Customize entertainment for your dad this Father’s Day

This year on Mother’s Day we suggested gifts besides macaroni necklaces and other children’s artwork. So what do we suggest for fathers? Well, Dads can actually be a lot like kids’ art—they are sometimes a little messy, but they bring you joy, and should certainly be appreciated more than once a year.

Whether you’re old man is a finger painted sunset or a clay sculpted football, whether he loves the outdoors or technology you can find YouTube channels that he will love. This Father’s Day, give your dad the ‘no-mess’ gift of entertainment in a personalized playlist that caters to his interests. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

For Mr. Sports Fanatic:



For the Dad behind the grill:



For the Music Lover:



For Mr. Fix it:



Happy Father’s Day!

Jessica Mason, communications associate, recently watched “Military Dad Surprises Daughter at Spelling Bee After She Spells 'Sergeant'.”

How to use YouTube for your holiday home videos

From squabbling over the family holiday photo, to filming a child unwrapping a dream toy, ‘tis the season for recording cherished family moments. Whether you want to share them with the world, or keep them in the family, here are tips for using YouTube to record your family’s memories:

Save a few Christmas trees, and send a holiday video card.
Compile your family’s favorite moments from the year, add season’s greetings, and blast it out to your family and friends.
  1. Keep videos short—around a minute or less—and mix film and photos
  2. Use the YouTube Video Editor to edit your video after uploading
  3. Include a link to your video and send to your online address book in seconds


Use YouTube as an archive for your favorite holiday memories.
YouTube makes it easy to share your videos just with family or friends by letting you keep your videos private, which makes sure it doesn’t appear in searches.
  1. Set your videos to Private and designate specific people who can view it
  2. Keep videos Unlisted where only friends and family with the link can view the video
  3. Use descriptive titles so you can easily search through your growing online catalogue
Is your hilarious holiday moment the next viral video on YouTube?
If you’re not shy about sharing your holiday moments and others love it as much as your family, you could possibly be invited to earn money from your video (helpful for future holiday shopping).

Check out holiday hits from years past for some ideas:



Jessica Mason, communications associate, recently watched "Project for Awesome: Water and Victoria Secret."

Music Tuesday: Songs of the Season and more

We have two early presents for you this week—a playlist of seasonal songs, and a retrospective from Daptone Records first fantastic 10 years. Plus don’t miss Common performing from our New York office as part of YouTube Presents.

Songs for the Season
We celebrate the holidays by showing off the best performers in the world: you. These are your videos, your songs, your unique (and sometimes hilarious) takes on how to make this season bright. We’ve got four-part harmony how-to videos, acoustic greatness, joyful animation and even a dubstep take on “Carol of the Bells.” Thanks for all you do.



Daptone Records 10 Year Anniversary
In the ten years since Daptone Records opened its creaking doors, retromania has gone from a marginal concept to one that has a book named after it. Daptone was founded on love: love for the warm, organic sound of analog recording equipment and love for the funk and soul music that America produced in the 1960s. From those twin passions emerged a label devoted to classic sounds that somehow do not seem anachronistic in our digital age -- on the contrary, they’re warmly welcomed. Artists like Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley and the Budos Band have become critical darlings and festival favorites. But the label perhaps had its biggest impact on the culture when it loaned its house band, the Dap-Kings, to Amy Winehouse for one fateful album.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched “XMAS SWAGGER by Princess Superstar.”

Holiday gifts made by you, on YouTube

Whoever first said it’s better to give than to receive wasn’t on a budget. For those of you looking to give generously this holiday season without shaking every last cent out of that snowglobe penny bank you were stuck with at last year’s white elephant exchange, we have good news: lots of creators on YouTube are sharing DIY gifts and money saving ideas.

While socks are very useful, after several years of giving them as gifts you might want to try something new. Consider making coasters, a tablet case made from an old plaid shirt, a crochet beanie, or even some homemade BBQ sauce you can bottle up and just add a bow.



Looking for something a bit more decorative? From a ‘no sew’ clutch, to vintage teacup candles, or homemade earrings with a DIY earring holder, there are plenty of gifts you can give that require little to no crafting skills.



If you’re convinced your grumpy uncle is the Grinch in disguise, help him get into the holiday spirit by tantalizing his senses with a holiday favorite: peppermint. Try a delicious peppermint bark recipe, relaxing peppermint bath salts or even peppermint lip products.



Finally, try adding a little cheer to a gift you already have. Make a DIY wine bottle sock bag (also great for apple cider), add a homemade potholder or oven mitt to a basket of your favorite holiday cookies, or even give cash on a cool DIY money tree.



Happy Holidays!

Jessica Mason, Communications Associate, recently watched “Damon Claus for a Cause - Water.org.”

Appy Holidays from the Chrome Web Store

The winter holidays are my favorite time of the year: I get to spend quality time with friends and family and eat lots of delicious food. However, between booking airplane tickets, sending greeting cards and looking for the perfect gifts, the pre-holiday season can be busy...and even a bit stressful. This year though, I feel much more in control thanks to the apps I discovered in the Chrome Web Store’s Holiday collection.

If you are looking for last minute holiday gifts, try Gilt for Chrome. Within the app, you can find the latest designer fashion items on sale and search for specific items and sizes like “men’s shoes size 11.”



I also recommend Amazon Windowshop. You can use the app to browse through millions of products in a slick way. For example my cousin really likes cupcakes: a search in the app shows me cupcake related products organized across categories like books, groceries and clothing, helping me find unique gifts.



For those of you still planning your trip home, check out Hipmunk. Hipmunk sorts all available flights to your destination by “agony” -- a mix of price, duration, and number of connections. You can see all the flights that meet your needs in a single view.



Finally, if you are late like I am in sending holiday cards, I suggest checking out Stupeflix Video Maker. In the app you can select a theme (my favorite one is “Celebrate”), insert pictures, text, and music, and create a free 60-second greeting that you can email or post on YouTube and Facebook. Or, you can simply create beautiful photo slideshows with DropMocks and comemories.

There are hundreds more apps to discover at the Chrome Web Store.

Happy Holidays!