Scrap Wood Wall Clock with Raised Mandala Stencil
Ever since I made this 3D textured fabric art, I’ve gone a little overboard with putting raised stencils on everything. From cardboard to nuzzling horses, nothing is safe anymore. So, when our Da Vinci canvas clock gave up the ghost a few weeks back, I didn’t need an excuse to make another one. Only this time, I chose a piece of scrap wood for the base of my wall clock and added a raised mandala stencil.
Sacred mandalas are perfect for something like this. In fact, the Sanskrit word “Mandala” means circle and the pattern was traditionally repeated in four equal quadrants.
Since my wall clock doesn’t have any numbers, those quadrants visually split the stencil into 15-minute “pie slices” for each quarter of an hour.
Which makes it easier to read for those of us who grew up watching hour and minute hands move around a circle.
RightyO, before I show you how to make a raised mandala stencil wall clock using scrap wood, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
What you need
- Stencil (traditional mandala stencils work best)
- A scrap piece of wood that’s wide enough for your stencil
- Raised stencil paste (homemade recipe here)
- Clock mechanism and batteries
- Hammer and chisels
- Drill and drill bits
- Sander
How to make a raise Mandala Stencil Wall Clock
Using your stencil as a guide cut a piece of scrap wood to size.
Our homemade 3D texture paste is water based and I had no idea what this piece of scrap wood had been stained with (I believe most pastes are). Just to be safe, I gave it a good sanding to get rid of the old color and smooth it out.
Place the stencil on the cut piece of wood and mark the center point.
We’ll be adding the threaded spindle that holds the clock hands where the mark is in the next step.
Fitting the clock mechanism
The clock mechanisms you find at most craft stores consist of three main parts:
- A box that houses the tick-tock bits and battery
- A threaded spindle
- Two or three clock hands (minute, hour and sometimes a second hand)
If your mechanism looks like the one above, you only need a drill bit that’s just a teeny bit wider than the spindle. My spindle tapered towards the bottom, so I used both a countersink and a wooden drill bit to make the hole.
Depending on how thick your piece of scrap wood is you may also need to chisel away a compartment of some sort to fit the tick-tock bits. Easy enough to do. On the back side of the wood, place the clock mechanism face down into the hole. Trace around the black box that houses all the bits.
Use a hammer and chisel to chip away the wood using the outline as a guide. If you’ve never done something like that, this video will have you chiseling away in no time.
Test fit the mechanism until the chiseled area is big and deep enough. The mechanism needs to sit flush inside the hole.
You want a good piece of the threaded spindle to stick out on the other side.
Now that the prep work is done, we can move on to making our wall clock pretty and adding the raised stencil detail. I wanted to keep as much of that beautiful wood grain as possible, so I opted for a homemade tea bag stain.
Staining wood with tea bags
Staining wood with tea bags is both inexpensive and easy to do. You can use any household brand, but keep in mind the type of tea plays a role in the final color. Rooibos tea makes a reddish stain while Earl Grey will be an ashy grey. Be sure to experiment on a piece of scrap wood if you’re not sure. Tea wood stain works best on raw, unstained wood.
Brew up a cup of your favorite tea and set it aside to cool down. The stronger the brew the darker the stain.
Use your fingers, a sponge, cloth, paintbrush, or tea bag to smoosh the stain into the wood.
Leave to dry completely and apply a second coat for a darker stain. Keep the tea leaves handy if you want to add more texture to the raised stencil.
How to add the raised stencil
Place the stencil on the wood making sure to line up the center marks.
Mix up a batch of homemade stencil paste (or use the store-bought version) and smear it over the stencil. Don’t apply a very thick layer. You don’t want the clock hands will get stuck on the raised stencil.
For added texture you can mix the tea leaves and sawdust into the paste while it’s still wet.
Carefully peel the stencil up and leave the paste to dry completely before moving on to the next step.
Adding the clock mechanism
Almost done. Working from the back, insert the threaded spindle and the clock mechanism into the hole (1). On the front side of the wall clock add the washer (2) and then tighten the collar nut around the spindle to secure (3). Pop the hour, minute, and second hand on to the spindle (4) making sure the hands are parallel so they don’t crash into each other as they move around the clock.
Pop in a battery and set the time.
Hang and enjoy.
I hung mine over my work bench where she can keep our rustic, nuzzling horses company.
Not a bad way to add a timeless and functional boho vibe to our décor and it’s eco-friendly too. Just the way I like it.
Have you made you own wall clock? What did you use?
If you like the idea of making a scrap wood wall clock with raised stencil detail don’t forget to pin it for later.
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And if you prefer to buy rather than DIY, then maybe these beauties will appeal.
And as always, wishing you a wonderful, crafty week filled with lots of love. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
Wow. Now that’s an easy DIY clock.. and so pretty too! The mandala pattern is perfect for this!
Thank you, Donna. I’m over the moon with how this one turned out.
Wow! This is amazing. So beautiful too. Looks like a lot of work though. Visiting from Calling Fellow Bloggers
Mmmmmmmm, adding the stencil was quick. Chopping a hole for the clock mechanism probably took the longest (maybe an hour) but totally worth it.
This is amazing Michelle! I never really thought that different varieties of tea would give you a different colour of stain; that’s what I call food for thought 🤣.
They do, especially Rooibos. It’s got a very distinctive red tinge.
I love the look of the raised stencil. It’s a beautiful clock with an old feel to it.
For a pre-millennium baby like me, good old fashioned clocks that go tick tock are still my fav. Digital clocks just seem so clinical.
This is absolutely gorgeous! Wow. I’d love to have something like this hanging up in my house. And, yes, only for those of us who know how to read it–ha ha. I taught high schoolers for a couple of years and there was a clock with hands in the room. I once asked the students what time it was (they aren’t allowed their phones), and nobody could tell me. ha I’m Pinning this beautiful project. The raised stencil idea is so neat. Thanks for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #39 linkup. Hope to see you next time, too.
LOL, Jennifer. I remember being shocked when one of kid’s friends said they couldn’t tell the time on an analog clock. My mind didn’t want to compute that someone couldn’t read the position of the hands, but in hindsight it makes sense. I do hope they never go out of fashion though, I’m quite fond of the old way of telling time. .
This is absolutely stunning, Michelle and I do believe I have some wood panels in the shed I could use to make something similar. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
You’re welcome, Suné. The most difficult thing about making the clock was fitting the mechanism.