Cute as a Button DIY Teacup Clock

Do you love vintage and thrifted teacups as much as I do?  If so, this DIY Teacup Clock project is for you!  There’s just something so delicate and beautiful about teacups, something so delightfully antique-y, am I right?  Honestly y’all I don’t normally like to play favorites with my DIYs but I have to say this has been one of my most favorite projects of all time!

I fell in love with a host of upcycled teacup projects on Pinterest, most of all this one on the right which was the original inspiration for this project.  I just loved the vintage feel of it and all of the different colors and designs.

There’s just one problem: as adorable as this piece is – and it most certainly is – it doesn’t serve any real purpose outside of being a wall decoration.  It seemed almost like a waste of creative energy to spend all of the time collecting teacups and piecing them together for something that served only to hang on my wall with no other function.  It was this thought that gave me the idea to make it into a clock which would be both beautiful and also functional – perfect!

Here’s What You Need:

• Approximately 14-16 teacups of choice, dependent upon size and how closely you want to cluster them together
• Epoxy (for attaching teacups to backing)
• Charger plate, solid circle of wood or any other backing material you may want for your clock
• Clock kit (I bought mine cheaply on Amazon)
• Power drill & large drill bit (to drill the hole in your clock backing and attach the clock kit)
• Batteries for your clock (I believe most of the clock kits take 1 AA)

Optional:  Enamel paint, paintbrush and stencils if you plan on painting the cups yourself (like I did)

Before You Get Started:

Painting the Cups

I sourced all of the teacups from my local Goodwill for just $0.99 per cup though it took several trips over several months to obtain a variety of different cups.  Even then, I found myself short on cups that weren’t just plain white with a fairly ho-hum pattern and when I checked prices on vintage teacups online, it became clear that the cost would be more than I could rationalize for a project like this.  With seemingly no other viable alternatives available, I took a leap of faith with my medicore-to-poor painting skills and decided I would create a few different patterned cups to round out the clock project.  I used enamel paint which gives them a shiny finish and some stencils I already had to create several interesting patterns.  This took a little time to do but it actually ended up being pretty fun and I was really happy with the results.

Instructions:

Once each of the teacups is to your liking (whether they are painted or you bought them the one you intend to use them), the first step in this process is using your drill and an appropriately sized drill bit to drill a hole in the exact center of your backing.

Then, once the hole has been made, attach the clock kit to the back side of your clock backing, push the screw of the clock kit through to the front side of your clock and make sure the screw is secured nice and tight.  You can then add the clock hands to the front side of your clock to complete the installation of the clock kit.

Next, you’ll start attaching the cups one-by-one to around the perimeter of your charger plate (or other clock backing) with the epoxy glue.  While you may be tempted to start gluing them all down immediately, I’d definitely suggest doing just one at a time and holding the cup in place for at least a few minutes after applying the epoxy to make sure that your cup stays in the position/at the angle that you’re going for.  If you don’t do this, I can almost guarantee your cups will inevitably shift and dry in a position you don’t want them in so please, just be patient and make sure that everything is drying the way you intended to get the best end result with your clock.

Suburban AF’s Tip:  DO NOT – I repeat – DO NOT try to use regular glue (vs an epoxy) for this project!  Other glues, including hot glue, are NOT strong enough to hold the teacups and you’re likely to end up with a bunch of teacups in pieces on the floor if you do this.  Seriously, just don’t do it.  Save yourself some time, frustration and teacups and just use the epoxy mmmkay?

I would suggest waiting 30-60 minutes in between cups to allow adequate time for the epoxy to dry.  Then, just keep adding one cup at a time using this same method until you have a full circle of cups attached to your clock facing.

Finally, just insert a AA battery into the clock kit housing on the back of your clock to start using and hang anywhere you’d like with an anchored nail or screw.

That’s it – your clock is all done!  Please feel free to like, share and/or join in the discussion with comments below to share your finished teacup clocks!  I’d love to see what all of your creative minds come up.

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