Making It - General Discussion

[LittleIggy]

Oh God, not another sob story! 🙄 Her mushroom/tree stump “library” deserved to win, but I really am over the tearjerker stories.

[RedbirdNelly]

I enjoy the show and I don't even mind the sob stories. I have a tendency to assume "person with talent who gets to be on a show must be living a perfect life" and the stories remind me that is not the case/we are all human. 

Daddio guy needs to step it up. I thought he would go home or the baseball guy who struggles with craftmanship. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

46 minutes ago, RedbirdNelly said:

Daddio guy needs to step it up. I thought he would go home or the baseball guy who struggles with craftmanship. 

I thought baseball guy should have went home. His craftmanship was lacking in both challenges. Maria's wasn't great, but I think that was more of the time getting away from her. 

There were a few (Daddy-O, Two Moms and New Guy) where the craftmanship was top notch, but originality-wise, they were basically pretty cabinets. 

[deepfriedcake]

"Where's the ka-pow?"

Come here, Lady. I got your ka-pow right here.

Geez, she annoys me no end. But other than the so-called Queen of Trends, I continue to enjoy the show. I laugh at probably 60% of Amy & Nick's jokes, ("Are your legs tired from going that far to get to that joke?"), and I'm in awe of the creativity and talent of the craftspeople. It's a pleasant escape for an hour a week.

Although I agree that Daddio's previous creations haven't equaled his competitors offerings, I thought that his dollhouse and tools made more sense than "track your pollinators" did. Or were they being judged strictly on their builds and not the ideas behind them? Were they all supposed to be displayed outside? Because if so, I don't know how the clothing one would keep the items dry. I guess I'd like more of an insight into the judging  criteria.

I was wondering if Maria had cut one of her peppers in half vertically, and then placed a half on either side of her cabinet, if that would have been enough to get her through? Or was she just so far behind that there was no time left for any kind of a fix? I really liked her idea of a neighborhood recipe/spice exchange, though!

[Corgi-ears]

Did Maria even make the cabinet? From the way she expressed it ("I have this cabinet"; "a cabinet"), and from the looks of the cabinet (which only ever appeared on camera fully formed), I'm going to guess no? So she cut bell pepper shapes out of foam -- using a knife, after breaking the foam cutting tools -- and stuck one on top of the cabinet during the multiple hours she had. Wait: I guess she wrote up some recipes too. Well, at least she was accountable enough to tell us, "that's on [her]." Had she not done so, I would have sooooo confused about who to blame and to boot for that terrible "make."

Edited July 2, 2021 by Corgi-ears

[LittleIggy]

4 hours ago, RedbirdNelly said:

I enjoy the show and I don't even mind the sob stories. I have a tendency to assume "person with talent who gets to be on a show must be living a perfect life" and the stories remind me that is not the case/we are all human. 

Daddio guy needs to step it up. I thought he would go home or the baseball guy who struggles with craftmanship. 

At least Daddio’s house was well built and practical.

[tennisgurl]

Poor Maria, she did have a good concept but it was just unfinished. The mushroom stump definitely deserved to win, it was adorable, even if it came with the sad backstory music. I liked both challenge, especially the community libraries. There seems to be a thing happening where some of the makers are really creative but struggle a bit with the actual logistics of building, while some are great at making things but lack some creativity. I thought both winners were well deserved, I loved the camping cookies a lot. 

Nick and Amy always crack me up. "Amy...save the honey...." 

[Pallida]

Sometimes I get bogged down into practicality. The mushroom was beautiful, but as far as I know, there's no way to make that weather proof to make it be a community library (unless it was housed inside a community center or something - which would be awesome!). The tool lending library was well constructed, even if it wasn't very aesthetically pleasing, and I'm impressed that he got so much completed during the time. But then again, I feel like we don't get a real impression of how much work the helpers do and how much the contestants do. 

[leighdear]

1 hour ago, Pallida said:

Sometimes I get bogged down into practicality. 

I do too.  The first thing I thought about the "Spice Library" was, ok where would it be kept, and away from dampness, bugs, etc.  How would people "borrow" the amount they needed for a recipe?  Would the cabinet also stock little vials and teaspoons that the spices could be transported in? Who would keep it refilled and tidy? 

I know, the practicality isn't the point, the creativity is.  But I can get carried away with the details.....*LOL*

Edited July 2, 2021 by leighdear

[peeayebee]

I really didn't even think about the practicality of the "libraries." My favorites were Kaviya's Pollinatory, Jess's Pollination Station, Kara's mushroom/Story Hollow, and Melanio's Greenhouse Exchange. Melanio's was actually my favorite. 

Maria's was simple but, I thought, nice looking. Loved her printing/calligraphy. Blake's baseball bat thing looked pretty bad.

