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Friday, February 5, 2010

Another Pottery Barn Copy Cat & A Field Trip

Last night my baby slept all night in her new room- ALL NIGHT! I should feel rested, energized, ready to face the day... Only, I stayed up til 1:00am fixing my newest project. This one has been a toughy- not because it's difficult, just because. It all started when the new pottery barn catalog arrived. See the clock face in the background? Not for sale. At least not at this time. Pottery Barn often squeezes in cool stuff that's not for sale- but occasionally it will show up at a later time- The game wheel in the current catalog originally showed up a few months ago and was not for sale. But enough about me stalking Pottery Barn.
I thought the clock must be a clock face mounted to a piece of wood until I turned a few pages and saw this picture.
Could it really just be painted on a piece of sheet metal? All night I dreamed of how I could replicate this industrial looking time piece. When I woke up I told Mr. Right, "There must be a salvage yard somewhere, where I can get a piece of sheet metal." Here comes the field trip. Davis Salvage and Metals in Phoenix. If you're not familiar it's a must visit.

Here's a glimpse of one small part of the yard. Steel everywhere. Mr. Right thought he was going to have to dig for the perfect piece until a nice man let us know they had pieces of sheet metal neatly standing on end at the back of the yard.
We picked out our piece and then weighed it on this really cool scale. .70 a pound. Ours weighed 30 pounds. Now the piece we picked out was 48 x 46. I knew the PB clock had to be around 46 inches square because the table it's pictured on is 48 inches long. So we opted to have it cut to a perfect square.
Here's the amazing cutter machine (I'm sure there's a more technical name, but I don't know it) The guy measured several different times, pushed a button and voila! A perfectly square piece of rusty sheet metal. Total $26
Finally, I can begin the clock. First I painted a coat of black paint- I'm not sure why- but it did prove to be a good thing when distressing it. Next came a coat of creamy white.
Now for the perfect circle. I used a screw, string and a pencil. After determining the perfect center my daughter held the screw in place while I traced the circle- this does not have to be perfect. I painted it black, then took a hammer to do some distressing.
Next, I cut out my roman numerals on my Cricut- This is just Times New Roman I, V, and X. I used the reverse as a stencil. You can kind of see the distress marks from the hammer. (Does anyone see the mistake I made?)
After setting the clock out in the weather for 10 days, to get it to rust, I discovered I made a big mistake. Look at the nine- now look where the eleven should be- OOPs another nine. I must have flipped my stencil. No biggie, just a little sanding, cut new stencil and reapply.
I was fairly happy with the rusting that was coming through the paint, but wanted to speed up the process. I sprayed it with vinegar, dug deeper gouges with a screw driver and wet it down several times a day. It helped a little, but then I remembered that 2 inch strip they cut off the original piece of sheet metal. Maybe if it rub that over the face of the clock the rust will transfer- Yep, it worked. Now my clock was ready for display, or so I thought. When Mr. Right leaned the clock on the fireplace (where I thought it was going) I didn't like it at all. I didn't realize how big an almost 4x4 clock would look in my 8 foot high ceiling house. So he moved it to rest on our sofa table- no good there either. I thought I found a wall in the TV room that might work, but as we walked with the clock through the kitchen I thought, maybe it should go here. We removed the antique window that was on display and decided it just might work. After drilling into my beadboard to hang the clock I didn't have the heart to tell Mr. Right I wasn't really liking it in the kitchen either. He was headed out of town so I said, "Thank you, it's perfect" and figured I could move it while he was gone. Well, at 11:00pm last night, after I finished visiting with Laura, I decided to figure out how I could fix my clock. Turns out all it needed was a little more distressing- okay, a lot a more distressing. I sanded away making the numbers and circle more muted and then applied a Ralph Lauren faux finish- Tobacco. Here she is...
I'm not 100% sure she'll stay in the kitchen, but when I woke up this morning I really liked the way she looked. Here's an upclose.
Let me know what you think? Should she stay in the kitchen? Also, take a look at Alchemy Junk's version. I was a little sad when I found out someone else also stalks Pottery Barn, while I was waiting for my clock to rust, they whipped one out using wood and Faux finishing- beautiful. Hope you've enjoyed. Love, Kelly

Linking Up to:

