Time Redeux

I had an old retro looking clock that the mechanism had gone out on.  I really liked the clock, so I figured it shouldn't be too hard to fix.  I went to JoAnn's and found a $8 (-40% for the coupon) mechanism with a long shank.  Figured that had to be it, since the clock was so thick.  Wrong.  It was so long that the clock wouldn't go back together.  I decided it had to be the shorter one.  So I went back to JoAnn's.  Returned the long shank, got the shorter one (same price, but 50% off coupon this time).  Took it home and the thing hit the glass, thus it wasn't moving time! 

I was in Wal-Mart one night and found this little clock though.  It appeared to have a really short shank.  Plus, the clock was just $4!  No coupon necessary.  I decided to buy it and try it.

I ripped into it as soon as I got home to see if this was the solution.  I pulled the "retro" clock back open and changed one mechanism to the other.  It wouldn't move!  Turns out the the hands were too long!!!  I looked at it for a bit and then after ruling out burning and melting the ends off - little too dangerous and figured the smell wouldn't be good.  I took an electric nail file and filed off the end of the longest hand, rounding it to where no one would even know the difference.  Well, if you look really, really, really close...you might.  But why would you want to?  The good part is that the clock finally worked!!! 

But then there was another issue.  What to do with the $4 leftover clock from Wal-Mart.  Or rather the frame with the glass and paper liner with numbers on it that certainly wasn't much of a clock now.  I had a thought, but then it was making it work that was another issue.  I was going to try to find chalkboard contact paper locally.  It wasn't easy.  I did finally find it at a Hobby Lobby, even after a clerk told us that they didn't carry that.  Actually, they do.  It just didn't have the phrase "contact paper" attached to it.  You have to be so precise when asking for things apparently.  He did direct us to some 12x12 sheets of paper that were also chalkboard surface.  One sheet was $1.99.  A roll of the adhesive paper was $7.99.  It can also be found online, by clicking here.  Okay, so now onto what I did.  I took the new clock that saved my sanity and gave it a new life as a small chalkboard.

I took it back apart and using the glass pressed to the backside of the chalkboard adhesive paper, I marked around, cut it out (duh!), peeled off the backing and stuck it down.  It is repositionable...luckily because I did have to do that a few times.  You may want to have a credit card handy to smooth out any bubbles.  That does cause a problem as well.  Not sure yet where I'll place it.  Right now I just took a quick picture for this post.  It's not the easiest thing to get a photo of with the glare that it causes when the flash hits even the chalkboard.

Note that SOME chalkboard surfaces such as these require that you rub all over it with a piece of chalk to "condition" the surface a few times before first use.  This particular paper took the chalk very well.

Tip - Gardening and P-Touch

Last year, when starting the garden, I had these markers. They include a little golf-sized pencil in a package of 25 "T-Labels." You can find them at Wal-Mart for somewhere around $3. I was going to be good about marking everything, but I didn't care for the way the pencil looked, not to mention that without going over it several times, you couldn't really read what it was.

I decided to write it on the backside with a pen and utilize a P-Touch to print labels for the front side making it what was visible. I wasn't sure how weatherproof they would be. After the garden decided it was finished for 2008 and the remains had been removed, I forgot to take in the labels. I just pulled them back out of the ground this week and washed them off. As you can see, they still looked perfect and totally reusable even after going through rain, sleet, snow, hail, sun, and anything else you can think of. They really survived much better than I ever imagined they would. And now they're usable for this year as well. Since I'm planting different things, will just be pulling off the old labels and replacing them with new ones.

I'm usually really bad at seeds, but I decided to try again. I just started some seeds, April 27th, to see if I could get them to survive this time around. I was really surprised at how quickly they're starting to sprout. I've gotten some established plants to plant, but then decided to try Cherry Tomatoes and Sweet Pepper from seeds. Then I also planted some flowering things for other areas. The Cypress Vines and Cardinal Climber Vine have already come up by inches after just two days. It's amazing. They actually grew by an inch within something like four hours the second day. The Cherry Tomatoes have just started emerging today. Those are the ones that I'm really hoping do well. Below is the tray. Some of these may have to be moved soon so the others can have the greenhouse cover - the anxious ones have forced the top off now. Now I just have to see if I can get them to survive and actually produce either vegetables or blooms!