Ugly Christmas Sweaters 2014: 10 Ways To Use Holiday Shirts For DIY Crafts, Parties And Other Ideas

You don't have an ugly sweater party to go to and National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day was so last week. So what to do with that outdated sweater? Don't stress. Here's 10 fun, easy and creative ideas that will put any ugly or unwanted sweater to good use.

1) Make a DIY wine bottle gift wrap. A great bottle of wine might look even better in that old sweater than you do. Get to it!

Materials:

• Ugly long-sleeve sweater

• 2-3 in. square of fabric

• Sewing machine or needle and thread

• Scissors

• Measuring tape

• Ribbon or yarn

Steps:

1. Wash and dry sweater. Insert wine bottle into the sleeve of the sweater. The sleeve should start just below the top of your bottle. Mark the sweater with length of your bottle, pull out the wine and cut the sweater sleeve off at the mark.

2. Place your bottle on the square of fabric. Cut around the bottle, leaving an extra 1/4-1/2 inches outside of the bottle.

3. Turn the sleeve inside out and pin your fabric circle to the cut end of the sleeve. Sew together. Turn right side out.

4. Thread yarn through the seater or fasten ribbon to tie into a bow around the top bottleneck.

Inspriation from Grey Likes Weddings and The Sitting Tree.

2) Sign up for an Ugly Sweater Run. Are your clothes feeling a bit tight after Thanksgiving? Then, dust off your ugly sweater from the attic and get ready to break a sweat. These merry 5k races will burn calories and keep holiday cheer high. Find an ugly sweater race near you.

3) Host an ugly sweater party. If you haven't received any ugly sweater party invites yet, jump the gun and host one yourself! Get your friends and ugliest sweaters together for a jolly time. Print out ugly sweater party invitations and send to all your friends. Decorate your house or apartment with Christmas lights, ribbon and tacky holiday decor. Play holiday music from YouTube or turn on the Christmas music station on Pandora. Serve up some ugly sweater cookies. Have everyone vote for the favorite ugly sweaters and annouce the winners at the end of the night with awards. Eat, drink and be ugly!

4) Make an ugly sweater for your pet. Make sure man's best friend is dressed for the part at your holiday party by crafting an ugly sweater for Fido. All you need is a sewing machine or needle and thread, a ruler, measuring tape, scissors and your unwanted "ugly" sweater. Step by step directions for a medium to large pet can be found here. Step by step directions for a small pet can be found here.

5) Make DIY mittens. Upcycle your ugly, outdated sweater into cute, cozy mittens in a pinch.

Materials:

• Paper and pencil

• Ugly sweater

• Scissors

• Sewing machine or needle and thread

Steps:

1. Trace your hand on a piece of paper with a pencil, with your four fingers touching. Be generous with space when tracing around the thumb.

2. Draw an outline around this shape about half an inch bigger. Use this second line to cut the pattern in your ugly sweater.

3. Pin the paper to the sweater and cut around the shape of the paper. You will need two pieces for each mitten -- that's four pieces total for both hands. Cut the pieces so that the bottom of your mitten is the bottom of the sweater, to avoid having to hem anything.

4. Take the two pieces for one mitten and arrange so that the mitten is inside out. Sew around the mitten a 1/4 inch away from the edge of fabric.

5. Turn the mitten right side out.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the remaining two pieces to create your second mitten!

6) Make your ugly sweater uglier. Because your ugly sweater isn't ugly enough, make it even uglier! Attach christmas ornaments, battery-operated lights, tacky brooches and other accessories to your sweater for extra holiday flare.

7) Look ugly for a good cause. Donate $5 to Save the Children's Make the World Better With a Sweater fund and sport your ugliest holiday sweater that day to show you gave to a good cause. Don't have a charmingly atrocious sweater to wear? Here are some solutions.

8) Make DIY ornaments. One old, ugly sweater + 5 materials = at least 5 cute mini mitten ornaments.

These little mittens make adorable tree ornaments or gift decorations. Natale from Crème de la Craft DIY blog shows you how in just six easy steps, here.

9) Add to your collection. What's better than one ugly sweater? TWO ugly sweaters, of course! Tweet a photo of yourself in your ugliest holiday sweater with the hashtag #12DaysOfChristmasSweatersContest and mention @FallonTonight in the tweet and you could win a second ugly sweater from Jimmy Fallon, himself. The contest ends on Dec. 19. For more information on how to enter and official rules, click here.

10) Donate. You may not like the look of your "ugly" sweater, but it could make one someone in need a little warmer this chilly holiday season. So, make the world a better place by donating your outdated sweater and other unwanted clothes at a Goodwill, local clothing drives, thrift shops or in donation bins. At the very least, you'll help the next person find an ugly sweater.