Upcycled Watch Project

on Jan 23, 2016

What do you do with watches that don’t work anymore? If you’re like me, you don’t throw them away, hoping that you could use them in another way! My mom always taught us to be creative in reusing things that would usually be thrown away.

The first thing to do is open up the watch, and remove the old straps.

I have some transparencies I made by putting transparent tape on ephemera, or color copied pictures.

Then you dip this in water, and remove the paper by rubbing it with your fingers. You will find that the design gets left on the tape.

Just be sure to remove all the paper and dry. It will still be a bit sticky, and you can stick it to some Transparency OHP Film (the ones you use for overhead projectors).

Cut a piece to fit the watch face.

Fit it into the watch face, replace the watch pieces. If you prefer, you can put a photograph of your sweetheart, or some words like “I love you”. Or you can even put a lock of hair or dried flowers instead of putting the watch back. The space between the face and the back is deep enough to put a memento in it.

I have a lot of jewelry components from old jewelry, and from too many trips to Divisoria. After looking through all the pieces, I decide to add it to a necklace.

Depending on what you have, you can add the watch to a bracelet, a bag ornament, or a key holder. You can also just decide to make it into a magnet.

Here’s the necklace with the upcycled watch.

I can even give it as a gift, if it’s packaged nicely!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Papemelroti's owner and artist Patricia Paterno has been married for 21 years to a man with a good heart. They have one son who is as funny as his dad. She has been working in the family business since she was 11. When she gets home from work, she stays in her craft room and makes collages, scrapbook layouts, ATCs, and thinks of ways to re-use things normal people would throw away. Visit her arts and crafts blog. She wants to be passionate about God's passions so she also made a blog, Hebrews 13:3, about their service in the QC Jail.

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