Decorative Paper Mache Clock

Wow, do I have a project for you. I can truly say that I have never seen a book clock, let alone made one, until now. This project looks overwhelming, but it was fairly easy to do. If you can glue and paint, you can create this beautiful book clock. I am so excited about this project that I want to jump right in.

Kathy Zengolewicz

Here is what you will need to get started:

• 1 Paper mache book box
• Scrapbook papers: Brick Red, Musical notes (or anything you choose)
• A clock kit
• Acrylic paints: Barn red, Yellow-tan
• A ½ inch flat paintbrush
• A glue stick
• Paper trimmer
• Scissors
• Black pen, or computer-generated text

Start by painting the pages of the books with yellow-tan. Apply two coats letting them dry between coats. Paint the remainder of the book dark brown. Apply two coats here too, and let them dry in between coats.

Drill or cut a hole in the front of the book and follow the manufacturer’s directions for the clock kit.

Take the scrapbook paper, I used the musical notes, and glue them on the front and back of the book box. Cut the clock hole through the paper. Cut a strip of the red paper to wrap around the spine of the book and overlap slightly in the front and the back of the book.

Insert the clock and glue the clock numbers to the front of the box. To make the clock look authentically old you can cut out some rectangular book labels from scrap world map paper and either print a title with a black pen or use the computer to create text.

I was very impress with the outcome of this work and I’m sure that you will be too.