My “Inner Beast” Craft Challenge {Based on the new show Making It}

Friends, have you seen the series premiere of the new crafting reality show Making It? It’s Tuesday nights on NBC, and I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode! I mean, with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, how could you not? In the premiere, eight experienced crafters took on two challenges, the first of which was to unleash their “Inner Beast” by making some form of 3-D creation showing what animal best represented themselves. {You can see all the final projects here!}

As I watched at home, I couldn’t help but think about what I would have done if I were one of the contestants. Unfortunately, although I saw the Making It contestant application back in March, we were going to be in China at the time of filming, so it wasn’t meant to be. However, I thought it might be fun to play along and actually make what I envisioned! I gave myself the same time limit that the contestants were given, three hours {which I didn’t use all of!} and I used only materials and supplies I already had on hand. Here’s what I came up with for my “Inner Beast” or “Spirit Animal” challenge:

Note: I’m working with the assumption that I’d be able to use base materials like the lamp itself since other folks used bases like wooden plaques, embroidery hoops, and other things of that nature that I don’t think they actually created from scratch. If I actually had to make those, I’d be out of luck and would have had to come up with another idea!

Materials:
white lamp shade
lamp base
acrylic/multi-surface paint: pearl, iridescent glitter, silver glitter, metallic silver
fine tip permanent marker
paintbrushes
20 gauge silver wire
needle nose pliers and wire cutters
clear elastic cord

Step 1: Paint the lamp base metallic silver.

This was a lamp I found awhile ago at the local Goodwill store for $2. It was originally black, but I wanted to make it dreamy and ethereal looking to go with my vision of sparkly butterflies. Silver seemed like the perfect choice, and three coats of paint later, it had a brand new look.

Step 2: Paint white butterfly shapes in a random pattern all around the lamp shade.

I free-handed these, but you could certainly use a stencil too. I wanted them to be visible but subtle, so I used a white paint with a pearl finish.

Step 3: Apply iridescent glitter paint to the butterfly wings and silver glitter paint to the bodies.

Make sure the base shape is dry first, then paint the glitter on top.

Step 4: Hand letter words and phrases onto the lamp base.

I used a permanent marker and my faux calligraphy technique to write the reasons why I identify with a butterfly…ie: I’m a new creation, I like to create beauty, I want to dream big and fly high, I’m graceful when I dance {I hope!}, etc.

Step 5: Form a small butterfly from the wire.

I used 20 gauge wire and needle nose pliers to gently form four wings, a body, and antennae. Then, I tied a piece of clear elastic to the body and used it to hang the butterfly from the lamp’s switch.

The final step was to assemble the lamp, attaching a bulb and the shade to the base.

I love the way it looks as is, then when the lamp is lit, the butterflies stand out even more!

Well, there you have it, my personal take on the Making It “Inner Beast” challenge! I hope you like it enough that I wouldn’t have been sent home…hee hee! What about you? What animal do you most identify with? What would you create in three hours or less to represent that? If you decide to play along at home, I’d love to see what you make! Be sure to share it with us on the Amy Latta & Friends Facebook page so we can all be inspired. I can’t wait to see what next week’s challenges will be.

Don’t forget, if you like it, then you oughta put a Pin on it!