Remodelaholics anonymous at Remodelaholic

Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous

Furniture feature friday at Miss Mustard Seed’s

Saturday nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors





33 comments:

  1. I am in love with this! Great idea :)

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  2. Wow!! That is great!!! I really like it in the kitchen. It looks like it was meant to be there :)

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  3. yours is FANTASTIC!!! I wish I would have used sheet metal!! and thanks for linking up! I'm going to add a link of yours to mine too :)

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  4. It's great! The rust makes it perfect! It'll be fun to move around in different places too. :) Lisa~ www.livingmybestlifeii-lisa.blogspot.com

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  5. I thought I was the only one that lusted after the Pottery Barn items that are not for sale! That clock caught my eye the minute I picked up the catalog! You did a super job! I may have to copy your idea that you copied from Pottery Barn.

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  6. This looks fantastic. It's just as good as the Pottery Barn one and you have it before everyone else too! I admire your determination to get what you want and your perseverance to make it just right!

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  7. Super awesome. I'd say both of you did a great job knocking off the big guys....I'm totally impressed :)

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  8. looks great! and may i say. . .you are a patient woman! letting it sit out to rust for 10 days? i'm super impressed. i can hardly let paint dry on my projects before rushing to the next stage and getting them inside. your patience paid off big!

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  9. Thanks for sharing. I love it! It looks like you bought from a store.

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  10. I'm lovin' it. It's fabulous. I would NEVER be able to let it sit outside and rust for 10 days! Good work.

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  11. awesome !!!! may i ask how you hung it?? did you use wire on the back ?? I love it this will be a new project for me . beautiful job! I to love pottery barn. thanksfor posting this

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  12. We hung the clock by drilling two holes and screwing it directly to the wall. We have beadboard for the screws to dig into. I'd recommend using 2 mollies (I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled) if you're hanging it on drywall. Good luck. Please, please send us a pic if you decide to do this project.

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  13. So cool. I want to make one very very badly. Thanks for the inspiring post!

    And for linking up to SNS!
    FJ Donna

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  14. Super cool! I LOVE that it is really rusted! That is awesome!

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  15. I don't even know what to say...I am so impressed! Looooooooooove it! I have been wanting a 'big clock' so badly...now it seems do-able!

    Thanks for sharing your awesome talent!

    Susie

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  16. Great job! It looks better than the PB one!

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  17. WOW! I adore this! You did an awesome job and I just love it in the kitchen!

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  18. This is wonderful! I bought the wood yesterday to make one of these clocks but I may have to make a trip to my salvage yard for metal. Love it.

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  19. I could have sworn I post a comment on here earlier in the week... I've had frozen pc this week...

    well, I absolutely love this clock!
    You did a great job. I included you my Fake-Over highlights

    http://casual-cottage.blogspot.com/2010/02/fake-overs-i-likee.html

    Thanks for sharing this with us!

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  20. I LOVE this clock! I want a really big one and can never find one, so I guess you'll have to make me one! Lezlee

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  21. You did a fabulous job - I love it on the sheet metal with the rusting... and the final resting place for it is perfect - great symmetry on that larger wall. I love it!

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  22. Hello just call me a soon to be copy cat! What a great project!!!

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  23. I just love clock faces with roman numerals. I can't pass them up when I see a box lot at a flea market. You did a terrific job aging it. It looks wonderful, I just love it!

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  24. What an awesome Pottery Barn knock-off! Thanks for linkin' up to Frugalicious Friday!

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  25. This is so perfect, Great job! It is so hard with this blog world, you think you've come up with the perfect idea, only to find out it has been done... But I know exactly what you mean you think of it and create it and that is the joy right? and looking at it in your house!

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  26. It looks so cool! I really liked that clock face as well and you've done a wonderful job replicating it.

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  27. You did a great job on the clock face. You are really persistent! Yes, it is large but it fits that wall.

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  28. Love it!! Great job. Love the rusty metal look.

    blesssings

    barbara jean

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  29. I SO have to make this!!! I'm going to see if my husband can bring the metal home from work. hehe.

    Autumn
    TheFickleHobbyist.com

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  30. Love the sheet metal version! Looks great in your kitchen! Just rcv'd PB cat for Feb..how good are you w/wire? I want E on pg. 93..lol

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