As for the cookies, my favorite was probably Maria's succulents. Very cool and well executed. I also liked Becca's beetles. Chelsea's birch tree forest was nice -- birch trees are always nice -- but I wanted something more from them.

Loved Nick saying, "Is no one making pork cookies?" and "Maybe I would put Z on the end of 'cookiez.'"

[LittleIggy]

I couldn’t really tell what Kaviya’s insect cookies looked like because the background she put them on had the same color scheme as the insects. They blended into the background.

[Iseut]

I'm disappointed...I liked Maria's concept a lot, and thought the bell pepper was pretty good for her never having worked in that medium. It looked better than the door in the baseball thing. 

The winning mushroom really was awesome and well deserved. I also loved the kite with all the bright colors.

[SHD]

On 6/27/2021 at 5:35 PM, leighdear said:

And with a point system, if a maker (sorry, I hate that term!) 

There was a local art fair awhile back and the website had little bios of the artists contributing. The title of the bios section was "Meet Your Maker". I have no idea if that was an intentionally dark bit of humor or if they just didn't think about it, but it made me laugh.

[Leeds]

 

 

On 6/27/2021 at 3:35 PM, leighdear said:

  

And with a point system, if a maker (sorry, I hate that term!) gets below a certain score level, they could opt to voluntarily go home, or do an "extra credit" craft to up their score total.  Of course, they could only opt to do that a single time.  If it didn't score them back within the pack, they go home.  

 

My mother-in-law loved to point it out when my children were "making."

[hendersonrocks]

I really thought it was going to be the baseballer, because that door and what it looked like inside was yikes. I loved the idea of sharing sports equipment and also tools, though - those are incredibly practical ideas, I just wish they both were a little more fun. 

Maybe it's just my little corner of the internet, but a tweet from a police department about thefts in little free libraries has been making the rounds (being widely ridiculed because it's, you know, a free library) and the timing with this episode cracked me up. 

 

[pezgirl7]

I thought the cookie succulents should have won the first challenge. They looked amazing  

I’m glad the winner told her sob story, because when I first heard her, I thought her voice was really grating. But then finding out it was due to a medical condition helped, and then made me feel bad. lol I think the guy that did the giant baseball is the weakest. He didn’t even know what crepe paper was! I’m guessing  he got chosen for the show to bring more diversity.

[mlp]

15 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

 

I’m glad the winner told her sob story.............................

I was distracted and, when I focused, she was saying that her parents were told she should be put in a home.  What did she say was wrong with her?

I thought the older guy's tool library was one of the best ones.  I didn't understand why they acted like it was inferior somehow.  The giant toadstool that won was really neat and well done.

They could show a lot more of the contestants' works in progress if they'd stop switching to Amy and Nick making unfunny comments to each other every two minutes.

 

[mertensia]

She has Goldenhar syndrome.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenhar_syndrome

[jabRI]

On 7/4/2021 at 2:24 AM, pezgirl7 said:

I think the guy that did the giant baseball is the weakest. He didn’t even know what crepe paper was! I’m guessing  he got chosen for the show to bring more diversity.

I agree, I'd send him home over the spice cabinet lady just based on potential

[staphdude]

Maria deserved to go. Stick a giant, sort of well sculpted pepper on a pre made cabinet is just too weak. The others made complete projects, warts and all. Otherwise this becomes a concept competition.

pintrest lady can F off. That tool lending library was incredibly well made. Her adoration of passing trends that strain credulity is nauseating and needs to go.

Edited July 6, 2021 by staphdude

[LittleIggy]

14 hours ago, staphdude said:

Maria deserved to go. Stick a giant, sort of well sculpted pepper on a pre made cabinet is just too weak. The others made complete projects, warts and all. Otherwise this becomes a concept competition.

pintrest lady can F off. That tool lending library was incredibly well made. Her adoration of passing trends that strain credulity is nauseating and needs to go.

She made a dismissive remark about the beautiful potting shed the new guy made, too. Something about she “had seen it before.” 🙄

[LittleIggy]

The blurb I read for tonight’s epi said something about turning a closet into a room dedicated to a loved one. Oh, no! More tearing up! Please! 🙄

[pezgirl7]

6 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

The blurb I read for tonight’s epi said something about turning a closet into a room dedicated to a loved one. Oh, no! More tearing up! Please! 🙄

That sounds so weird! I'm imagining either a little shrine to a loved one, or sticking a loved one into a little closet. Neither sound very appealing.

[ljr]

Am I the only one who thinks nick and amys comedy segments are annoying? 

[dleighg]

11 minutes ago, ljr said:

Am I the only one who thinks nick and amys comedy segments are annoying?

No. They don't drive me up a wall or anything, but I could do without.

