There is so much you don’t see during each hour-long episode of Making It. In celebration of my insatiable need to overshare, I thought now would be a great time to give you some fun facts that you didn’t see in the most recent holiday-themed episode of the show! Episode 4 was filled with so many fun behind-the-scenes nuggets! Here’s a look at eight of my favorites…
ONE | Turns out a Pizza My Mind HAS been done before!
Each episode of Making It begins with the Faster Craft Challenge. We are given 3 hours (sometimes less) to create a project. In Episode 4, Amy and Nick challenge us to create a Halloween costume using materials in a giant orange mystery box. Once the time starts, we take a look in our mystery box to find the following: a mop head, bath sponges, a feather duster, coffee filters and pot scrubbers. Yeah – every crafter’s dream supplies, right?! In my world, Halloween costumes must fulfill two major requirements: they need to be cute and I need to be able to comfortably wear it whilst hopping from bar to bar…I mean, while hopping from church service to church service.
With these major costume tenets in mind, I hit the ground (or shall I say, table) to create my costume, a punny take on pizza that I called “A Pizza My Mind.” I thought it turned out adorably and it was comfortable to wear. I’m not saying the other costumes WEREN’T comfortable, but I did get a little concerned about whether Khiem was getting proper ventilation in that epic dog costume!
Welp, once judging came around, Dayna and Simon were not huge fans of my pizza – even though I thought my punny twist added a clever element. Womp, womp. They both felt it lacked originality and was “something they’d seen before.” Well, in the spirit of keeping it 100% real with you, apparently, “A Pizza My Mind” was NOT the most original idea and Simon gave me a gift to prove it. Apparently, Simon had found a tee-shirt at Target that bore the exact same phrase as the title of my “punny” and “clever” costume idea! What the heck!
In my defense, I can say with 1000% certainty I’d never laid eyes on this shirt…lest we forget I was FILMING A SHOW didn’t quite have enough free time to gallivant through the aisles of Target. It was coincidence and gave us a really fun moment on set. I took the whole thing in stride and if I had to do it all over again, I’d totally create the same project!
TWO | Use what you’ve got
For the Faster Craft Challenge, we did have a chance to use other supplies than the contents of our mystery box. PHEW! The producers literally pulled out a tubs full of extra supplies and let us have a free for all. Now you know where Khiem got all those cotton balls for the teeth on his dog costume and where Robert dug up a bunch of pool noodles!
THREE | Nick Offerman is in love with your favorite craft tool
During each of our challenges, Nick and Amy come by our tables to check on our progress. Inevitably, the conversations take a left turn and we end up talking about all sorts of stuff. Nick would often ask questions about the crafting tools and techniques we were using. As I created my Valentine’s Day porch, Nick became increasingly interested in the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board! I was using the punch board to create colorful envelopes for my love letters. Nick was amazed at how easily it created envelopes…I can’t say I blame him! So – in the event Nick Offerman becomes the new spokesperson for We R Memory Keepers, I’d like to collect a finders fee for making that happen.
Each week, when you watch Making It, you get a small 60 minutes snapshot of the HOURS AND HOURS of creativity that went into each challenge. It’s impossible to show every detail, so inevitably there are some endearing moments that you miss.
FOUR | Therapist Amy & Hurricane Irma
I looked forward to the “check-ins” from Nick and Amy. It was low-pressure, since they weren’t the judges who ultimately held our fate in their hands! On television, you see us talking mostly about the challenge and our projects. What you don’t see are the tangential conversations we’d have! Amy and I talked a lot about the difficulty of being moms who often work away from home. Amy gave me a lot of insight and encouragement about this. Being away from my family during the filming of Making It was easily one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. The filming of Making It coincided with Hurricane Irma, which was headed for Miami is a major way. While I was on set, focused on crafting my next project, my family was back in South Florida fleeing from a whopper storm that was four times the size of Hurricane Andrew! To say I was stressed would have been an understatement. The producers of the show were incredible though. My husband had phone numbers for our amazing producer, Olivia, and she kept me updated about how my family was doing. There were several times when I thought I might have to leave the show, but Andrew was insistent that I stick with it.
FIVE | Makers support makers
Many of you have messaged me about the show – and the most frequent comment is how much you guys love the “no-drama” vibe. No table flipping. No screaming at each other. No trash talking. Just talented people making pretty things.
