Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
1800Recycling.com blogged up a list of Star Wars vehicles made from recycled materials, and one of our Craft-athlon entries was included “Seven Awesome DIY Star Wars Vehicles.”
Michelle Brzozowski’s Red Leader X-Wing, made from a paper towel tube, chopsticks, empty glue stick tubes and more, flies high on the list, which also includes a working robotic AT-ST, the office supply X-Wing, the TIE Fighter made of Starbucks waste, and more. Reduce, Reuse, Rebel!
We are pleased to announce the winners of the first ever Club Jade Craft-athlon! After judging the five craft-making events individually, our panel of judges has scored up all the entrants and have awards lined up for the top Star Wars craft makers who dared to face our challenge.
Our grand prize winner is Michelle Brzozowski. Not only did her Red Leader X-wing take the top place in the Recycled Designs competition, her creative Cloud Car made from sweet potatoes and avocados took the cake in the Food for Thought event, and she entered all five events, making her an all-around craft-athlete! Michelle wins the grand prize pack from Del Rey: a copy of Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book and a copy of the three-volume The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia with a bookplate signed by all six writers. Way to go, Michelle!
In second place is Kitty Lewis. Her Darth Lolita Goth Arm Warmers swept away the judges in the Vader’s Custom Tee event, and her adorable Kit Fisto tied for the top rank in the Paper Bag Puppet event. Additionally, she submitted entries in two other events. Our second place prize from Del Rey is a copy of the new craft guide and three hardcover novels in the Fate of the Jedi series: Abyss, Backlash, and Allies, each signed by its author: Troy Denning, Aaron Allston, and Christie Golden. Great job, Kitty!
Third place goes to the team of Dajuan and Doug Kinney, who showed off their crafting prowess in all five events, making them all-around craft-athletes. Their cute Salacious Crumb puppet won the hearts of the judges and their tauntaun cake had some amazing detail. For achieving third place, we have a copy of The Star Wars Craft Book and a paperback copy of The Force Unleashed, signed by author Sean Williams. Congratulations, Doug and Dajuan!
Our final prizes from Del Rey, copies of The Star Wars Craft Book will be awarded to our other single event winners: Reynalyn Camoras, whose Mother Talzin won the Star Wars Roll Model event and Tommy Garcia, whose Boba Fett puppet complete with jet packs tied for the top spot in the Paper Bag Puppet round. Good work, Reynalyn and Tommy.
Relive the contest with all the different event entries on our blog. If you want to see all the entries in their full amazing creative glory, check out our online photo album, which show different views of some of the entries as well as in-progress shots.
Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to Del Rey for supporting the Club Jade Craft-athlon! Some of our events were inspired by The Star Wars Craft Book, so if you are looking for different ways to re-use an old Star Wars tee shirt, or want to make an AT-AT herb garden, Chewbacca sock puppet, R2-D2 Crocheted Beanie, Jabba the Hutt Body Pillow, or twelve parsecs worth of other cool crafts, check out Bonnie Burton’s new craftastic book.
And now the results from the final event in the Club Jade Craft-athlon: “Vader’s Custom Tee,” in which participants took a Star Wars apparel item and re-purposed it into a new creation. While most of our entries used a t-shirt as their base design material, our winner, Kitty Lewis, went down to the feet to turn two pairs of Darth Vader socks into “Darth Lolita Goth Arm Warmers.”
To accompany Vader’s socks, we had a squadron of tee-fighters closing in fast. Transforming the shirt off their backs into something new, we had an oversized Hoth bib from Dajuan & Doug Kinney (maybe for use when eating their Tauntaun cake?), the Sweet Dreams Sith pillow from Michelle Brzozowski, and a Lego Original Trilogy round poster from Nancy Lutz. Great work everyone!
And now with the Craft-athlon events complete, keep an eye out for our awarding of the fabulous prizes from Del Rey, live from the Massassi Throne Room on Yavin IV. Who will win the grand prize of a signed version of the Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia and Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book? Will Chewbacca get a medal for his crafting achievements finally?
The Club Jade Craft-athlon has finished its five craft-making events, and now the judges are scoring the last two events, and we have winners to announce for the “Star Wars Roll Model” competition. Each participant took an empty toilet paper roll and turned it into a character, and we had a tough time choosing from so many great entries.
The winner of the Roll Model event is Reynalyn Camoras for her depiction of Mother Talzin, using paint and crayon on a intricately cut and folded toilet paper roll.
Coming in on Talzin’s red heels were the entries were Blinky the Jawa, by Kitty Lewis, and Princess Leia by Jennifer Fuchikama. While Blinky sports a battery-powered tealight inside for the eyes, Leia’s spherical head was made by rotating rings sliced from the toilet paper roll. Rounding out the finalists, we had Michelle Brzozowski’s R2-Deetube and Barren Paper-rolla by Doug and Dajuan Kinney.
