DIY Home Home Organization

How To Hang a DIY Spool Clock

Okay my friends, so many of you have asked about the giant spool clock that we made and hung in our living room, so I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial for you! I didn’t take a ton of photos because I wasn’t expecting to write this, so just roll with me here!

You may recognize this photo from our Family Room Farmhouse Facelift:

Family Room Farmhouse Facelift! | Check out this living room / family room makeover - a touch of charm and a whole lot of character and fixer upper design in this cape style family room space. GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

That’s the finished product! Below I’m going to detail what we did, and how you can make your own!

Here’s what you need…

  1. Acquire a wooden electrical spool from an electrical supply house or other recycling center. Ask around! We got ours for free. 
  2. Disassemble the spool so that you have two large round pieces (the top and bottom) If you do this gently enough, you can save the center slats to make wooden signs!
  3. Choose which section you’re going to use for your clock (you only need one!) How to make and hang a DIY wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk
  4. Give your giant wooden circle a quick wipe down to remove any dust/dirt.
  5. Choose your paint (I used a bright flat white)
  6. Dry brush your paint onto the soon to be clock. This is a super simple technique, basically dip the very tip of your brush into the paint, then wipe it off on the edge of the can a few times so there is only a small amount of paint on the brush. It creates a rustic look and is SO easy to do! I skipped adding a coat of poly because this is hanging in our living room, so there’s no risk of humidity or water damage. 

How to make and hang a DIY wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

Now that the color is finished, you want to hang it on the wall before you add the numbers. These suckers are SO heavy, so maneuvering can be difficult, and you don’t want to have to worry about making sure the numbers are level – add them after!

Note: I didn’t want to add clock hardware, I like the look of it as is – but you can find different size hardware on Amazon!

Here’s what you need to hang the clock…

Here’s how to hang it…

  1. Like I said, these are so heavy, so you really want 2-3 people for this job. Mr. Kirk took it upon himself to hang ours up while I was getting all three kids ready for bed, but I really do not recommend this! He told me he used a “dead man” to help him hold it up while he bolted it to the studs – take my advice and don’t do that. Step one, ask for help!
  2. Once you have your location decided, you want to use a stud finder to locate the two studs you’ll be bolting the clock to, and mark these spots off with a pencil mark. 
  3. We used 4 bolts, 2 in each stud. You’ll want to measure out these 4 bolt spots on your clock (taking into consideration the distance between studs for the horizontal measurement and then spacing them out equally vertically)
  4. Once you have the 4 spots marked out on your clock AND on the wall, you can pre-drill the holes in the clock if you want, this is an optional step that we didn’t do. 
  5. Next, have one or two people hold the clock up, position it correctly so that all the marks on the wall and clock meet up, and bolt away. 
  6. Once this is secured on the wall, you should be able to pull on it, or even hang on it, without it budging!
  7. The last step is to add your numbers! You can measure these spots out equally or eyeball them like we did.
  8. That’s it! You’re the proud new owner of a DIY spool clock, that was easy huh? 😉

I’d love for you to click and follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for more DIY fun! You can pin one of the images below to save this post for later. 

Family Room Farmhouse Facelift! | Check out this living room / family room makeover - a touch of charm and a whole lot of character and fixer upper design in this cape style family room space. GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

How to make and hang a DIY wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk


How to make and hang a DIY wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | How to hang a wooden spool clock | GinaKirk.com @ginaekirk

 

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Vivianna @ Mums Orchard House
    May 26, 2016 at 12:34 am

    Love this! Such a great idea!

  • Reply
    Ashleigh
    May 30, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    This is so creative and came out great!!

    I’d love it if you shared this at my weekly link party!
    http://www.twentysomethinginthe2010s.com/peace-love-linkup-009/

  • Reply
    Jennifer Turner
    July 6, 2016 at 2:57 am

    Could you please tell me the dimensions of the spool circle?

    • Reply
      Gina
      July 27, 2016 at 2:32 am

      Hi Jennifer! The spool is 36 inches across.

    Leave a Reply to Jennifer Turner Cancel Reply