Inexpensive DIY Music Clock

Take your classroom to the next level by changing up the small things in your room. Take your clock for instance. My room came with a standard clock that I thought was a bit boring as well as dusty and worse for wear. So I went online and ordered a beautiful music clock for around $20. I was a bit disappointed that it was basically the same clock (pretty cheap) as in my classroom, just smaller. But it did come with the fancy music images on the face. But it only worked for a couple of years and stopped keeping time this summer.

This past week I decided it was time for a clock makeover. I took apart the old clock and removed the printed paper. Then I created this new design on Adobe Illustrator by just using my logo and adding numbers. I printed it out on a large printer I have here at home. Next I created a template on my Cricut Maker and cut it out. Finally I assembled the clock back together and delivered it back to school.

Here’s the original clock that I started with. As you can see it needed a lot of love!

Musical clock directions:

Measure your clock. Mine is 11.7 inches inside but my Cricut Maker will only cut up to 11.5″. But I found that it still fit perfectly and maybe 11.7 might’ve been too big anyways.

If you like my clock design, head over to my library and download the free template.

If you use my dimensions, you will need a larger than standard printer to print it off. Office Depot and Office Max can definitely handle that if you don’t have access to one. Maybe your district copy center would be able to make one for you if you promise to not take your clock with you if you retire or resign. I used light blue 12″ x 12″ card stock that I already had on hand.

Next you will cut it out. You can always cut it out with regular scissors or a craft knife. But since I have a Cricut Maker and my cutting skills are a little to be desired, I created a template in Cricut Design Space. To make a ‘print and cut’ in Design Space, your image cannot be any larger than 9.25″ by 6.75″. That definitely leaves most clock faces out. So in Design Space, I just clicked on shapes, chose the circle and made a 11.5″ circle with a .3″ inner circle and made sure they were just ‘cut’. I positioned the circle as close to the top and left edges as possible and the inner circle was exactly in the middle. I attached them together, otherwise they would come on 2 separate mats. Then I made a test cut on another 12″ by 12″ paper that I thought was a less desirable color. (Poor brown. Not as flashy as its red, pink, and purple companions.) Using the test cut as a template and paying close attention to where the outside circle’s edge was in relation to the mat, I did the final cut on the clock face.

Lastly, I cleaned up the clock itself and using 2 sided tape, I attached the new clock face where the old one was. I added the hour and minute hands, put the clear cover back on and inserted a new battery. Voila! Custom clock in my room!