"Tick-tock"... said the orange clock!

There's a shop just down the street from our apartment in Brooklyn called Two Jakes which sells all sorts of fabulous mid-century and modern furnishings, and months ago I stopped in for a gander with Mummy. We spotted this super-fun Eames-era bright orange wall clock that we both thought would be an excellent addition to the collection of orange "POPS!" which can be found throughout my Brooklyn apartment. In particular, I was thinking that it would be a terrific addition to any baby's nursery....

It might be hard to believe, but Design Within Reach sells a new version of this same clock for $365.00, so this vintage one, priced at $185.00 was a pretty good deal. However, I wasn't sure if I was really ready to spend $185.00 on a clock, so I filed it away in my "to remember" memory bank and left the clock at Two Jakes.

Fast-forward 6 more months and here we are. Julian in tow, I decided to roll on over to Two Jakes to see about that orange clock. I happened to have it on good authority that it was still in the shop (Mummy saw it through their front window) so I figured, nothing ventured, nothing gained, and off I went...

Well! Whoever came up with the phrase "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" forgot about the possible outcome: "Something ventured, nothing gained" -- which is what happened today. When I arrived at Two Jakes today, there was my lovely orange clock, just as reported. However now it was priced at $325.00. Evidently, they had also found out the true value of their clock, and re-priced it accordingly. When I mentioned the previous price, the owner was mercilessly firm on the new price (and claimed total ignorance about the former number), and more or less sent me packing. The presence of my gorgeous, brilliant, astronaut son did nothing to soften his stance. Hard-hearted animal!

Foiled! 

Not to be defeated now that I had my heart set on a retro orange clock for Julian's room, I went straight home and googled "Ball Clock" and came up with a reasonably inexpensive alternative on EBAY that is a terrific reproduction of the original. And for 1/3 of the Two Jake's price!

But then I started thinking... This clock probably wouldn't be THAT difficult to make, if I gave it a shot. I was thinking one could probably buy all of the components at the local craft store (Michael's would be my preference). I'm thinking one could get wooden balls there and then spray them orange lickity-split. Likewise, one could buy skinny doweling to paint brass-colored and then glue the orange balls onto the doweling, and I'm pretty darn sure that you can buy the clock-component at Michael's too... Hmmm...

Could this be a project in the making? 

Now I guess I just have to decide if I'll ever have free time again, so I could make it. Odds aren't looking good at the moment, but Julian's likely to start sleeping eventually, right? RIGHT?!?!