8-Track Tape Clock Tutorial

What up my 70's loving friends? 

I told you I snatched every last 8-Track tape my thrift store had in stock. The clerk was impressed that I still had an 8-Track player and when I told her that sadly I did not, but I was going to turn these tapes into I-Pod docks and clocks she looked at me like I had a screw loose. 

Well, maybe I do, but WHATEVS!

Check out this rad clock!

It's the soundtrack from the movie Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman-AWESOME

The tapes I used for my I-Pod docks popped apart so easily, however I almost chopped off more than one finger trying to pry this case apart at the beginning of this project!

TMTOMH can not be held responsible if you try this at home.

I used every pokey and sharp device I could to pop this son of a *$%@# apart. I am shocked I actually got it apart without breaking it.

I emptied it all out and the kids got crazy with the 17 miles of tape found inside...again. Apparently that game never gets old:)

Lucky for me there was already a small hole in the center. So I snipped off the bracket

and used the scissors to twist and turn and scrape to enlarge the hole to fit my clock parts.

again,,,please don't do this at home and hurt yourself

Then I popped in the clock insides

and attached the hands.

Now, I will admit, I was stumped at this crossroads in my project and this little clock sat just this way for about a month. I tried mounting it on a piece of wood and it just didn't look right. So I decided to paint a $1 IKEA photo frame black and I epoxied the tape to the edge of the frame.

I desperately wanted a way to attach the back of the tape as well, so the clock would look cool from both sides, but I just couldn't figure it out. I tried hinges, velcro, hooks. But nothing looked good, attached securely, AND was removable for battery replacement. So I decided to use a weathered piece of scrapbook paper in the actual photo slot.

I will probably try to find a print of the album cover to use instead. But it does look fun for sure!

Anyone need to keep some retro time?

Come on all you creative and inventive people out there. What else could I do with these tapes? I still have 3 from my first purchase and I grabbed 3 more the other day. I am determined to use these nostalgic and fun tapes for some cool projects!