TLC Craft Wars Experience Recap

August 22, 2012

So, last night my friend Beth from Home Stories A to Z and I were on Craft Wars. The above face pretty much sums up what I thought of our hard work. Oh what a shame. I'm disappointed because I think we could have ROCKED the second challenge. But both Beth and I were emotionally, physically and mentally SPENT by the end of the hour. You can't really tell on camera but I was just in a daze for the rest of the day processing everything. I actually might have literally passed out if we had to go another five hours.
I'll do a little recap of what led to the disaster below. Starting with the beginning. Hello! It's me, Kathleen Frances from Harrisburg, PA, getting ready to stab my competitors with a knitting needle. We had to do our own makeup BTW. I was super disappointed about that. I did make my clothes for the show (sweater from Anthropologie) I have the shorts pattern if anyone is interested. We taped 2 months after I had Henri so I was so nervous about how I'd look. Maybe white wasn't the way to go:P Beth and I both said, "What were we thinking?"
This was the most cringe inducing part of the show for me. When they kept cutting to glam shots of our wine rack. Beth and I were both like "WHY are they 'glam shooting' this monster? They just kept cutting to it spinning and spinning:P Ugh. I'm getting dizzy thinking about it. But I'm getting ahead of myself, 
So we walk in, face the judges. Our challenge is to be to make a wine rack out of pie tins, footballs, forks, turkey basters, acorns, something else I can't remember.
RUN for the challenge materials.
Grab what you can!
Okay, here's the best part of the show. Meet Beth (described as my friend and assistant) and while that is completely true she's so much more. She's this amazing home decor blogger who you should all know by now as Home Stories A to Z. She makes some pretty awesome home decor redos and has amazing decor advice and did I also mention is a funny, kind and fabulous friend to know in person? I said all that during my interview but they cut it out in the show:(
I'm explaining to Beth what we're going to do.
Beth is worried (rightfully so).
We start cutting.
And cutting....
And cutting....
Still cutting.....You get the picture. It's a lot of pie tins.
Here comes the hot glue.
Ouch! It's really hot! Beth burned herself pretty bad. That wasn't shown.
Now comes the burlap. In the beginning we thought about using rope instead. I think one of the judges Jo also mentioned that she thought that might have been a better idea. In the end we went with the burlap because we thought it would take just way too long to wrap the entire rack in rope. And even though the end result looked really messy I still think the rope was a bad idea. We made the wine rack we originally intended (which I'll be posting later today) and it took four hours to wrap! Now, we used twine which is much smaller than rope and our wine rack was much larger but I still think the rope would have been too tedious.
We are starting to see that things aren't going well.
The judges comes to talk.
I express my doubts.
As do they.
Back to the grindstone.
Wrapping.
Oh dear. It's coming together. We had to cut out two circles due to time. It was supposed to look more like this:
That looks much better. Oh how I wish we could have made this rack. When I was wrapping it I started to get kind of sad that this wasn't the one we had made for the show. But in all, it took four hours to complete together. That's a little insane. What can I say, I underestimated the extent of the work involved which is part of the challenge. See more of this rack along with a tutorial later today.
Thirty seconds left! This was the fastest hour of MY LIFE! No lie. I blinked and it was over. The next time I'm sitting in traffic I'll have to break out some pie tins and hot glue. Problem solved.
Times up! I think the look on our faces says it all.
Time for judging. See how cute the other girls racks were? I think my biggest mistake was thinking that we needed to use the challenge materials as the bulk of the project. The other girls used mostly craft closet materials and incorporated the challenge materials into their project. I think I did the opposite. I used mostly challenge materials and incorporated the craft closet. I used them as the structural basis of the project when they should have supplemented the craft. What can I say, spilled milk.
Showing the judges that the bottles fit (barely). BTW, see my finger? Those pie tins are SHARP! I cut myself and it wouldn't stop bleeding all over the project. I do believe I had some blood on the top. We LITERALLY put our blood sweat and tears into it;P They didn't show any of this which I thought they would but it took literally about eight minutes for people to bandage. I was like "Come on! Let me just bleed!" Plus I tripped over a ruler. I really thought they'd use that clip.
Stephen: "WTF?" Just kidding, he didn't say that:P But I wouldn't have been shocked if he had. The judges were pretty kind considering how hideous the rack looked. I was so worried judging would be more brutal. Thank goodness for small blessings.
More wine rack glam shots. PLEASE STOP!
Who's going home? Yes, no surprise, burlap rags.
I say goodbye and good luck to my competitors. I'm so glad they decided to keep that in. And BTW, it was totally humid that day. Look at that frizz! It like 60 degrees and raining all day in LA. Literally warmer in Pennsylvania. Can I catch a break?! JK.
Then exit.
I talk about how disappointed I am that I didn't get to show what I could do in the master craft round (which I was). But in all, I'm so glad I got to experience being on the show. It was exciting to be on a television set and see how a show is made. Not to mention I got to spend several days with my good friend Beth and honestly, that was the best part. We had good times laughing about the drama of it all.

