Sunday, September 13, 2020

Free Templates! Our Small World Clock DIY & Video Tutorial

It's pretty rare for John and I to want to make a project twice, but after we finished the Small World clock for our friends Chris & Brandon, we decided we had to do that again. And because I'm me, we had to make it even cheaper and with a few tweaks. 

For comparison, here's the first one we made, using a $30 clock from Amazon:


 And here's version 2.0, which is a tiny bit smaller, and made from 2 sheets of foam board:

 

This time we swapped the gold and silver, and made it a little more 3D by adding a second layer of foam for the eye section, which better mimics the original:

Here's the original from the ride in Disneyland, btw:


The total cost for version 2.0 is about $15 (assuming you have a Cricut & vinyl) and it's incredibly lightweight. I'm talking poster tack would hold this baby up, so it's great for renters or kids' rooms or anywhere else you don't want to hang a heavy clock.

If you'd rather have the sturdier wooden version, though, then I recommend buying
this $30 clock from Amazon and painting it white, like we did here.

So, ready to make your own Small World clock? Or ready to watch ME make one in about 2 minutes?

 

BOOM.
(Ok, so John helped.)

Now here's the stuff you need:

First, our 3 template files. These are .pngs, and John's made the first two exactly 11 inches square, so they fit perfectly on a 12 inch cutting mat. Right-click to embiggen, then save to your desktop:




Again, those tiny boxes in each corner should define an 11 inch square.

Then here are the hour marker dots & glitter inserts:

Again, it should measure 11 inches between the tiny corner squares.

John spent a lot of time getting those templates just right, and I don't think you'll find a Small World template this big or this clean anywhere else online for free. So be sure to pin/bookmark/save this post for the future! I really can't wait to see what else y'all create with it.

If you're making the foam board version of the clock then all you need besides a Cricut (and the foam board, of course) is a clock kit. We used this one, but you can find them at any craft store for about $10.

 Oh, forgot to mention: with a standard sheet of foam board you'll get a 20 inch clock, which doesn't leave much room for hour markers with our template. So if you want to add numbers or dashes to your clock, just shrink our template down a bit. You'll have to experiment with how much.

I hope this inspires some magical crafting out there! And hey, if you found this useful, or if you like my tutorials, or you're just one of those people who like supporting other people on the internet, then you can always do that through Paypal. We have an option for monthly supporters (which you can cancel anytime), and another option for one-time tips/donations. Either way gets you automatically entered into our monthly Squeegineer give-aways, but let's be real: the stuff John and I give away isn't anything big. They're just little ways for us to say "thank you" and "we love you" and  "you've been with me HOW many years??? Dang, love, take my Hei-Hei hat. Or how 'bout some pins? Maybe an icing bracelet? PLEASE JUST TAKE SOMETHING I LOVE YOUUU."
 

I know the vast majority of us can't afford to support strangers on the internet, though, so don't you dare feel pressured or guilty or lesser when I mention money stuff, k? Just your being here is all I need, so thank you for every click, every comment, every card, every share. You make my life better in a way only you can.

Happy Sunday!

7 comments:

  1. Or if you’re doing the foam board version, you can stick dots on sticks into the foam board edge to extend the hour markers. It will look like the cheek bursts!

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  2. Looks fabulous, although I won't be trying it (no Cricut, and hand-cutting is *not* my thing).

    I do love seeing your projects. :D

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  3. you are amazing - what a clever clock!

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  4. Version 2.0 is amazing! Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Love all your ideas! Thank you so much for sharing so that others can experiment. Can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

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  6. I'd love to see someone try with big gold painted push pins on the cheeks to give it more 3D effects.

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