Jen Causey-Kidder
Jen Causey-Kidder December 07, 2020

How To Make Your Own Tabletop Santa “Cam”

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Not into Elf on the Shelf? Me either. But I still wanted to have a little Santa type fun. So I found these dummy security cameras on Amazon, they totally look real but are 100% fake. They take two AA batteries and all they do is give off a semi-slow, red blink. Most people who use these to deter bad guys install them on the ceiling, but they make the perfect tabletop Santa Cam. Using your Cricut personalize some vinyl, add a little festive trim, and in minutes you’ll have a darling little addition to your family holiday traditions.

How to make your own tabletop Santa cam!
These Santa Camera's are super easy to make, and they're totally fake!

SUPPLIES:

  • Cricut Maker, Explore, or Joy
  • Dummy Security Cameras
  • Festive Vinyl Colors
  • Transfer Tape
  • Festive Trim
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Scissors
How to make your own tabletop Santa cam!

Create In Design Space

The first step is to login to Design Space and start designing your Santa Cam’s! Click on this link to visit my canvas in Design Space to use my pre-designed cut files, some of the files I used for these designs require Cricut Access or will cost a few dollars.

Then Let Your Cricut Work It’s Magic

These Santa Camera's are super easy to make, and they're totally fake!

Weed The Designs

Weed, (aka. remove) all the excess iron-on material that isn’t a part of your design. Using the Cricut weeding tools makes the removal of intricate pieces super easy.

How to make your own tabletop Santa cam!

Add Trim

Add some festive trim around the dome using hot glue.

These Santa Camera's are super easy to make, and they're totally fake!

Apply The Vinyl

For the snowflakes and the elf outline, you can add them by hand, no transfer tape needed.

Depending on the type of vinyl you use, you might be able to smooth the elf outline over the rounded dome, otherwise you might have to cut it at the chin and top of the hat to overlap.

How to make your own tabletop Santa cam!

Add Wording

Using transfer tape with the wording is best. Apply to the top of the weeded wording and smooth with a scraping tool. Then peel the clear transfer tape along with the wording off of the white backing sheet. Then you’re ready to apply your custom vinyl sticker to the bottom of the dummy cam. I cut the words into two, so the application was easier. That’s all there is to it!

These Santa Camera's are super easy to make, and they're totally fake!
How to make your own tabletop Santa cam!

Add Batteries

Put the batteries in and watch the slow red dot flash, it’s such a crack up. What will your kids think of this?

These Santa Camera's are super easy to make, and they're totally fake!

If you create one of our projects, please share a picture with us on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #somethingturquoisediy, we regularly reshare our favorites! Your profile will need to be public for us to see it otherwise, you can always DM us!

DIY Tutorial Credits

Photography + DIY Tutorial: Jen Causey of Something Turquoise // Dummy Security Cameras: Amazon // Blue Cricut Maker: Amazon // Cricut Vinyl: Amazon // Transfer Tape: Amazon // Festive Trim: Amazon

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