, @thecorneruc, camouflaged her vinyl disc with paint, transforming it into an entirely new object. Copy this technique with a few paint pens like the Art+soul acrylic dual-tip markers, or go with a 16-pack of Apple Barrel acrylic craft paint and brush it on. The level of customization allows you to DIY a clock that goes perfectly well in your space, or the space of a loved one that you're creating the clock for (they make great gifts!). However you decorate your new clock, you'll have a one-of-a-kind way to keep time and add a vintage vibe to your home without buying something new.