DIY Glass Dome Display

I've been seeing these beautiful glass dome encasement's for a little while now. Sure, IKEA sells some smaller ones for about $10, and I think the bigger ones are closer to $15. So this DIY won't save you a TON of money, but it's great to give an old object a new life and purpose. Plus if you need to make a few of them for Halloween, a party, or just want a little collection of them (like I do), it will end up saving you a decent amount of change!

1. Find one of these babies.

So TYPICALLY these dome clocks aren't hard to find at thrift stores. But of course once a few thrift shops finally opened back up, it wasn't until I hit my fourth one that I found this big boi. He measures about 14" tall; typically the ones I find are a bit smaller, closer to 9" or 10" and are even cheaper (closer to $2.99). If you find yourself struggling to find one of these at your local shop, make sure you check the Christmas section as well! I sometimes find these stashed back there for whatever reason.

2. Address what's holding it back.

As far as I've seen, there are a few different ways that the clock will be attached to the base. Sometimes it's somewhat loosely screwed onto the base so that you can easily unscrew it with your hands. For this most recent one I was working on, it had one of those little spinning ball things that aren't technically screwed into the base. With that, I had to basically break the top part of it in order to disconnect it from the clock, and was able to tilt it to slide it out of the base.

With the other two contact points, it just took a little digging around in my tool box to find the right size bit to unscrew the bolts. If you have a simple wrench; that would also work!

3. Separate and organize.

Not all dome clocks are like this, but this one had a metal plate between two bases. I simply disposed of the plate and second interior base. Even if you like the interior base more for whatever reason, I don't recommend using it- notice that it doesn't have a lip to hold the glass dome.

It may also be wise to hold onto a few of those pretty little gold decorative pieces that you can easily pull off of the clock. I'm currently trying to figure out another DIY that I can use some of these pieces with!

4. Possibly fill holes/ paint.

I personally don't have any issue with the holes. In fact, I tend to place the stems of dried flowers and plants into them so that the plants can stand up a bit easier. But if you DO want to cover the holes, I'd recommend filling them with an air-dry clay. Just plug the holes with a ball of clay and blend the clay out onto the base. Once the clay is dry, sand the clay down a bit to smooth it into the surface.

Now when painting, it's good to keep in mind what the base color is and what color you're attempting to paint with and how many layers to do. I use acrylic (per usual) so I really have to make sure my layers are dry between coats to avoid pulling the paint up and leaving streaks of the base underneath. With gold on gold, it took about four coats to evenly dress the base. If you're trying to go entirely white, it may be a bit more- close to five or six coats.

You might be wondering Why paint something that's already gold, gold? Typically the gold that's on these sorts of decor items are a very shiny, very cheap looking gold. I tend to lean more towards the bronze-y, more matte gold.

5. Dress that baby and call it a day!

Once it's all dry; you're all done! My main tip for decorating the interior of one of these is to buy a few packs of dried moss from a local craft store. I had no idea how much this would come in handy! Super easy to make anything look a little witchier and earthier by gently placing a few clumps of dried moss around. I had a planchette that needed a home so I easily dropped that baby in with a chunk of amethyst and called it a day! Other ideas might consist of any animal skulls lying around, dried flowers or plants, a potted succulent, a large crystal or crystals, a crystal ball- get creative!

Have any questions or comments about this post? Have a suggestion for a future blog post? Let me know! Leave a comment below, shoot me an email, or feel free to send me a message on Instagram! Though I may have werewolf teeth, I don't bite :) Blessed be and happy thrifting!