I apologize that I don’t have any instructions for these items, but they only need a few materials….well, actually, you will need a lot of watch parts.
When you go to auctions, at least auctions around where I live, I’ve picked up a lot of box lots of things from houses that are a mish mosh of whatever you can think of….kind of like someone’s junk drawer. I scored on a box that was full of old watch parts. Not sure why anyone had these many watch parts, maybe he was in the watch repair business, I don’t know, but I won the box…now what do I do with it?
I knew I wanted to do a collage of some sort, and I wanted to make jewelry as well, so I sorted out piles and thought about my collage first. A collage is nice for wall art, but if something can be functional as well, all the better. I looked at my frame collection, thinking I could make a frame, then spied a plain round mirror and thought a rim of watch parts would turn this plain mirror into a “timeless” piece to hang on the wall.
I again turned to my Laticrete mastic adhesive that can be found in any Home Improvement store, and I scooped out some and put into a container and added a few drops of black acrylic paint, stirred it to a nice gray color. I worked small sections on the mirror rim at a time, spreading the putty with a putty knife thick enough to set the watch part in but not too thick that it oozed up and the watch part got lost. I also layered parts on top of parts using just a little of the putty under each piece enough to hold it. Read the drying instructions from the putty container before trying to hang. The small mirror was hung mixed with other frames and art on the wall and looked great!
For the flower stem, I used lots of different found objects. I broke off the metal leaves from a wall piece that was past its prime and curved the stems to loop through an old metal gear part (you could use anything that is small and has holes, preferable round) For the stem, I had an old metal spatula that I removed the flipper part with metal cutters leaving a small square area that I folded over to wire the flower head to. I had found some metal wire covering tube called loom, I think, that was rusted and I have no idea what it was off of, but I liked how I could bend it as leaves and wired them to the stem. The face of the flower was a broken pocket watch that was used as is and wired to the gear part. For the stamen of the flower, I used a pinch of wire shavings, just tucked it in and let it hang. This flower has more of a steampunk feel to it, and I mixed the flower in as a “timeless” bouquet.
Keep “watch” for any loose parts of things laying around, they could be the perfect component to add on a mirror, frame or box for a new functional use or as a decorative piece. Some things so simple can take no “time” at all!
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