I won't tell you who won. If you have On Demand you might be able to watch it for yourself so I don't want to spoil it. But the winner did have the cutest little table scape. I definitely see why she won. It's definitely worth seeing! And no! I didn't get to meet Tori! She was sick that day and had guest Steve Piacenza fill in.

Stay tuned later today for the wine rack that we wanted to make AND I made Beth and I two new dresses for the photoshoot. So much fun!

30 {comments}:

La La Lauren!!! said... Best Blogger Tips

You did better than probably many of us! :)

BTW I love that black sparkly flower cardigan that judge has on! WOW

Lauren
laurenphd.blogspot.com

Laura said... Best Blogger Tips

I thought that was you! I freely admit that I was yelling at the TV that you needed to drill holes in the damn tins and wire 'em together!

Grosgrain said... Best Blogger Tips

@BratlingOh so sorry:( I feel your pain moreso, believe me! Almost anything would have been better than hot glue. Duct tape, wire..... If we would have used duct tape we probably wouldn't have needed to wrap it in burlap. They had all sorts of colors we could have even made each ring a different color. Although if I had to do it over again I'd do something COMPLETELY different. Hindsight 20/20 I suppose.

Christina @ TheDIYMommy.com said... Best Blogger Tips

You did great. So composed & a super-cute outfit to boot! I can't wait to see how you made the true vision of your wine rack. I'm sure I would have had a mental breakdown under all of that pressure. ;) Christina, <a href="http://www.thediymommy.com>The DIY Mommy</a>

Stacie S-H said... Best Blogger Tips

This is only the 2nd episode of the show I've ever watched. funny to read your blog today and find out you were on the episode I watched just last night! Cool that you were on the show. Bummer they cut out so much of what you said. I wanted to see you tripping over the ruler. Jk ;-)

nest full of eggs said... Best Blogger Tips

what an experience you had !
thanks for sharing it.

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Loved this post Kathleen! Though yes, I'm a bit biased watching my sister and her BFF as TV stars! We all know what creative genius' you both are, so brush this episode off and hold your heads high.

Kim @ Sand & Sisal

Etcetorize said... Best Blogger Tips

What a fun and fascinating experience...no matter what the outcome. The rack you redid (the 4 hour piece) looks incredible. Really enjoyed reading about your day in Craft Wars~

Loulou said... Best Blogger Tips

Oh my gosh, I hate to be laughing out loud at your pain, but the way you wrote about this is hilarious ... so I am laughing! Lucky you for getting on the show though. Have a glass of wine to celebrate :)

Loulou

kristilpow said... Best Blogger Tips

I'm so sorry...I didn't watch, but will now! To be honest, the first episode I saw, I got mad because I thought the loser should win for using the most challenge materials, not the "Craft Closet" stuff. I watched another episode (where they both made nearly identical Christmas trees using postage materials) and same thing...I swore I wouldn't watch again. So unfair!! Why have challenge materials!?! You're beautiful, talented & have a great attitude. That's #1 in my book :-)

Grosgrain said... Best Blogger Tips

@LoulouThamks Loulou. That actually does make me feel better;)

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Loved reading your post...I cannot imagine the pressure of having only one hour to create something on the spot...and do it while you have a tv camera in your face!