After I won the Master Craft Challenge badge for my Valentine’s Day porch display, there was such a surge of support. Truly this was how it went down after each winner was announced. We were genuinely happy for each other. Of course, we all wanted to win, but we also were also a family and supported each other’s success. It was a good feeling!
SIX | It’s all in the details
As much as you guys are loving the lack of drama on Making It, many of you have told me that you wish you could see more of the process …more of the details that go into each projects. I get it. There’s only one problem, there’s only 60 minutes of show and they’ve gotta cram in a ton of content! Thankfully, you do have the option of following each of the makers on Instagram, where we usually share detailed photos of our projects.
When it comes to the details of my Valentine’s Day porch, there really was a lot to show…so let’s do it. Welcome to a little tour of my porch:
SEVEN | I win the award for messy
If there were a patch for Messiest Crafter, I would most certainly have won it. On the set of Making It, you don’t have much time to worry about cleaning. Unless of course, your name is Robert Mahar, in which case you’re the neatest crafter ever! Seriously you guys, Robert is so neat and organized. If I didn’t love him, I think I’d have no choice but to hate him.
By the halfway point of every challenge, my work station was a mess. I was really good at using the floor as a shelf and I would often lose my glue gun by burying it under a bunch of crap, leaving me no choice but to wander over to Billy’s station to see if he’d let me use his glue gun. He usually said “yes.”
Also, it’s worth noting – the table pictured above measured 4’x8′ and I still managed to junk up every inch of it with crafting supplies. If you look hard enough, I’m sure you can find your favorite craft supply buried in there somewhere!
Moral of the story is this: I’m good at a lot of things…keeping a neat and tidy workspace is NOT one of them.
EIGHT | We liked lingering goodbyes
Without a doubt, the hardest part of each episode was the goodbye. By the time Episode 4 rolled around, we already felt like the troops had thinned too much. We weren’t interested in sending any more people home.
Each goodbye was similar. The judges would announce the person going home, then we’d all have a group hug…then we’d all stand around and have a sort of cathartic moment of kind words and encouragement. Then we’d all head out, back into our cast trailer, pack up our stuff and head out to a celebration dinner. For Robert, I think we all went to Chili’s…we wanted to keep it classy, afterall.
The journey of Making It was so transformational for me and the other makers. What you see on television is a snapshot of all the beautiful, creative and hilarious moments that went into creating this show. I’m excited to be moving on to Episode 5 and share even more of these moments with you!
And now…for a few more random behind the scenes photos from Episode 4 of Making It!
DIRESTA!!! I found him!
Sometimes, you’ve gotta climb up on the table to get the right cut.
Bet you didn’t know that we were all barefoot for our costume beauty shots!! LOL!
Don’t mess with a girl and her glue gun!
Nothing keeps you humble like standing for hours in a pizza costume.
and yes…Nick & Amy are as kind and funny as you would imagine. We all looked forward to their “check-ins”!
thanks for the behind the scenes look. so fun!! Question if you have time! How much time was there between episodes? Did you do them day after day or take a few days off in between?
QTNA 😀
Love you and the show and I remind all of my crafty and planner Sisters to tune in. I’m a messy crafter as well and can’t wait to see what you’ll do next week.
Such fun! I loved hearing all thees behind the scene moments. It really is the best show!
I love the show and I love your creations. Wonderful to see a group of people who genuinely get along and respect each other’s craft(s). I read your Valentine’s letter to your hubby and it’s so sweet. Can’t imagine being separated from family, but that’s what passion for your dreams and a great support system, no matter the circumstances, look like. It’s an inspiration. Thanks for your behind-the-scenes insights. I am rooting hard for you!!!
I appreciate this behind the scenes look. As long as I’m not the only one with stuff everywhere.
I love the extra sharing! This show is so much fun, an hour is definitely not long enough for me!! Oh, and that envelope punch board is near and dear to me! Such an amazing tool for so many things!! Can’t wait till the next episode!! Please keep sharing!!
Always love the thought and details that you put into your work- thank you for the up-close visuals and some of the stories that go with them. ( I was worried for you during Irma) And like Joan, I’m wondering about how much time there was in between episodes
Fun Fact 4 made my eyes burn. I’m loving watching you in your craft-element. Thanks for sharing these behind the scene moments. I told my aunt, there was no way you all could do these projects in just an hour.
