Electric craft

It was originally intended as an electric project.

It fared better in a different category.

Ty Paxson set out to create a lamp using old pieces and parts, along with pipe, building on an idea he got from looking at lamps and other electric projects at the Indiana State Fair.

“We saw one that had a pretty rustic feel and look to it,” said Paxson, 14, who will be a freshman at Jay County High School this fall. “And we thought, we have a lot of old parts, we can just use those and make a nice, old lamp.”

He and his helper on the project, his dad Trent, went hunting.

They found one of the items on their wish list — an old valve — and stumbled upon some discarded gears in grandpa Mike Bowen’s barn.

Those gears, the larger painted gray and the smaller bright red, now make up the base of the distinctive lamp that is on display this week in the newly named Bob Schmit Memorial Exhibition Hall at Jay County Fairgrounds. They threaded the electrical wire through the pipe to the pair of bulbs, using other items for decoration.

“We found an old valve and an old little turn wheel, so we connected those up to my lamp too,” said Paxson, who also participates in 4-H projects involving shooting sports, Lego model, farm model and fine arts as well as showing chickens — his favorite because he’s in charge of giving them food and water at home — and goats.

Paxson’s creation from old pieces and parts initially received a red ribbon in the electric category.

“And then we thought, ‘It looks pretty, we’ll put it into other crafts,’” he said. “So we put a polarized plug and some felt on the bottom and put it into crafts and it got grand champion.”

It was an unexpected result to say the least. But he still walked away satisfied.

“I feel pretty good about it,” said Paxson. “Because I guess it isn’t good for actual electric, but it’s a pretty good decoration.”