A newcomer jumps in to claim this event with one final event to be judged: the Vader’s Custom Tee challenge, where entrants turned old Star Wars apparel into something new. Stay tuned for the finish of the final event, and the awarding of the cool prizes from Del Rey. It seems that some of these entries should be included in the next edition of Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book.
The third event in the Club Jade Craft-athlon came down to a food fight between veggies and dessert. In the end, the innovative use of sweet potatoes and avocados won out over the detailed decorations of a tauntaun cake.
Michelle Brzozowski uses her “Calrissian Coolness Cloud Car” to reach victory in the “Food for Thought” event, with Doug and Dajuan Kinney’s “Frozen on the outside, Luke warm in the middle” getting honors for having the guts to make guts.
Still want a chance to win some cool prizes from Del Rey, including copies of Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book? There’s still time to cut up an old Star Wars tee shirt and turn it into something else in the “Vader’s Custom Tee” event, deadline midnight Pacific time! Get the full scoop on submission rules and stay tuned for the results of the Roll Model event.
Get your creative juices flowing with The Star Wars Craft Book by Bonnie Burton, out today. Don’t forget, you could win Bonnie’s book or other cool prizes in our Craft-athlon. The final challenge – your apparel entries – are due today.
Meanwhile, Wednesday will bring Darth Vader and the Lost Command #3 and Legacy: War #4.
The second event, Recycled Designs, from the Club Jade Craft-athlon got participants to build a starship, vehicle or creature by digging through their trash compactors and recycling bins for parts. Like a gang of industrious Jawas or kitbashing ILM modelmakers, our competitors assembled some pretty amazing recycled designs.
Our top crafter in this round is Michelle Brzozowski for her Red Leader X-Wing fighter, made out of items including empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls, chopsticks, empty glue stick tubes, and a plastic Easter egg.
Rounding out the finalists are Dajuan & Doug Kinney for their Paploo on a speeder bike, and Kitty Lewis for her Java Squadron X-wing fighter. The Kinneys used the entire recycling bin for the Fast and the Furball-ous, incorporating 8 glass and plastic bottles, several empty Lego boxes, plastic lunch meat tubs, and empty paper towel rolls. Lewis’ caffeinated starfighter uses some cannibalized coffee cups and lids, and straws. Watch out for the dark side of the roast, Luke!
While we are judging the third event, Food for Thought, there’s still time to get your entries in for the last two competitions: Star Wars Roll Model (toilet paper roll turned into a Star Wars character), and Vader’s Custom Tee (repurpose a Star Wars t-shirt or other apparel item into a new creation). Get the full details here on how to enter and be eligible to win cool prizes from Del Rey, including copies of Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book, coming out March 29!
The Club Jade Craft-athlon judges had some tough decisions with the entries received in the first crafting event – the Paper Bag Puppets. All the submissions were great and when the judges combined their scores, we ended up with a tie for the top Star Wars paper bag puppet!
Congrats to Kitty Lewis for her Jedi Master Kit Fisto paper bag puppet and Tommy Garcia for his Boba Fett puppet complete with jet pack. Rounding out the top five, we had an impressive Boba Fett, a detailed Jabba the Hutt and a cute Salacious Crumb.
But the contest is still any crafter’s game – we’re now judging the second event: Recycled Designs for starships, vehicles, and creatures, but everyone still has time to submit in the final three categories: Food for Thought (food items as art media), Roll Model (toilet paper roll turned into a Star Wars character), and Vader’s Custom Tee (repurpose a Star Wars t-shirt or other apparel item into a new creation). Even if you haven’t submitted yet, you can still enter into any category for a chance to win one of our fabulous prize sets from Del Rey. Get the full details here!
All wings report in! We’ve received a handful of entries for Paper Bag Puppet event in the Club Jade Craft-athlon and while we are judging your fine lunch bag creations, we’d like to remind you that tomorrow, March 23, is the deadline for Event #2: ‘Recycled Designs.’ Who can build the best hunk of junk in the galaxy… out of household junk – or recyclable materials? You can! Send us photos of your starship, vehicle or creature craft creation.
Friday is the deadline for Event #3: ‘Food for Thought’, where food items form the main ingredient in this artistic challenge.
Get the full rules and submission guidelines and check out the prizes from Del Rey at our contest page.
Still working on your entries for the Club Jade Craft-athlon? We’ve already received a few entries, and we’d like to remind you that the deadlines for some of the events are coming next week! Be sure to get your photos submitted by the deadlines:
To help inspire you in the contest, check out this zippered pocketbook made by Dianna Bates using some vintage Star Wars bedsheets. With a fully lined on the interior, it even has a cell phone pocket on the inside. Thanks to her husband Justin LaSalata for sending pics along. Check out the submission rules, get crafting and keep those contest entries coming!