IKEA Stomma Clock Hack | This WONDERfilled Life





Remember last post when I talked about doing things for myself and limiting the time I work on things for others? I've been trying to utilize the "Pomodoro Technique" more.  I was introduced to this term and time handling method a few years ago, and I've found that when I feel overwhelmed or get too bogged down in a project (whether for myself or for others) this really helps me to limit my brain power and keep things fresh.  For those unfamiliar :
The Pomodoro Technique  (per Wikipediais a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo[1] in the late 1980s.[2] The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, from the Italian word for 'tomato', after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student.[3][4]

I'm using it today to knock out some more things on my GIANT to do list and forcing myself to get back to things that matter to me...like my blog!  So, I have a SUPER easy and inexpensive project to share today...and it all about TIME! 

My craft studio, laundry, kids play room and Super's music studio is all housed in our open basement in our Chicago Bungalow.  It's an unfinished space but has AC and heat and we actually use the snot out of it.  We recently opened up the play area portion to double it's size, added a couch and some really awesome Nugget fort building furniture and a projector and we seriously have our own movie theater.  It's great because the kids can play while Super and I work, craft, do laundry etc but we're all together.  The only thing is that we were constantly wondering what the time was! HA! We had a clock down there from our kitchen but after almost 20 years it gave up the ghost and we're trying to not be as tied to our phones.  I really wanted something we could just look up and SEE from anywhere in the basement...but I'm super cheap...and since the basement isn't finished and has no real design aesthetic I didn't want to buy something,  spending the time and money, to find that it wouldn't work once we DID decided what we wanted to do down there.  So off to IKEA we ran to find the least expensive wall clock we could. 

I present the STOMMA, whose price tag weighs in at a hefty $2.99 (LOL)


This baby is cheap, decent size (just under 8" across) and EASY to customize to any space!

First thing I did was to take the cardboard backing off.



Next I had to pry off the clear plastic front.  There are three tabs that you sort of need to work at each one a little at a time to get off.  


With the front off I could start decorating.  The sky is the limit to be honest.  I was going for fast, visible and cheap...so I opted to use Sharpie markers.  



You could use fabric, paint, vinyl....I mean really your imagination could run wild. If you're new to This WONDERfilled Life you don't know about my rainbow obsession...but I have one and I OF COURSE decided to go with it for this project.  


I decided what order and which colors and went to town.  It was THAT easy.  I colored just the tops of the numbers and corresponding dashes but if you were super careful you could colors the sides probably too, just depends on how steady your hand is.  


When I was done I decided I wanted to make the "minutes" pop more so I grabbed the smaller Sharpies in black and darkened them.  That's it! I popped the cover back on and now we have a colorful, totally Wonder Jo, easily visible clock for our basement!


How fun would this project be for the little time learners in your life? I was just thinking the other day that P would LOVE to decorate her own clock and it might help her to learn to tell time as well!  You could do this as a birthday party craft or in school...so many different applications!  

How would YOU decorate this clock? If you try it out post pictures! I'd love to see them!!


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