holiday

DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater Ideas

Holidays, Lifestyle

‘Tis the season for festive parties! And, if you have an “Ugly Christmas Sweater” party coming up, I’ll be on CBS-LA today sharing 5 easy do-it-yourself ideas! Here’s a sneak peek at the tacky sweaters I’ll be sharing!

It seems that the “Ugly Christmas Sweater” theme gets more popular every year! I love that its a bit of a comedic relief from a season that can sometimes come with a lot of stress and buttoned-up holiday attire. Plus, if you decide to create one yourself, there’s no pressure to make it perfectly cute… It’s called UGLY for a reason! Another bonus to ugly sweaters? They’re inexpensive to make! You can use a lot of holiday decor and materials that are already found around your home. Or, check out your local dollar store or Michaels for affordable craft supplies!

Check out this fun holiday stocking sweater I shared on Instagram using all materials from Michaels craft stores:

Below are instructions for creating five easy ugly holiday sweaters – I even included a kids’ sweater and Hanukkah sweater! Feel free to adapt these sweaters to what’s easiest for you and what materials you may already have at home!

5 UGLY HOLIDAY SWEATER IDEAS:

Kids Christmas Tree Sweater

Your children will have lots of fun creating an ugly Christmas sweater with you, and this simple Christmas tree sweater idea is so easy for little crafters!

Materials Needed:

  • Red sweater/sweatshirt
  • Felt – green and yellow
  • Tacky Christmas decor, like mini jingle bells, bows, mini ornaments, etc.
  • Old craft supplies like mini pom poms, glitter, beads and buttons
  • Needle and thread – the thread should preferably contrast with red sweater and tree, like a bright yellow!
  • Black fabric paint
  • Elmer’s glue
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

DIY Steps:

  1. Cut a large Christmas tree shape out of the green felt and a star out of the yellow felt. Sew onto red sweater with needle and thread. It doesn’t have to be perfect – remember, this is an “ugly” sweater!
  2. Let your child take it away with Elmer’s glue and décor items! Add glitter, bows, buttons and pom poms to the tree! Parents can help with hot glue gun for the heavier décor, like jingle bells and ornaments
  3. Use black fabric paint down the arms to create a “string” and add colorful pom poms to resemble Christmas lights.
  4. Allow to dry for 6-12 hours before wearing.

“Christmas Vacation” Tree Sweater

This sweater is perfect for fans of classic Christmas movies! Friends will get a hoot out of the fake squirrel climbing the Christmas tree, just as it terrorized the cast in National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation” movie.

Materials Needed:

DIY Steps:

  1. Wrap tacky tinsel garland around green sweater and hot glue into place.
  2. Wrap LED lights around garland and secure light bulbs to sweater with hot glue. Make sure your string of lights is long enough to wrap around the sweater and the battery pack can fit into your back pocket.
  3. Hot glue mini ornaments around the sweater to make it look like a Christmas tree.
  4. Hot glue a toy stuffed squirrel on the sweater. I preferred to glue it on the sweater’s shoulder.

Tacky Hanukkah Sweater

Not everyone celebrates Christmas, so this tacky Hanukkah sweater is perfect for our Jewish friends!

Materials Needed:

DIY Steps:

  • Cut a menorah out of silver glitter iron-on vinyl paper. Iron the menorah onto the sweater.
  • Cut 9 candles out of white felt and 9 flames out of yellow felt. Hot glue onto the sweater.
  • Hot glue gold sequins to the flames.
  • Stick or hot glue foam letters to spell “Happy Hanukkah” on the sweater.

Festive “Stranger Things” Sweater

Great for a Hollywood Christmas party filled with Netflix binge-watchers, this “Stranger Things” sweater feels festive with its LED lights while celebrating a favorite TV show.

Materials Needed:

DIY Steps:

  • Iron on the alphabet in three rows, as seen on the wall in “Stranger Things,” onto the shirt
  • Hot glue mini colorful LED lights above the letters to resemble the wall in “Stranger Things.”

Easy Stocking Sweater

This easy DIY sweater also makes a convenient pocket to hold your wallet, phone, keys, or better – a bottle of wine!

Materials Needed:

  • Green or red sweater
  • Sturdy stocking
  • Tacky flair, like bells, pom poms, bows, glitter
  • Elmers glue
  • Hot glue gun and glue sticks

DIY Steps:

  1. Hot glue a sturdy Christmas stocking to the center of the sweatshirt
  2. Use Elmers glue and hot glue to add tacky flair to the sweater, like glitter, bows and bells

Let me know if you go to an Ugly Sweater Party and what you plan to wear in the comments below! Or, connect with me on Instagram and TikTok where I share more lifestyle and family tips. Merry Christmas!

XO Maggie

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some of this post contains affiliate links for the products I use and LOVE. If you take action on these links (like clicking, buying, etc.), I may receive compensation at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are my own, and I’ll only recommend what I truly love. For more information about affiliates and your privacy, view our Terms & Conditions page here.

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6 Healthy Halloween Snacks

Health & Wellness, Home, Kitchen, Lifestyle, Mom & Baby
6 healthy Halloween snacks that are easy and fun to make with your kids!

