Just for Fun

As training gears up (today is a 20 mile ride . . . and it is raining out), I thought I would share a little creative sunshine I discovered this morning. You've seen clocks made from bicycle parts, but now you could have your very own "spoke mirror" hanging on your wall. This decorating with recycled bicycle parts is the bomb-dot-com.

Tick Tock Bike Clock part two

A couple weeks ago we posted a Friday Connection on how to make clocks from bicycle chainrings. I thought I'd try my hand at crafting this little ticker myself, well two tickers that is.

On our weekly bike ride Michael and I stopped in at the Boise Bicycle Project (BBP) to scavenge for parts. I managed to walk out of the shop with two chainrings for ten bucks. One of the chainrings is from a 1930s model bike (Schwinn?).


With the use of some WD40, steel wool, and some serious elbow grease I was able to get the oldest chainring in tick tock shape. I purchased some fabric and a second clock mechanism at JoAnne Fabric and went to town. A couple changes I made to the original tutorial were using matte Mod Podge as an adhesive (it doesn't show through the fabric), gluing the clock mechanism to keep it from shifting, and hot gluing a bottle cap on the back for an extra hook. I also spray painted one set of the clock hands so they would be easily visible. (I think you could have a lot of fun making the clock arms vibrant, but that might be left for another time.)

This project only took a couple days to complete. One day for gluing/drying and one day to put it all together. All in all, it was pretty fun to make. Next time we'll have to see what other parts we can use to make a cool clock.

The Friday Connection

A few months ago we had a post on a cool clock made of bicycle parts that was for sale on Etsy. This was inspiring and propelled the purchase of some inexpensive clock parts. (Let's make our own clock shall we?)

Well, months later the parts are still sitting on the craft table awaiting some inspiration. That is where today's Friday Connection comes into play.

The Hipster Home [http://thehipsterh.me] site shows us just how to make a cool clock from bike parts for a fraction of the cost to purchase one. You could also deviate from the tutorial, making use of any number of parts—the possibilities are endless!

The only catch? If you make a clock you've got to email us, [stpexperiment@gmail.com] so we can share your craftiness with others. We'll post it here!

You show us yours and we'll show you ours (clocks that is)!

Happy Friday STP Experiment friends!