Thread: Request for IDEAS for converting purchased Christmas Countdown Clock

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I bought this Christmas Countdown Clock last year at BIG LOTS on sale for about $5 -- I was so excited and am getting ready to convert it to a Halloween Countdown Clock -- I'm thinking along the lines of incorporating it into or on top of a styrofoam tombstone, but while I'm trying to come up with ideas, I thought I'd toss it out here and see what some of you creative geniuses on this site come up with! Here's a pic of what I have so far, right now I'm just removing the red cloth from the outside of the frame -- it has red lights attached to the frame . . . thanks for any ideas anyone can come up with!!

I'd do a "Beloved" tombstone

This was the design I came up with... just design, hadn't figured out how to make it work though.

Is it fabric or plastic on the inside part? If it's plastic, you can easily paint it around the light up parts with any tombstone technique. Paint whatever words you want over the tombstone finish in black.

If it's fabric, you can still paint it. It will just take longer. If you start with some gesso or specialty fabric/screenprinting paint, you can switch quickly over to acrylics. Then you can use any tombstone technique and add lettering.

For the outer part covered in the red/green chenille fabric, finished stripping it off the plastic armature. Cover it in newspaper/packing paper, and give it a coat of monster mud or papier mache. Finish painting it like a tombstone. If you can, take the light string around the border out as it won't show up through the papier mache/monster mud.

Seal the whole thing with a clear spray finish and you have a converted Halloween countdown clock.

I wish I got one last year, maybe they will have them again this year.

Rats.

Originally Posted by trentsketch

Is it fabric or plastic on the inside part?

Thanks, Trentsketch! I forgot to mention, the inside part is plastic, it's actually pretty well made and seems very sturdy and weather-proof. So I could paint it. I really love your monster mud idea! That would make it look really creepy! Also, that way, I could just attach the whole thing to the top of a styrofoam tombstone easily and have the clock blend right in with it.

I was also thinking about painting the metal outside armature black and twining some creepy Halloween garland around it -- I'd like to keep the lights but unfortunately they have white wiring -- maybe I could replace them with some lights with green wires that wouldn't show up as much.

Empty_W -- I love your design! That's what I was originally thinking about doing, but I also couldn't figure out how to attach it to the back of the tombstone and have the openings just right for the numbers to peep out. I also have to leave the back accessible to change the date & time I start it up every year.

Thanks so much for all the ideas everyone!

Here's what I have so far -- I painted everything black and took off the fabric, the red lights look great! I found a post for it and a sign to hang underneath that I will paint to say "Halloween Countdown" -- I just have to figure out how to light the sign. It took me FOREVER to get the clock set and all of a sudden it just said 77 days and I knew that was right! I'll post again once it's finished.



YouTube- My Halloween Countdown clock

I bought a clock at big lots also, but it didn't have any instructions. How do you set the days and time? Plus mine counts up!! Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks,

My clock was a BIG HIT in our neighborhood -- everyone loved it! I had the same problem programming it (I started it August!) and apparently the instructions that came with it are wrong -- I did a Google search for "Christmas Countdown Clock Instructions Big Lots" and found these instructions on the Internet and they worked better:

"I got mine to work by doing the following (note that once you start the sequence, if you don't press any buttons for about 12 seconds, the display will revert to where it was and you'll have to start over):

1. To start, the time (lower display) should be counting UP. Look at the seconds field. If it's counting UP, go on to the next step. If it's counting down, press the M (mode) button once. It should now be counting UP.
2. Press the S (set) button. The first field (month) should be flashing. Use the U (up) or D (down) buttons to set the current month. When the month is right, press the S (set) button once. The second field (day) should be flashing. Use the U or D buttons to set the current day. When it's right, press the S (set) button once. The third (year) field should be flashing. Again use the U or D buttons to set the current year. When it's right, press the S (set) button once.

3. The display will change to the next set of fields (the time fields). The first field (hour) should be flashing. Use the U or D buttons to set the current hour. NOTE - THIS IS DONE IN 24-HOUR TIME. SO 3 pm GETS ENTERED AS '15'. When the hour is right, press the S (set) button once. The second field (minutes) field should be flashing. Again, use the U or D buttons to set the current minute. Now press the S (set) button once. The third field (seconds will be flashing). Leave it at whatever it is, and press the S (set) button again. The display will revert to the counting mode and you can proceed to the next step. If you want the accuracy to the second, Email me and I'll give you the extra steps needed to get to-the-second accuracy.

4. The current date and time is set and the display should be counting UP at this point. NOW PRESS THE M (MODE) BUTTON ONCE. The display should now be counting DOWN. You will now set the target date and time.

5. Press the S (set) button once. The first field (month) should be flashing. Use the U or D buttons to set the target month. When it's right, press the S (set) button once. The second field (day) should be flashing. Use the U or D buttons to set the target day. When it's right, again press the S (set) button and set the target year. When it's right, press the S (set) button again. The display will switch to the target TIME and show '00' '00' '00' which is midnight. The first field will be flashing. If you want a target time other than midnight (for example, counting down to a birthday when the exact time of birth is known), change the hour as needed. Press the S (set) button to advance to the middle (minutes) field. Change if needed. When it's right, press the S (set) button again. The display will revert to the countdown mode with the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds to go to the target date and time."

Thanks for the quick response. My clock must be different, because mine has hrs. min. and sec. at the bottom. It has days at the top. It doesn't have mon, day, or year. Any other thoughts? I can change the time, but can't get the days to change. Thanks again, Daveyboy