I love learning the behind-the-scenes details! Your Valentine’s Day porch scene was awesome.
Wow! Thank you for sharing the details of this experience! I so enjoy how you write in such a way that I can imagine it! You are Awesome and so incredibly creative! I agree with the others – It is wonderful to have a competition where people remain nice and helpful to each other. And no – an hour is not long enough… LOL
I love the tidbits you shared with us! Makes us feel like we’re there with you. I don’t know how you manage to stay so calm during the challenges. It would take me at least 3 hours to even think of an idea, let alone think AND create it! You rock, sista!
WE LOVE WATCHING MAKING IT! Won’t miss a show!
And congratulations on winning those fun patches!
Your Valentine’s Day front porch is just AWESOME
We love the show and love watching you and all the other creative people!! Thanks for sharing all the extras!
I’m still rooting for you to become Master Maker! I loved your Valentine porch! And last night your shed rocked! I’m so glad you are taking part in this show!
Wow! Thanks for sharing all this. I do like the “no drama” style too. Congrats on making it to the top three!!!!! Go girl! So happy for you.
I LOVE watching you on this show! The judges have commented on your level of originality a couple of times. But your stuff is SO PRETTY! This show has made me realize that I am NOT the crafter that I thought I was:( You guys are amazing!
Amber, I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed watching you on ‘Making It’. I do admit, that everyone was so amazingly talented, that you were not the only contestant for whom I rooted. Because amazingly, not only was everyone supremely talented, they were all people with whom one would like to hang. Thank you for reminding me, with your clever creativity and pleasant attitude, that the spirit of human creativity is always inspirational.
Amber, you are killing it on the show! I love watching and glad that it introduced me to your blog!
I love this show! It is so fun, creative and inspirational! Thanks for sharing some behind the scenes info – I love that stuff! I’m glad you are having an amazing experience and as I write this YOU are in the finale! Woo-hoo! Congrats girl and good luck!!!!
I remember the night I stumbled upon Making It. I wasn’t really watching until I saw a picture flash of my cousin Linda that really caught my attention. Needless to say I’m hooked on the show and love your creations.
Thank you so much for your beautiful, positive energy and for sharing these insider moments here! Congratulations on all your hard work on the show; can’t wait to see what you do next!
Amber – You are really gifted and I enjoyed SO MUCH watching what you created for the show. I would have watched a three-hour episode each week to see HOW you did what you did. Thank you for your positivity toward the other contestants and for sacrificing (a scary) time away from your family. I am so excited to now be on your mailing list and to see what else you have up your sleeve. I hope your time on the show pays off in your life in spades!!
Thank you for sharing this! I absolutely loved this show and was constantly amazed at how creative you and everyone else was–especially given the time constraints! I love seeing the family vibe you all had too. It was definitely heartwarming.
You touched upon why I love this show so much – everyone is so kind to one another even though every single contestant is out to win. The vibe is so positive, and every single one of you have inspired me to try to become more crafty. Plus, I enjoy your personality on the show which is like a slice of sunshine. Thank you Amy and Nick for creating such an amazing show and filling it with awesome people!
I found your blog a few years ago and I love everything you create! I was so happy to see you on Making It! What a great show and I enjoyed each of the Makers (and the hosts and judges) very much. What a great time you had and an awesome experience too. Each of you had creative and inspiring projects. I can’t wait for the next season to really showcase our DIY community.
love the behind tips! Loved everything you did!
I like all of my illumination celebrations to include deep fried taquito poppers from a local franchise restaurant. ??❤️
I was rooting between you and Khiem. I really like your aesthetic. You’re not afraid to use bright, vivid colors, and you combine colors well. Also, I really love your shirt in this episode. Where might a girl like get my hands on those? LOL
Amber, I came late to the making it scene…ci found it while casting about to listen too in the background as I quilted. OMG! I was gobsmacked. Needless to say, I had to stop everything and properly watch. I binge watched all the episodes and now look forward to re watching slowly, as I fold laundry.
The level of comradiere, genuine support and atmospheric levels of creative genius and skill was so inspirational. You did an amazing job in every challenge. I don’t do alot of paper crafting (yet), but I think your blog will change that for me. I’m can sleep better at night knowing women like you are spreading joy and “can do” spirit in this world that so needs it. Did the cast ever go out for celebratory waffles? Leslie knopes favorite food, after all.
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