Washington, D.C. - February 06, 2008

Your Days Are Numbered

Paint-by-Number Clocks

You’ve always fantasized about living the life of an artiste — eclectic bedfellows, impassioned tirades, perfectly disheveled hair.

The clock is ticking on that dream, friend.

A new paint-by-number clock, that is.

The wooden base has an intricate floral design and neon green big and little hands. Tiny digits correspond to seven colors included in the DIY kit — and you don’t have to be a Matisse to know that drill.

But don’t stop with the basics. Go Warhol! Buy three clocks, do a light-to-dark palette, and arrange them in triptych. Hell, buy sixteen for a full Marilyn/Mao/DVF homage. More po-mo? Do an all-white Rymans.

Your friends will be impressed by the finished ouevre, but the clock looks just as cool unpainted and as is.

And given how you procrastinate, that’s a good thing.

Rckndy, 1515 U Street NW, between 15th and 16th Streets (202-332-5639); online at umbra.com.