What is Vlogmas (The Complete Guide 2024)

It seems every day there is a new mashup word being coined. Mashup words are two or three words combined into one. “Vlogmas,” a term coined in 2011, is a combination of two. Christmas and vlog.

Funny enough, vlog is a mashup word itself coming from combining video and blog. So if you really break it down, Vlogmas is a Christmas video blog.

In this article, you will learn about Vlogmas, its history, and how you can be a part of Vlogmas this year.

• What is Vlogmas?
• How did Vlogmas Start?
• What are the Best Examples of Vlogmas on Youtube?
• How to Do Vlogmas Yourself?
• Best Beginner Video Editors for Vlogmas Videos
• Step-by-Step Guide for Making a Vlogmas Video
• How to make a Vlogmas intro
• We Wish You a Merry Vlogmas

What is Vlogmas?

YouTubers celebrate Vlogmas by posting daily Christmassy videos in the days leading up to Christmas – usually December 1 through December 24. Think of it as a video advent calendar.

The Vlogmas Challenge refers to the daily posting of videos in the month of December, but if that sounds overwhelming, many YouTubers post Christmas Vlogs every few days, or even weekly.

Vlogmas participants typically stick with the kind of videos they usually post, but with a Holiday spin. For example, if you had a food-based Vlog, you could post about Christmas cookies, Christmas dinner, Peppermint mochas, etc.

If you give make-up tips, you could post about make-up for Holiday work parties or how to apply a Santa beard.

A Vlog that does product reviews could become a holiday gift guide.

How did Vlogmas Start?

On December 2, 2011, a beauty YouTuber by the name of Ingrid Nilsen uploaded the first official Vlogmas video.

She decided to post a video blog each day leading up to Christmas - and a tradition was born.

Until the Vlogmas Challenge, most Vloggers didn’t post daily videos. Not only does that offer a very intimate look into a person’s life, but it’s also incredibly hard work!

Luckily, Vlogmas caught on quickly because it’s only 25 days, and when most people have a more-than-average amount of time and exciting things to create content about!

Just think of the possibilities! Gingerbread houses, Christmas shopping, decorating, caroling, and whatever fun Christmas traditions you might have.

Sadly, Nilsen has left YouTube entirely after ten years of Vlogs and millions of subscribers. But a slew of other Vloggers have taken the Vlogmas reins. Current popular Vlogmas YouTubers include Zoe Sugg, Alisha Marie, Meredith Foster, and Claudia Sulewski.

What are the Best Examples of Vlogmas on YouTube?

No Best-Of-Vlogmas list would be complete without at least one entry from the Mother of Vlogmas, Ingrid Nilsen, who goes by TheGridMonster on YouTube. This is an entry from 2012 where she wraps Christmas presents.

Zoe Sugg, mentioned above as a popular Vlogmas YouTuber, has playlists of every year’s Vlogmas entries back to 2013. In these entries from 2015 & 2016, Zoe goes to a Holiday party and goes Christmas tree shopping. Check out her super cute animated Vlogmas intros that change each year!

Brooklyn and Bailey, famous YouTube twins, decided to do 12 Days of Vlogmas. They even included a giveaway for each of the 12 days. In this episode, the girls go on a hot chocolate run.

Alisha Marie is another Vlogmas superstar. Here’s a 2019 Vlogmas post where she goes to Big Bear with friends and builds gingerbread houses.

Below is a 2016 Vlogmas post from Meredith Foster, where she celebrates a friend’s birthday and goes to Disneyland!

One thing to take away from these Vlogmas videos is that they don’t have to be complicated! It’s just people filming their daily lives during the holidays....and getting hundreds of thousands of views!

How to Do Vlogmas Yourself?

Having a Vlog or YouTube channel is obviously a must. If you don’t have one, check out our How to Become a YouTuber: The Ultimate 8 Step Guide for everything you need to know to start one.

Now, as you have already learned, putting a holiday spin on the kind of content you are already making is a great way to do Vlogmas. But if your usual content doesn’t lend itself to Vlogmas, never fear! You can do special Vlogmas posts just for December or even start a new channel just for the holidays. Just be sure to explain to your subscribers what you are doing and that your regularly scheduled content will resume momentarily.

You also don’t need to wait until December 1 to start making Vlogmas content. Instead, start a few weeks early to take the stress out of doing a Vlog every day. Just remember when you are doing your early Christmas shopping and decorating to keep the camera rolling!

Best Beginner Video Editors for Vlogmas Videos

For any successful Vlogmas challenge, you will need to download quality video editing software. Many are good for beginners, so don’t worry if you’re not tech-savvy. Here are the Top 3 Video Editors for Beginners:

1. PowerDirector
2. iMovie
3. Adobe Premiere Elements

Let’s take a closer look at all three.

1. PowerDirector

PowerDirector is a PCMag and Google Play Editor’s Choice. It has customizable animated text, visual effects, stylized transitions, and unlimited access to a royalty-free stock library,

With PowerDirector you can create cinematic films, and it’s one of the most popular video editors for YouTubers. In addition, it makes vlogging easier with a library of intro and outro templates specifically designed for YouTube.

You can even post directly to social media and YouTube from the app.

If you are using an iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac device, you can download PowerDirector for free and try it yourself.

