Maria’s Quick & Easy Christmas Craft Countdown

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

Zany ideas are always popping into my head, so around Halloweentime when the idea to make a series of 12 crafting videos creeped into my mind I could hardly wait to get the holiday crafting party started.

It’s fun to upcycle those Scrabble game tiles!

I quickly made a list of ‘quick and easy’ crafts tutorials I could make for my Youtube channel. But what would I call my craft series? Hm. For a while, I entertained ‘The 12 Days of Christmas Crafts,’ but then noticed there were others with the same name. Hm. More thinking. Then after playing with words I came up with ‘Christmas Craft Countdown.’ It was a real tongue twister, but it had a pepperminty flavor and Christmasy ring to it.

Make a cool art journal/sketch pad from an old board game.

So, let the crafting begin. Coming up with ideas was the easy-peasy part. And mulitiple trips to my favorite craft store JoAnn Fabric & Crafts was tons of fun. After working at the craft store for about a year, I learned how to use my coupons and get the most savings for my crafting dollar. Believe me, I saved a lot of moola using my coupons. (You can find tutorials on how to use JoAnn coupons on my Youtube channel.)

How about repurposing a discarded children’s book & turn it into a cool sketch book?

These clutch purses & wallets are super simple & fun to make! I dare you to make just one!

Next, I needed to make up my sample crafts, then figure out how I would present these tutorials showing each step as I recreated the crafts for my audience. Let me just say for the record that I am a total amateur at making videos. (New 2013 goal: Learn how to make professional videos) I used my iPad to make the tutorials. I love my iPad2, but thought there must be a better way of getting the job done. So, I’ve asked Santa Claus for a tri-pod for my camera, though with all of the bloopers, I probably should have asked for a teleprompter. And maybe a director. The goof-ups were endless, so I finally decided to leave them in and had a good chuckle.

Snowglobes are so magical! These waterless snowy scenes are created in a quart size Mason jar.

I dare you to make this storytime glove and not burst into singing ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ song.

By the time I got to video taping ‘Craft Project No. 10’ (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Hand Puppet) the spirit of Christmas possessed me. I started to sing. I can hardly carry a tune, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to sing Rudolph and so I sang to my little elf’s heart content.

And after wrapping up the 12th crafting video, something in the closet caught my eye. Something red. Something red with white trim. It was the cheesy, felt Santa Claus suit that I bought at JoAnn’s last Christmas when it was on sale. Then I remembered a leather strap with gold jingle bells attached to it from when hubby played Santa Claus at the after school program where I worked a few years ago. I dashed out of my craft room with two tiny reindeer at my heels (Okay, barking chihuahua/terriers ) and ‘yay!’ found the bells, then slipped on the cheap red suit and created the introduction to my ‘Christmas Craft Countdown.’ And all in only eight takes! (Ho! Ho! Ho!)

I kick start my holiday craft videos with this fun, festive, and yummy ‘Countdown to Christmas Candy Advent Calendar.’

Hope you enjoy the videos! Happy crafting! And happiest of holidays everyone!

Do you craft during the holidays? What are you making? Or what have you made in the past? Is there a handcrafted gift you received as a gift that you treasure?