Get Crafty for the Holidays with ‘Craftopia’ Star Lauren Riihimaki

Not sure what your Halloween costume will be? Or need to add lots of sparkle to your homemade holiday gifts?

DIY Expert and podcaster Lauren Riihimaki aka LaurDIY has got you covered with her weekly podcast “Wild ‘Til 9” and crafty show “Craftopia.”

Riihimaki told “Extra,” “My favorite crafting tip is reminding people that there aren't any rules in DIY and crafting. It can be intimidating in the era of Pinterest where projects always look picture-perfect. Start small, explore new mediums, follow as much or as little instruction as you want, and just have fun. It's empowering to design and create, and ‘crafting’ is such a broad term that can be applied to so many projects!”

Halloween is Riihimaki’s focus right now, and her current project will have you looking like Cruella aka Estella. She said. “I just finished a video about flipping basic, all-in-one Halloween costumes from the Halloween stores into outfits that are more unique/fun/flattering. I tackled the stereotypical devil costume, The Joker and Estella. Next week, I'll be recreating some of my cringiest costumes from the early days of YouTube from as early as 2013 and a handful of 2021 trends turned into easy DIY tutorials.”

Watch her help take eight die-hard crafters to the next level while she hosts the second season of the HBO Max Original “Craftopia,” which will have larger-than-life Halloween and holiday-seasoned themed challenges when eight contestants use their skills to create epic haunted and jolly creations.

Riihimaki, also an executive producer of the show, is astonished by how impressive these creations are. She explained, “When people think of crafting, I assume their immediate thoughts are around painting, scrapbooking, sewing, and drawing. Take those skills and blow them out of the water by about 5,000%. These challenges are planned and executed to push contestants to their creative limits. Between power tools, massive-scale projects (i.e. revamping an entire SmartCar) and overall competitive energy of creatives going head-to-head — it's mind blowing. The contestants are professionals in their areas of expertise. They're costume designers, monster-gore prosthetics pros, woodwork masters, and so much more!”

After the Halloween episodes, tune in on November 18 for four winter spectaculars. Each “craftestant” will be in a holiday-themed studio stocked with sequins and sparkles and will need to impress the judges in hopes of earring the one-and-only “craftrophia” and a $10,000 prize.