a cloche call.

Published on by Quandie

I originally purchased this really cool clock at a garage sale over a decade ago.

It didn’t quite look like that when I bought it.  It had glass over the front, and of course it had hands and was a functioning clock.

I had it hanging in my living room.  But one dark, stormy night (OK, I don’t know that it was actually stormy) it fell off the wall startling both Mr. Q and me awake from a deep slumber.

I was bummed to find that the glass had broken and the metal clock hands were bent out of shape.  I’d still have been happy using the clock without the glass, but those hands never did work right again.  So I tucked it away out in the carriage house thinking that one day I would fix it.

Remember those library books I reviewed while visiting my mom in February?  Well, flea market chic had this photo in it …

It’s my clock!  And they called it a French Train Station clock, or some such equally fabulous name (sorry, I didn’t take specific note).  That sure made it seem like a more glamorous item.

Seeing it in the book inspired me to pull it back out of the carriage house once I’d returned home from my mom’s house last time.  I purchased one of those battery operated clock kits from my local hobby store and figured it would be super simple to just pop it in.  But the hands were too small, and too shiny, and just didn’t fit with the look of the clock.

I have to confess to you guys, I’m sure I could try and find a more suitable clock kit to repair it with.  And I could probably get the glass replaced fairly cheaply.  But I tend to get easily frustrated with these sorts of projects and just throw in the towel.  I had enjoyed the clock for a long time, I didn’t spend much on it in the first place, maybe it was time to just chuck it.

I had placed it on the table near the door to be carried out to the trash on my next trip outside.

But then my friend Patty stopped by.  She saw it there and mentioned how fabulous it was, and I told her my sad story and that I was at the point where I was going to just toss it.  And she said ‘why don’t you just use it like that, laying flat on a table as some sort of pedestal for something’.

Eureka!  What a brilliant idea!  Why didn’t I think of that?

And just a foot away on that same table was this …

the giant cloche that I purchased at one of my local garden centers just after Christmas.

I had it sitting on the wooden charger that I painted and added a clock transfer to, remember?

So I thought, hey, that cloche just might fit perfectly on top of the French clock.  So I whipped it off the charger and what do you know?  It did fit perfectly!

How cool is that?

I switched out the black books that I was using under the cloche for this warmer toned brown book.  I think it works better with the brown clock.

But otherwise, I kept the rest of the items that I used originally under the cloche.

To think that I nearly threw that clock in the trash, what a cloche call (pun compliments of Mr. Q)!

What do you think?  Pretty awesome, right?  Thank you Patti for giving me this fabulous idea!

39 thoughts on “a cloche call.”

  1. No wonder you two are friends… you’re both out of the box thinkers! Great save, and lots of inspiration for your followers.

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  3. Wow! Looks awesome. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh set of eyes! How funny that you saw your exact clock in a book. Meant to be!

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  7. You know what they say about a “fresh set of eyes”,good catch friend Patti! It looks fabulous and you can continue to enjoy it.

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  9. The cloche arrangement with the charger was attractive, but I think the clock & cloche arrangement is so much better! I love the bit of height the clock gives. The cloche & clock just fit together so well!

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  13. Oh my!! I can’t believe you even THOUGHT about throwing that away!! It’s fantastic and what a great idea it turned out to be!

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  14. That is so perfect! I’m a big cloche user! I love love love the old clock base! Lucky the found each other and got married! 😉😉😉
    Smiles, Alice

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  19. I’ve been using these old clocks for quite awhile in just this way….unique presentations! Now though, when read on your blog, I suppose they will be harder to find around me! Ha. I do love your work, your ideas, and enthusiasm for redoing old.

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    1. Thanks Kris! Sometimes I do wonder if I shoot myself in the foot every time I post one of these projects for that same reason, making things harder to find around me 😉

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