Why not make your first Vlogmas video with PowerDirector?

2. iMovie

iMovie should already be installed on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. If not, it can be downloaded for free from the app store.

With iMovie, you can easily upload your photos and videos, trim clips, then add effects, titles, and music. There’s even a chroma key tool for creating green-screen effects and fun Hollywood-style movie trailer templates.

3. Adobe Premiere Elements

Adobe Premiere Elements offers 27 Step-by-Step Guided Edits to help you with skills like animated overlays, double exposures, time-lapse, freeze-frame, and more.

And for those of you who take thousands of pictures and videos, there is an organization feature.

Step-By-Step Guide for Making a Vlogmas Video

Here’s a quick look at the basics for making your very own Vlogmas video.

1. Decide What to Film
2. Film it
3. Upload videos/photos to editing software
4. Trim Clips
5. Add an End Scene
6. Add Effects/Music/Titles
7. Save and Render Video
8. Upload to YouTube

Decide What to Film – This is definitely the most important step. All the fancy graphics and editing and Christmas spirit won’t get people watching your video if the content isn’t interesting.

There have been a lot of ideas of what to make content about in this article, but if you’re stuck on this, it’s time to check out our 25 Best Vlogmas Ideas for Christmas Videos on YouTube. That’s enough ideas for each day of the Vlogmas Challenge.

Film It – Even if you haven’t had time to pick the perfect theme for the day, just start filming! You never know what could happen while the camera is rolling. You may even get two Vlogmas videos out of one event.

Don’t forget to take some beautiful pictures of any end-products to use in the video (Beautifully wrapped presents! Gingerbread houses! Christmas Cookies!).

Upload Videos/Photos to Editing Software – If you used an actual camera, this means plugging it into your computer and downloading the content. Then opening your editing software and uploading your videos and photos.

However, most people are shooting video on their smartphones, which means either importing footage from your phone to a computer (to edit on a much bigger screen) or just editing directly on the phone.

Trim Clips – As much as you love watching your toddler open every single Christmas present, strangers on YouTube might not. So try to pick the moments with the best reactions and save the others for your home movies. This applies to any kind of video. Use only the best and most exciting moments.

Once you’ve selected and trimmed your clips, try watching the cut from beginning to end. You might notice jarring transitions you can smooth out or clips that could be tightened even more.

Add an End Scene – Save 5-10 seconds at the end of your video to add an end card/end screen. This is the part at the end of a YouTube video that asks people to “like and subscribe.” YouTube traffic to your channel can increase 25% just by having an end card directing viewers to your other content. PowerDirector includes templates to create an end scene in seconds if you’re unsure how to make one.

Add Effects/Music/Titles – How fancy do you want to go? You can fix the color of your videos, sound edit, and add complicated-looking visual effects.

Watch other Vlogmas videos on YouTube and see what kind of effects they are using. If you gravitate more toward the slick/professional-looking Vlogs, chances are your viewers will too.

At the very least, make sure your sound levels are balanced. Viewers don’t want to strain to hear you speaking over your background music. Or have some unexpected loud sound burst their eardrums.

Remember when adding music to get royalty-free songs. If you use licensed music without permission, YouTube could remove your video.

If you need a little more help with editing your Vlogmas videos, check out our article on How to Edit YouTube Videos. It’s an excellent reference for basic video editing:

Save and Render Video – Remember to save your project occasionally and label it something obvious so you won’t have trouble finding it. Computers sometimes crash, and editing software autosaving doesn’t always guarantee your work is safe.

If you have a long video with lots of effects, rendering could take some time. So make yourself a cup of coffee or go fold the laundry. By the time you’re done your masterpiece should be ready to watch.

Upload to YouTube – You just put in a lot of work, and now it is time to share it with the world.

How to Make a Vlogmas Intro

Making an intro is important enough to get its own section. This is where you should show off your logo, the name of your video, and even your channel. You can add animation and fun text. Or go crazy with all the fun stuff you might want to hold back on during your actual videos.

If you didn’t watch the examples of Vlogmas videos on YouTube, do that now and notice some of the amazing intros, specifically from Zoe Sugg and Alisha Marie.

Suppose you want to make a Zoe-level Vlogmas intro. In that case, PowerDirector has cool holiday add-ons that work great for Vlogmas intros, each include 12 festive animated title templates, 3 seasonal menu templates, 24 PiP object templates, and 6 particle templates.

If you’ve never heard of PiP, it stands for Picture in Picture, and in this case, refers to little animated stickers you can add to your videos. Like a cup of hot cocoa with steam lines wiggling out of the top or a snow globe with snow falling.

Particles in editing are a large number of tiny objects – like falling snow or a bunch of small ornaments.

We Wish You a Merry Vlogmas

Hope you’ve enjoyed your trip down Vlogmas lane. You’ve learned so much, including how Vlogmas is a wonderful time of year when YouTubers release daily Vlogs about the joys of the season.

Plus, you should know what it takes to make and edit your own Vlogmas videos with awesome intros and end scenes. And the easiest way to edit your Vlogmas videos like a pro is with PowerDirector, which you can download for free.

PowerDirector
Download PowerDirector for FREE and see why PC Mag named it the Best Video Editing Software in the industry.