Beth said... Best Blogger Tips

You did such a fantastic job recapping the show that I'm sending everyone over here to get the scoop! Girl, I love you and LOVED being able to share this experience with you. Thanks for bringing me along for the ride (bumpy though it might have been)! xoxo!!

Shannon Fox said... Best Blogger Tips

What a wonderful post and recap of the show. I really enjoyed reading about your experience!! I can only imagine the pressure to create under such a stringent timeline! You guys did great!!

Hot Fudge said... Best Blogger Tips
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hot Fudge said... Best Blogger Tips

We don't get this show in Australia (was that a sigh of relief I heard?), but I feel your pain. However, out of adversity comes triumph, because this is such a wonderful and entertaining post. Good on you - I think you deserve some sort of award!

Grosgrain said... Best Blogger Tips

I think I accidentally deleted someone's comment:( Please leave it again if you think it was you. It was a really nice comment. So sorry.

Infarrantly Creative said... Best Blogger Tips

I am a loser here too but loved your recap and your fabulous take on the whole thing. I am glad you had a fun time. LA and Beth how can it not be??! You rock and good thing our success is not measured in our 15 minutes of fame. HA!

Katie said... Best Blogger Tips

You guys did a great job and a great recap of the behind the scenes of what happened at Craft Wars!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Saw the show last night, but your recap is way funnier! I'm sorry that the whole thing didn't turn out quite the way you wanted, but I love the pics of the new version of the wine rack.

Lil Mama Stuart said... Best Blogger Tips

I did watch you guys! And your commentary in this post is too funny :( At least you can say you were on tv! Can't wait to see the real wine rack :)

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Okay, first time I have popped over here so I don't know what you "normally" look like - but you look pretty darling to me! Even in white and with "frizz" - you're too hard on yourself. You were definitely the cutest contestant. So sorry for it not turning out the way you'd like though. I can only imagine your frustration. Shoot. But, hey! Craft Wars on TV? How cool is that?!

Karah @ thespacebetweenblog said... Best Blogger Tips

What an awesome experience! What a bummer the craft didn't work out, but the best part is you can make it better in real life. :)

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

i just wanted to tell you that i LOVED that black bow-ring you were wearing on the show! where did you get that? or did you make that?

Grosgrain said... Best Blogger Tips

@ninjadesignsThanks! I actually bought it at Forever 21 for only $3.80. They don't sell the exact ring anymore but you can buy a very similar one currently on their site for only $1.50. In gunmetal black and pink.

http://www.forever21.com/Product/Product.aspx?BR=F21&Category=acc_rings_pins&ProductID=1000043037&VariantID=

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips

Well think of it this way, you may have lost the tv show but that's a fascinating story, one which will stick in my mind. The fact you managed to make anything at all from those materials astounds me. I would have just sat there and weeped and weeped. Maybe snotting up a bit. You handled it very well.

sara m said... Best Blogger Tips

You JUST had a baby and you look like THAT?! I can't even process the rest of the experience because you look amazing! Good gracious. Anyway, aside from looking adorable, I thought you did your best for the moment. Congrats on your tv fame!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

Those one hour craft challenges are crazy. One hour really? And then the judges always tell you what you should have done and I can't help but think that their suggestion alone would have taken the whole hour.

But hey, I thought you looked great.

Katherine said... Best Blogger Tips

What an amazing experience! You guys did great and what is most important is that even when it started looking like it wouldn't work out, you stuck with it and got it done! You looked like a doll, can't believe you just had a baby!

thedoodlegirl said... Best Blogger Tips

Hey, you're AMAZING! Don't worry ONE LITTLE BIT! We know what you can do!

 
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