For me, tea and crafting go together like movies and popcorn. It’s a pair that you just don’t mess with.

There’s something so freaking zen about sitting down and making something with my own two hands while I sip a cup of tea. It puts me in my happy zone. Another thing that puts me into that zone is laughing my butt off with my closest friends. A few weeks ago I had a (brilliant) idea: why not combine these forces of goodness into one big, fat, happy party?

So I did.

After being cooped up for a couple of weeks with a nasty case of mono, Samantha was so ready to go back to school once her fever went away last week. Unluckily for her, that happened to coincide with some snow and a school cancellation. She was livid. At me, at mother nature, at her immune system, at pretty much anything she could think of.

Luckily for her (or, more accurately, my sanity), the snow cleared in time for us to head down to Ridge Hill to catch the premiere of the brand new LEGO 4D Movie at LEGOLAND Discovery Center Westchester. Ellie and I had visited back in November when we got to meet a couple of the Rockettes, but Samantha had never been there before. This visit definitely won her over—and did wonders for her mood.

Samantha is pretty opinionated (that actually might be the understatement of the millennium). She is very specific about her likes and dislikes, which makes something like finding valentines that suit her a little tricky. She likes things that are cute, but at the same time she has no interest in giving any of the boys in her class something lovey dovey that might give them the wrong idea (because, ew).

A few years ago, when I was pregnant with Ellie, my friends and I had an ugly Christmas sweater party. It was hilarious and ridiculous. We had a lot of fun and totally wanted to do it again. Fast forward a year and ugly Christmas sweaters were suddenly outrageously expensive.

I don’t know about you, but I have zero interest in shelling out $25+ to wear something once and laugh at its sheer ugliness. I’m way too cheap for that.

But I do still love the idea of a good ugly Christmas sweater. It just needs to be a cheap one. Like, maybe, a sweatshirt or sweater that I already own and never wear and a few dollar store embellishments. Now that sounds much better to me.

These ugly Christmas sweater DIYs having varying levels of difficulty, but all of them are nice and cheap. Now. Go forth and get ugly!

10 ugly Christmas sweater DIYs

This post is sponsored by Pottery Barn Kids, but all excitement is purely my own.

For the last couple of years, my sister has been putting together the cutest little Christmas Eve box for my niece and nephew. The box usually includes some comfy pjs, a Christmas movie and a special little treat for them to enjoy while they watch the movie together. I’m a total sucker for Christmas traditions, and this year I finally decided to follow her lead and make Christmas Eve a little extra special in our house with a Christmas Eve box.