Cut Out + Keep

An Elephant Never Forgets The Time

A circus themed clock for kids to create or for the kid in you!

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/an-elephant-never-forgets-the-time • Posted by Doris B.

Here’s another clock tutorial. I found an image of an elephant balancing on a ball while looking for something else via Google. I fell in love with the vintage look of the original vintage image and transformed it into a child friendly clock. If you would like more detailed instructions regarding the installation of the clock mechanism, please read the “Face Time” tutorial. Materials: 1 sheet of shirt cardboard or scrap cardboard Pencil Ruler (optional) Double sided foam tape Awl or small nail Elephant balancing on a ball (Google image) Peel and stick gems (optional) Peel and stick wiggly eye Small dot stickers (alternatively, cut out of paper and glue down as I did) Scissors Standard clock mechanism kit (Michael’s has them but the clock hands are pretty limited) Another resource for clock mechanisms: www.klockit.com Permanent markers 1 AA battery

You will need

Project Budget
Reasonably Priced

Time

0 h 45

Difficulty

So-so
Medium final clock 1283368642

Description

Here’s another clock tutorial. I found an image of an elephant balancing on a ball while looking for something else via Google. I fell in love with the vintage look of the original vintage image and transformed it into a child friendly clock. If you would like more detailed instructions regarding the installation of the clock mechanism, please read the “Face Time” tutorial. Materials: 1 sheet of shirt cardboard or scrap cardboard Pencil Ruler (optional) Double sided foam tape Awl or small nail Elephant balancing on a ball (Google image) Peel and stick gems (optional) Peel and stick wiggly eye Small dot stickers (alternatively, cut out of paper and glue down as I did) Scissors Standard clock mechanism kit (Michael’s has them but the clock hands are pretty limited) Another resource for clock mechanisms: www.klockit.com Permanent markers 1 AA battery

Instructions

  1. Small materials 1283368169

    1) Google the following: “elephant balancing on a red ball”. You can aslo search for one at: www.shutterstock.com. The image you find here is not the exact image I used, but very similar. After you find an elephant image you plan to use, use a pencil to trace around a small or medium sized bowl shape onto white paper for the clock form. Cut the circle out and save it for tracing onto the cardboard. Near the top of the shirt cardboard, draw your elephant. Trace the paper circle onto the cardboard so that it looks like the elephant is now balancing on top of the ball.

  2. Small elephant with color 1283368488

    2) Fold the paper circle in half, then quarters, eighths and finally sixteenths. Use your pencil to poke a tiny hole into the center of the paper clock. Place the paper clock over your cardboard circle and mark the center hole onto the cardboard with a pencil. You may also want to mark the individual hours onto the clock face using the wedge measurements on your paper circle. Color in the elephant and clock face using the permanent markers.

  3. Small gems 1283376835

    3) I added some stick on gems to the elephant blanket and a peel and stick wiggle eye for the elephant’s eye. I then cut out little paper circles (tiny stickers would work just as well)and glued them down onto the clock face to signal each hour on the clock. Numbers are important for the kids to see and to help reinforce their understanding of time.

  4. Small hour hand 1283376970

    4) I always add a piece of double sided foam tape to the clock mechanism to help hold it in place on the cardboard. Poke a hole through the center of the cardboard clock face using the small nail or awl. Peel off the paper on the foam tape and push the mechanism through the back of the cardboard so that it comes through to the center front of the clock face. Attach the washer and bolt as instructed in the clock kit. Push on the hour hand, set the minute hand in place and secure with the tiny bolt and then snap on a second hand. A second hand will help a child to visualize that the clock is indeed working, so if you can get one, I highly recommend it. Pop in a AA battery and watch the second hand move.

  5. Small mech back 1283377155

    5) Hang the finished clock on a wall. There is usually a small cut out space in the back of the clock mechanism that will accommodate a small nail or hanging hook. The battery is not yet installed in this picture.

  6. Small final clock 1283377209

    6) Here is the final piece!