9 Last Minute Ugly Sweater Tutorials

The best thing about the holidays (aside from presents and eggnog) is ugly Christmas sweaters and ugly Christmas sweater parties. What started out as a family joke about your grandma's tacky, sparkly sweater is now a full-blown holiday tradition. If you don't feel like buying one from the store, there are plenty of last minute ugly sweater tutorials to watch on YouTube if you feel like making a unique sweater of your own.

Back in the early days of this revered holiday tradition, people were digging legitimately tacky Christmas sweaters out of older family members' closets. Of course, now you can buy your ugly sweater straight from the store or online, but where is the fun in that? If you want to be Santa's ultimate helper, you should totally make your own ugly sweater.

In case you were wondering, here are the essential characteristics of a winning ugly Christmas sweater: Three-dimensional holiday cheer, lights (preferably synced with a musical holiday classic, like "Jingle Bells"), musical components like bells, golden twinkle of any kind, and general holiday perkiness in the form of sparkle and sequins. If you can compile all these parts for an obnoxiously festive sweater, you are going to rock your ugly Christmas sweater party.

Now, here are the best tutorials to watch if you want to create your own show-stopping ugly sweater.

1. Abominable Snowman

Nothing is creepier than the claymation version of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Bring it back to life with this adorably spooky garment. Just don't forget the battery pack!

2. Budget Ugly Sweater

If you're low on cash and time, these sweaters are quick and cost effective to put together with supplies from your nearest store.

3. Ugly Reindeer

No wonder no one let Rudolph play in their reindeer games!

4. Ho, Ho, Ho

If you have a bunch of random supplies, but aren't sure what to do with them, you can compile them all for this perfectly random sweater.

5. Elf

If you fancy yourself as Santa's #1 helper this year, then you'll love this Elf sweater. I would say the hat is optional, but if you're going all in, why not?

6. Christmas Kitty

This sweater screams "creepy lady at the end of the street" which is why it's totally perfect for a modern, Christmas loving cat lady.

7. Holiday Cheermeister

Be the Chair of Cheer this Christmas! I'm a huge fan of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and this sweater is the most recognizable outfit of the movie. Top it with a Santa hat.

8. Christmas Wreath

This one is wonderfully sparkly and easy to recreate at home with supplies you probably already have amongst your decorations.

9. Lit Tree

Wondering how to make your sweater light up without burning yourself to death? Lucky for you, this tutorial walks you through creating a light-up sweater.

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Image: NonaChewy/YouTube