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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Christmas was in the air at the Maymay Made It open house in Verbena on Nov. 16.

Customers enjoyed sweet treats and browsed for supplies for their next project or purchased holiday items.

“We are card makers, and I follow her on YouTube,” Karen Hamm of Camden said.

Hamm invited her friends Marlyin Hammons of Camden to come to the open house with her.

“I like the variety: the stamps, die cuts and everything that she has,” Hamm said. “It is nice to know that there is somewhere close enough to use that if we really need something we can come and get it and not have to wait.”

Hammons said there is not a store like it in Camden.

The friends said they also enjoyed seeing the project samples.

Hamm found Maymay thorough her YouTube Channel and is a part of her ink stamp club.

Michelle Melton and her husband Will Melton of Clarksville, Tennessee also met the owners through YouTube. They now watch all of the Maymay videos.

“I had done a search (on) how to make a bow on YouTube, and one of her videos came up,” Michelle said. “This is my third year coming to their open house … Everybody who works here is extremely nice they’re helpful. They’re great.”

The couple has worked together to complete some of the projects.

Visitors were also invited to Chestnut Creek Baptist Church to participate in a “make and take craft” with several options to choose from.

“We really wanted to come and see all the ornaments and the crafts and all the vendors and get to make the free ones,” Kimberly Justice of Clanton said.

Maymay Made It is owned by Amy “Maymay” and Vince “Vinnie” Helms.

The name Maymay came from her nephew Thomas could not pronounce Aunt Amy and said Maymay instead. It was a name Amy Helms calls “an honor” because her late Aunt Maisy was also called Maymay.

The business has been at its present location for three years. While the vast majority of the business’ sales are made online, Maymay said they started the store front because people wanted to come in and shop.

She said the business has continued to grow.

“We had a house fire in 2011, and we lost everything we owned, so we had to move to an apartment in Prattville,” Maymay said. “I had already crafted my whole life, but when we got there I needed something to fill my time while we were trying to get back home.”

YouTube became her outlet for sharing her enjoyment of crafting, now the couple has a new video up every day with a live event twice a week.

Maymay said she enjoys seeing all the subscribers come to the open house each year.

“We love our community,” she said.

“It’s pretty special,” Vince said.

Maymay said it was good to hear about people making a craft and being happy with how it turned out for the first time in a long time.

Vince said the store ships all over the world through its website.

A map in a back-room marks where each of the visitors to the open house have traveled from, including as far away as California and Alaska.