Time for a Book?

A while back, I grabbed this book for $1 at a local thrift store. A vintage large scale board book for teaching time, with a play clock on the cover. It had some minor damage to a few pages (just age related), so I didn't feel bad for what I was about to do to it.

Turn it into a real working clock for my girls room.

Total project cost around $7. It took me under an hour.
Super easy. I wouldn't lie to you.

I picked up clock hardware at a local craft store for $6, here's the before picture. Check the bottom of my post for inspiration on other books you can use for clocks. You can do this to ANY book (doesn't have to be a children's book).

Tools I used: Box cutter, needle nose pliers and a screwdriver. I used some paint for the new clock hardware because I didn't like the bright gold it came with (I brushed the hour, minute and second hand with green and purple acrylic paint).

I used the screwdriver & needle nose to pop out the old clock hands. I then used the box cutter to cut a square opening for the battery insert. I went a few pages deep. Once cut, I just inserted the hardware per the instructions & popped in the battery. That easy.

Since I plan to display this propped opened on a shelf,

 I left it just like this.

If you want to make one that hangs on the wall, you can put the insert through the very back of the book. Depending on how thick the book is, you may have to remove some pages and glue the book shut.

Here are some other book clocks I found online:

The Chocolate Rabbit, from Etsy Shop (BookClock)

Check out their store for many different kids of book clocks!

Here's one courtesy of LifeHacker.com They used stick-on numbers for the face of the book.

How cool are these three by Hilda Grahhnat?!

A lot of books at your local thrift store are fairly attractive (like these) after you remove the dust cover.

Here's one from Flavorwire.com

Here's another cute one. You can skip using numbers all together, use sticker/decal numbers, paint them on by hand or buy small wooden numbers at your local craft store. 

You can even save a few pages from the book and frame them as accessories to go with the clock. They make great personalized/unique gifts too!