the watch of time

This makes a dozen batches of enlivened clichés (with the original in italics):

• Hop, skip, and a jump: Name the three phases of dancing through dog droppings
• Your overcoat seems to be wearing out, so if the shoe fits, wear it
• I’d rather not just depend on gravity, so I’ll jump in with both feet
• I’ll bet dollars to donuts because it’s really hurtful to gamble away donuts
• Bird friends swoop and down were looking out for nests and in one fell swoop
• If you can hold the phone you should be able to lift a cord of wood
• It’s a game of inches, so the decimal crowd feels left out of this one  
• Put it all in the blender, except for the part which comes in two shakes of a lamb’s tail
• A broken shell isn’t all it’s cracked up to be unless it’s in response to a joke
• In the spacious far north, if you’re short on cash, just the tip of the iceberg will be good enough in any establishment