Upcycle A Simple Hula Hoop Into A Stunning Wall Clock For Your Home

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Just about everyone has a smartphone on their person at all times, a ubiquity which has improved our lives with quick access to tools as much as it has led to issues with our interpersonal connections. Among those useful tools are ways to jot down notes at any time and even access the current time for any place on earth. Having a wall-mounted clock at home might feel superfluous with your mobile device just one glance away, but you shouldn't discount how much aesthetic weight a clock can carry. In fact, you can DIY your own impressive wall clock with an upcycled hula hoop and pizza pan to make the perfect addition to your mid-century modern decor.

Creating a DIY clock takes what would be an expensive, large, ornate timepiece and boils it down to something more affordable that can be molded to fit your particular aesthetic. The project can start as cheap as $15, which will net you an EMOON quartz clock mechanism. The only other pieces required are a small pizza pan and hula-hoop, both of which are $1.25 each at Dollar Tree, as well as a long plank of wood — something light, like balsa. Your hula hoop might vary in size, but you want the wood plank to extend a few inches out to either side; cut a 30-inch piece of balsa if you have a 20-inch hoop, for instance. Pick up some paint and a drill, and you'll have your own stunning clock in no time.

First, paint your wooden plank, pizza pan, and hula hoop. Black for the wood and gold for the pan and hoop would lean into that sleek, mid-century modern home decor color palette, but there's room to experiment with color choices. One easy way to help customize the project is by choosing alternative DIY clock mechanisms with greater hand varieties, which better coordinates with different interior designs, like trendy earth tones for your wall. You don't have to stick to the original list of materials, either. Adding multiple hula hoops of varying sizes could add a concentric circle effect, leaving room for you to capture the aesthetic of a solar system around your clock as the sun, for example. Or attach multiple planks of wood to the back of the pan, creating more of an asterisk shape.

The hula hoops can be attached to either the front or back of the plank, though doing so behind will add more depth. Regardless, the most important element is that you drill a hole straight through the center of the pan and the main balsa plank, a process that could be made easier with a drill press. There should be enough space to insert your clock mechanism and connect all the pieces — just make sure the pan is on top to act as the face. Of course, there are plenty of other ways to make this design your own. Try upcycling your Dollar Tree hula hoop so it can light up using LED string lights, making the clock a growing wall centerpiece.