[bilgistic]

I started fast-forwarding through their "comedic segments" tonight when I watched the show on a live delay. When they're talking with the contestants, it feels mostly genuine, but I can't deal with the planned skits. It's forced and just too much.

[Maverick]

 So the gay guy wins a challenge about having a nice closet to live in. M'kay. 

 Simon gushed over how creative the yarn lamps were.   Yes, Simon, because kindergartners haven't been wrapping balloons in glue soaked yarn since at least the 70s or anything. 

 So. Many. Tears.  Again.  I tend to believe Nick and Amy are paid by the tear. 

 

[mertensia]

I liked Melanio's. 

I like Kaviya but yeah, she was the right one to go. 

 

[mlp]

3 hours ago, ljr said:

Am I the only one who thinks nick and amys comedy segments are annoying? 

Beyond annoying.  And not a bit funny.  And way too many of them.  I keep thinking about how much more they could show of the actual crafting if they weren't wasting time on the junior high level nonsense.

I agreed with both winner and loser.  The train car was great.  I also liked the one with the night sky and the slides workshop.  

I get a kick out of Simon but the Pinterest lady doesn't add much to the show.

[LittleIggy]

I loved Melanio’s train car. So elegant and cozy. The constellation room was beautiful, too. Since I’m a cat mom, I have a soft spot for the pirate cat room.
I totally could have done without the tearjerking letters. 
Who makes the little crafted animals? They are adorable!

[mertensia]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

I loved Melanio’s train car. So elegant and cozy. The constellation room was beautiful, too. Since I’m a cat mom, I have a soft spot for the pirate cat room.
I totally could have done without the tearjerking letters. 
Who makes the little crafted animals? They are adorable!

Did the coffee bar strike you as blah? It did me. 

Melanio's looked like if toy met his husband and found out he loves train travel then saw the room you'd be all "this looks like a train compartment [via Hollywood]". 

[Rosieroo]

10 hours ago, ljr said:

Am I the only one who thinks nick and amys comedy segments are annoying? 

Well, probably not, but they're some of my favorite moments in the show.  I love when the stupid jokes are so stupid they crack themselves up.  

[joanne3482]

Constellation room mom annoyed me because she was going on about how hyper her son was and how he had a hard time going from active and awake to sleepy time. I kept thinking, no that's what it's like at 15 months old. But her room was beautiful. 

I knew Kaviya was going home which was a bummer to me because she's my favorite. I do agree that coffee bar wasn't that great but they were so enamored with the coffee lamp I knew she wasn't going home. 

Because I love Nick and Amy I usually love their comedy segments, but for some reason this episode felt like they were too many and they got a little annoying. The ongoing joke about the weather was too much. 

[Mr. Sparkle]

I thought guitar room was going home because it was boring. Kaviya's was more interesting, but a little hard to look at. 

For personal aesthetics, I loved the ramen bar. 

[tennisgurl]

I think they could cut a few comedy bits to focus on the crafting, but I love Nick and Amy so much I cant complain too much about their sketch comedy cut away jokes. I might just have a dumb sense of humor, but I laughed at the adorable stuffed animals all gasping in shock at the giant craft or scurrying away. 

I like Kaviya a lot but yeah she was the right one to send home. The train car really did look amazing, I think the constellation room and the cat pirate room were my other favorites. Look, I am always going to enjoy cat stuff, I'm easy to please. 

Edited July 9, 2021 by tennisgurl

[RedbirdNelly]

I enjoy the Amy/ Nick segments although I did think they had too much time devoted to it in this episode. 

I loved the train car. I think what sealed the deal was the amount of detailed touches and the craftmanship was spot on. I enjoyed a lot of the others though--including the kid sleep room (the touch of making the sky like the night he was born, got me). I liked how odd of an idea "biker ramen bar" was. I like how that guy often has a different take on things.

[jabRI]

The train car had great design, but my issue is you couldn't even walk around or sit down without moving some furniture. Thought it could have been sized better.  Same with the coffee bar, but you sit there and look at the wall, could have been a better flow.

Just nitpicks, I couldn't design a closet to save my life, I love watching the creativity on this show.  And so much better than just interior design shows, where they just buy & place things.  If this was on every night, I'd be a happy camper.

 

[peeayebee]

15 hours ago, Rosieroo said:

Well, probably not, but they're some of my favorite moments in the show.  I love when the stupid jokes are so stupid they crack themselves up.  

 

12 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

Because I love Nick and Amy I usually love their comedy segments, but for some reason this episode felt like they were too many and they got a little annoying. The ongoing joke about the weather was too much. 

I agree with both of you. I love their silly comedy bits, which I'm sure are improv'ed, but the stuff with the weather was too much. It would have been better if there was just one windy comedy bit with no wind blowing.

I absolutely love the voices Amy does, like a character from a 1940's movie. 

