I Tested My DIY Skills With The Team Behind ‘Making It’ And Let Me Tell You, It’s Harder Than It Looks

I have never really been the kind of person who is into DIY. The whole world of DIY scares me: It’s full of hot-glue guns, 3D pens and hardware tools, and my tiny, inexperienced brain wouldn’t know where to start. For context, one time I tried to microwave sweetened condensed milk and I wound up blowing up my microwave. 

Having said that, I’ve always wanted to be good at DIY things. Thanks to the Facebook algorithm, my feed is constantly full of heavily saturated, fast-paced DIY compilations from 5 Minute Crafts, Blossom, and so on. So, the want was there. But, the ability? I’m not so sure… 

Enter: The Team Behind Making It. 

Let’s Make It!

Hosted by Susie Youssef and Harley Breen, Making It is the newest wholesome reality show to hit the TV airwaves. Here, Australia’s most talented ‘makers’ showcase their artistic genius through various challenges under the themes of woodwork, sewing, pottery, and everything between. 

So, given my inability to do anything related to DIY, why not put my (extremely limited) skills to the test. I met up with some of the producers from Making It, to see just how I would go in a timed challenge. 

So, What Was The Task?

The task was simple. I had one hour (and not a minute more) to make a piece of headwear. I had access to a hot glue gun, a heater, an abundance of fabrics, some styrofoam: pretty much everything you would find in Art Attack. And that’s essentially it.

Your Time. Starts. Now. 

Okay, so I had failed step one, which was to think of a concept beforehand but luckily my quick wit came through. While I could have easily made a basic cap (maybe easily isn’t the right word, in this case), I decided that I wanted to go conceptual with the task and make a piece of headwear shaped like a car. Why? Well, as someone without a licence, it’s been weighing on my mind for yonks and Olivia Rodrigo’s constant bragging on the radio wasn’t helping. 

So, yes, I was there to make a car-hat, of sorts. How the fuck was I going to do this? That is the question. Let’s improv. 

Okay, Let’s Start Off With A Base… I Guess?

To start things off, I knew I needed to make a base of sorts. So, I decided to use a thick piece of foam, cut it up into strips and hot glue the pieces together to make a helmet-shaped structure.

Sounds good so far, right? Yeah, it does. Only issue is, this step took me 15 fucking minutes. At which point, the hosts of the show, Susie Youssef and Harley Breen, came to see me to check up on me. That would be the literal equivalent of the MasterChef judges walking up to a contestant who has merely put the pot on the stove. Fuck my life. 

Friendship Over With Regular Glue, Hot Glue Gun Is My New Best Friend

Anyway, it was clear that I needed to hurry my ass up or I would be stuck with an unfinished mess when the hour was up. The next step involved hot gluing some red fabric to the base to create the general shape and colour of the car. Why hot glue, I hear you asking? Well, let’s just say my knowledge of putting things together is pretty limited… And I’ve always wanted to look like a Charlie’s Angel.

So, after the fabric was glued down. I took a step back and looked at my car. Initially, I thought this “step back” would have involved the brainstorm of: should I make a SUV? Should I make a hatchback? Should I shape this to fit more of a squarish Jeep? But, alas, I was asking none of these questions. I was, in fact, asking myself: How the fuck are you going to turn this mushroom-looking-ass half-dome into a car? By the way, another 15 minutes had passed. I swear clocks operate differently when tests are on… 

It was at this point, the producers of Making It saw the pickle that I was in and took it upon themselves to send someone to help me out. When I tell you I was embarrassed… that doesn’t even begin to cover it. 

Send In The Help!

So, here I was now with an extra set of hands and absolutely zero vision. And to cover my tracks, I essentially asked the helper to take a section of the car to work on, while I did my absolute best to sort the rest out. So, I assigned him the wheels.

Now, it was at this point, I had just over 20 minutes left and it hit me. Why, the fuck did I ask the professional crafter to make the wheels, when that was something I could have easily done myself? Why didn’t I get him to help me with the doors, the lights, the window, the windshield wipers? None of that, I asked him to help me with some fucking circles. Goddamn it. 

Race To The Finish!

Anyway, so began the 20 minute countdown where I just frantically glued shit to the hat in the hopes that it a) looked like a car and b) didn’t fall off. I had cut in half some plastic egg shells to make the lights at the front and rear of the car. I then cut up some thin pieces of felt to make the window. Did it look good? I mean you can decide for yourself…

I then cut up some more fabric to make the windows on the side of the car. And lo and behold, it still looked like shit. But, then the five minute call was announced and the craft consultant glued the wheels on the car. And hey, it kind of looked like a car. Well, let me rephrase, if you were given the four options of: a) car, b) elephant, c) casino or d) Bryce from Married at First Sight, it would look like a car. 

I think if you squint and look at a low resolution quality version of the image, it looks more like a car… Anyway…

One Minute Left

So, while Mr. Craft Consultant person was helping me out with the wheels, I decided to improv a little more by creating some Punkee-inspired licence plates. With 10 seconds to go you better believe I was burning myself with the hot glue trying to get everything on. 

Times Up!

Thank fuck that’s over. How did I do? You can decide for yourself.

Let me tell you, this shit is harder than it looks. My respect for the Making It contestants just went through the goddamn roof. 

Making It starts tonight at 7:30pm on Channel 10.