By: Caroline Smelko

Purposefully wearing an ugly Christmas sweater is something many people like to do around the holidays, but there is always the debate on whether you buy your sweater or make it yourself. Regardless of whether you choose to create your own or go out and buy it, you can still have a great ugly sweater to show off at home or at school.

If you choose to purchase your sweater, there are plenty of places where you can buy one without digging too deep into your pockets. A great place to start searching is amazon.com.  On this site, you can specifically search whatever type of sweater you desire. You can find sweaters for as cheap as $8.96, or, if you’re willing to spend a little more, you can get them for somewhere around $40.00.  They have sweaters with movie characters on them, super fuzzy ones, and even ones with lights or bells. Upon ordering your sweater, they will deliver it to your door in about a week, and some styles even offer free shipping!

A more localized place to purchase your perfect sweater is Walmart. Both locations, including Warren and Lakewood, are great places to begin your search. They carry men’s, women’s, and children’s sizes, so the whole family can get into the holiday spirit! The prices on these sweaters will vary depending on the size and style that you are looking for.

If you really want your sweater to be authentically ugly, you could look at your local thrift stores, like the Salvation Army or Goodwill. These places may have the types of cute-ugly sweaters that you see advertised, but you’re more likely to find super ugly sweaters that will work just as well.

For those of you with a creative side, you can also make your ugly sweater, so it’s a perfect fit for you! If you have a smartphone or other compatible device, a useful app to download for ideas would be Pinterest. With this app, it is easy to look up what types of designs you wish to put on your sweater and it even gives you step-by-step directions that are easy for anyone to follow. Although you aren’t buying a whole sweater, most designs will still require you to purchase certain materials.

Here is an easy step-by-step explanation, found on Pinterest, of a cute and easy reindeer sweater for the holidays:

1. First you will need to get a cotton sweatshirt, hot glue, scissors, different colors of felt, puff paint in your preferred color, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, and google eyes.
2. Start out by cutting out all of the felt pieces that you will need; you’re going to need a set glasses frames, two antlers, eyelashes, and a red circular nose.
3. After you have that cut out, get together your pipe cleaner and colored pom-poms (you will use these to make a strand of lights and your reindeer’s nose) and your google eyes.
4. You are now ready to glue everything onto your sweater. Start with your antlers, followed by the glasses frames. Your frame should overlap your antlers slightly
5. In the middle of the frame, you add the eyelashes first, and then the eyes over-top of them.
6. Next, intertwine your pipe cleaner throughout the antlers and add the pom-poms as if they were lights.
7. The final step is your reindeer’s nose. Make sure it is below the glasses, but centered to the middle of them and glue on your red circle first, followed by a red pom-pom to top it off.

You now have all the tips and tricks you need to show off your best ugly Christmas sweater this holiday season. Enjoy!