As far as the meat of the show, i.e., crafting, I was a bit bored. I prefer there be two craft projects, for variety. Anyway, when Melanio's was revealed, I immediately loved it and thought it should win. But then Becca's constellation room came up, and I thought THAT should win. To me, it had everything. The craftsmanship was great, and it just made me FEEL. Maybe it was the blue. 

BTW, Melanio always reminds me of Mateo from Superstore.

Can't stand the lady judge. 

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

I thought guitar room was going home because it was boring. Kaviya's was more interesting, but a little hard to look at.

There was SUCH a clear bottom two this week. The only question was which one it was, but I think the weird furniture in Kaviya's doomed her.

My personal favorite was Gary's slide room. It made me really happy, color wise and purpose wise and artistically speaking!

[peeayebee]

I did love seeing Gary's paintings. I liked Melanio's paintings, too.

Those orange things in Kaviya's room didn't look good at all. I agree with the judge who said it looked like some of the half-balls had fallen off the wall. I really thought that was what happened.

[leighdear]

Melanio just reminds me SO much of actor Nico Santos, who played Mateo on "Superstore".  I simply CANNOT unsee him.  

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4456672/

I did love his train closet.  Beautifully appointed and everything functional and made sense in the space.  I thought it was the clear winner.  

And it was definitely Kaviya's time to go.  She was just too unfocused and had no clear perspective other than "Colorful", "Fun", "Patterns".  That's not a style. 

And as the iconic Nina Garcia would purr...."I question your taste level".

Edited July 10, 2021 by leighdear

[Leeds]

I love the shout-out to the Great British Bake-Off squirrel at the beginning (sans balls, but still).

Edited July 10, 2021 by Leeds

[Leeds]

On 7/8/2021 at 6:55 PM, Maverick said:

 

 Simon gushed over how creative the yarn lamps were.   Yes, Simon, because kindergartners haven't been wrapping balloons in glue soaked yarn since at least the 70s or anything. 

 

 

In Simon's defense, he grew up in the UK, where that isn't a thing.  (Balloons covered in papier mâché, yes, but not yarn.)  And as far as I know, he doesn't have children.  Come to think of it, my children were born and raised in the US, and I never saw them do anything like this.

[RedbirdNelly]

2 hours ago, Leeds said:

In Simon's defense, he grew up in the UK, where that isn't a thing.  (Balloons covered in papier mâché, yes, but not yarn.)  And as far as I know, he doesn't have children.  Come to think of it, my children were born and raised in the US, and I never saw them do anything like this.

what I liked about it is it reminded me of my grandmother who used to do the yarn thing to make easter eggs--she'd make the egg and then cut out the middle on one side, and then insert this little easter scene of bunnies or whatever inside the big egg. Anyway, it brought back pleasant memories to me! We never made those balloon things as kids though. 

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Leeds said:

In Simon's defense, he grew up in the UK, where that isn't a thing.  (Balloons covered in papier mâché, yes, but not yarn.)  And as far as I know, he doesn't have children.  Come to think of it, my children were born and raised in the US, and I never saw them do anything like this.

Yeah I grew up in the US in the 80s and have done the paper mâché on balloons but never done or seen the yarn thing. 

[leighdear]

It's a cool technique to make scrap yarn baskets too.   You take long lengths of leftover yarn, drag the lengths through a mixture of thinned-down white glue, then wrap them randomly around just half of the balloon.  Once it's dry and you remove the balloon, you turn it upside down & use additional yarn strands to coil around the bottom for the flat base.  

I'm sure there's plenty off YouTube videos out there about string crafts.  

Edited July 10, 2021 by leighdear

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, Leeds said:

I love the shout-out to the Great British Bake-Off squirrel at the beginning (sans balls, but still).

It was neutered?

[Leeds]

 

44 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

It was neutered?

Not the one in GBBO . . . .

Spoiler

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Leeds

[kirklandia]

On 7/8/2021 at 6:55 PM, Maverick said:

Yes, Simon, because kindergartners haven't been wrapping balloons in glue soaked yarn since at least the 70s or anything. 

I have very clear memories of doing this project in elementary school - around 1960.

[Cherpumple]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:56 PM, jabRI said:

The train car had great design, but my issue is you couldn't even walk around or sit down without moving some furniture.

I noticed that too! It was impossible to sit on the seats without moving the storage ottoman completely out of the way, which didn't seem like a well thought out idea to me. I did love the look of it, but felt it was more of a beautifully decorated space rather than super creative in terms of repurposing items in an unusual way or giving anything a unique spin. For instance, they all needed to include a lighting element, and while every other maker created a unique fixture, Melanio just used some nice stylish sconces (unless I missed something).

I loved Kaviya's energy, but knew it was her time to go. Too bad! I'm usually good at predicting which person is going to be eliminated, but I rarely predict the winner correctly.