Mantle Clock

My grandmother had a lovely little mantle clock, which my mother inherited from her, and she placed it in a spot of reverence atop the china cabinet.  My father, who always likes to fuss with things decided he could make this clock "more better!!", and proceeded to ... well ... destroy it.  He chopped off the delicate flared sides, took out the clock works to fix them, and was surprised that when he put it all back together it didn't work anymore.  So it sat on top of the china cabinet for many more years with its butchered sides, and I'm sure my mother ached every time she looked at it. 

Eventually, my parents came to sell their country home and started getting rid of things ... sort of.  My mother decided the little clock was beyond beautiful any more and beyond any sort of repair and tossed it in the bin for garbage.  I hated to see the little clock go, and quietly retrieved it and brought it home.  It sat on my bookshelf only as a little curio, with no glass covering its face, no hands telling frozen time, and no life left in it. 

Shortly after my mother died, I was compelled to bring the clock out to the kitchen, and saw that the works inside were not bolted in and I removed them and set them on the counter. 

As I looked at the works, I was intrigued by all the gears and cogs and thought it would make a nice little display outside of the clock.  All of a sudden, the clock works started whirring and turning!  It was slightly eerie and surreal, as these works hadn't moved in many, many years!  I stood fascinated and watched the clock give its last little gasp of life.  It has sat still since that day. 

Another interesting thing about this clock is the cute curved back door. 

 

The interior handle is rather fancy. 

I started thinking of ways to use the clock and show off that door.  I thought about using it to store some of my sewing notions, but it seemed a bit impractical.  Then it came to me!  I have a tiny mouse that used to belong to my son.  A mouse with no house. 

 

So over the last little while I have transformed the clock into a little mouse house.  I painted up a tiny china cabinet.

Added some china and a sewing machine :)

Mice drink tea ... so ... I knitted up a tea cozy for his delicate tea pot.

The clock wouldn't accommodate a decent bed, so I made up a tiny bedroll.

... patchwork of course ...

A knitted rug to keep the feet warm.

A table big enough for mouse-sized cups of tea.

It will still sit on my bookshelf, but with a new secret purpose. 



Thanks for visiting!

Wendy