Got a picky eater? I’ve found the best way to get my kids to eat healthy is to get them involved in the kitchen with me! And, what better way to celebrate the spooky season than with fun Halloween inspired healthy treats! From green goblin smoothie bowls to spider crackers to boo-tiful mini cupcakes, these 6 snacks are so easy and fun to make! Plus, they’re too yummy not to eat! Your family will love spending time in the kitchen together this fall recreating these spook-tacular snacks!

I was so excited to feature these healthy Halloween snacks on KTLA Morning News with anchor Jessica Holmes, who’s a mom and food lover like me! Check out our video, below, for all the tricks to make these treats!

Watch me share Healthy Halloween Snack Ideas for Kids with KTLA Morning News Anchor Jessica Holmes!
Green Goblin Smoothie Bowls

Halloween Snack Idea #1: Green Goblin Smoothie Bowl

Adding spinach into smoothies is one of the easiest ways to get kids to eat their greens! And, you can’t taste the spinach – promise! For this Green Goblin Smoothie Bowl, make a green smoothie, pour into a small bowl, and have your kids toppings like granola or coconut for hair, dried fruit like raisins, dates or cranberries for the eyes, and pumpkin seeds or marshmallows for the smile. Kids have lots of fun decorating their green goblin face! 

Here is my favorite easy Green Smoothie recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 1 banana
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 1/2 cup frozen mango
  • 1/2 cup strawberries
  • 1 cup water (or almond milk or oat milk)

Instructions:

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy immediately.

Peanut Butter Spider Crackers

Halloween Snack Idea #2: Spider Crackers

Have your kids help assemble these spooky spider crackers made with round crackers (I like Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers), pretzel sticks, peanut butter (or another nut or sunflower seed butter) or cream cheese, and small dried fruit, like raisins or blueberries. 

Ingredients:

  • Round crackers
  • Pretzel sticks
  • Peanut butter (or your preferred nut/sunflower seed butter) or spreadable cream cheese
  • Small dried fruit like raisins, blueberries, cranberries, or Wilton Edible Candy Eyeballs

Instructions:

  1. Spread nut butter or cream cheese on two crackers thick enough to hold pretzels
  2. Break 4 pretzels in half
  3. Place the 8 half pretzels sticks around one cracker to resemble spider legs
  4. Top the cracker with the second cracker to secure the legs and make a sandwich
  5. Dip 2 dried fruit pieces in the nut butter or cream cheese and stick them to the top of the spider cracker sandwich to resemble eyes
  6. Enjoy!
Clementine Pumpkins and Banana Ghosts

Halloween Snack Idea #3: Clementine Pumpkins and Banana Ghosts

These fruity treats are so easy to make and fun to eat! Peel clementines and cut celery into small sticks. Have kids add the celery sticks to clementines as stems to make pumpkins! Peel bananas and cut in half. Have your children add mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth to create ghosts!

Spooky Grilled Cheese

Halloween Snack Idea #4: Spooky Grilled Cheese

Turn everyone’s favorite lunch into a frightful treat with Halloween shaped cookie cutters and dark rye bread! You can use wheat or white bread, but the dark rye bread is much more spooky! Plus, my toddler surprisingly loves it! Because of its color, he calls it “chocolate bread,” even though it tastes nothing like chocolate! Your kiddo will have lots of fun using cookie cutters to make ghosts, bats and pumpkins in their bread, but I recommend leaving the stovetop cooking to parents!

Ingredients: (makes 1 grilled cheese)

  • 2 slices dark rye bread
  • 1-2 slices of pre-sliced cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you like your sandwich!)
  • Butter

Instructions:

  1. Melt butter over medium high heat in pan on stovetop.
  2. Take one slice of bread and use Halloween cookie cutter to cut shape into middle of bread. Butter one side of the bread cut-out bread.
  3. Take the other slice of bread and butter one side.
  4. Place both slices of bread in pan with the buttered side up.
  5. After cooking for a couple minutes and letting the bread get to your toasty preference, flip both sides of bread to cook the other side. Immediately place cheese on the slice of bread without the cut-out.
  6. Continue cooking until cheese is melty.
  7. Place cut-out side bread on top of cheese and press down so the cheese sticks the slices together.
  8. Serve and enjoy!
Creepy Eyes Cereal Bar

Halloween Snack Idea #5: Creepy Eyes Cereal Bars

Add funny eyes to pre-made cereal bars (or my favorite 3-ingredient cheerio bars seen here!) by rolling cream cheese into tiny little balls and adding a mini chocolate chips for eyes. If you’re low on time, it’s fun to add these eyes to anything pre-made, like muffins or frozen waffles!

Healthy Halloween Cupcakes

Halloween Snack Idea #6: Green Halloween “Cupcakes”

My toddler loves these green “superpower” muffins, made with spinach, bananas, rolled oats and sweetened with honey! I love the ghastly green vibes of these for Halloween! Top with Nutella spread for “icing” and have your kids add Halloween sprinkles to make healthy-ish cupcakes! 

Which healthy Halloween snack do you want to try with your kiddos? Let me know in the comments below, or connect with me on Instagram @maggiehjackson!

XO, Maggie

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some of this post contains affiliate links for the products I use and LOVE. If you take action on these links (like clicking, buying, etc.), I may receive compensation at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are my own, and I’ll only recommend what I truly love.