Tamale Ugly Christmas Sweater

Ugly Christmas sweaters have been around since the fifties, but really took off at the turn of the millennium (that phrase makes me feel old) with Ugly Christmas Sweater parties. I remember growing up in the nineties these weren’t really a thing, and there definitely weren’t 4 or 5 companies exclusively selling them, like Tipsy Elves. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/ugly-christmas-jumpers/index.html has a nice little history if you are interested. For me, UCS are the epitome of something that is nice to have in the moment, but even spending 20 bucks at Old Navy feels a little gross for something that is going to be worn once. So I made my own UCS, and it’s great because once the party is over, the items can be removed. I chose tamales, because where I’m from December is tamales season and many people’s tables wouldn’t be complete without them. I guess my sweater isn’t ugly in the traditional sense, but it’s certainly ungainly and you gotta be careful putting it on, so it counts.

Sweater
Cornhusks (however many tamales you want, I did 2 but you could go crazy)
Cotton balls
Evergreen
Mini Christmas ball
Thread, needle, scissors (You could certainly glue everything, but thread is more secure and removable)

Make your tamales by placing at least 3 cotton balls lengthwise inside the husk towards the bottom, bigger part. Roll up the husk, also lengthwise, and then fold the smaller top part down. Sew the flap down, making sure your thread is not going to show on the front part of the tamal.
Grab your greenery. Place them where you want on the sweater, and anchor in place, ideally placing your stitches at the bottom of the greenery so they’ll be hidden.
Then place your tamales, and stitch in place. The easiest place to anchor will be the flap part, and I also made a few stitches at the bottom part of the tamal so it didn’t flop around.
Lastly, add the tiny ornament, using its crown to loop through and anchor to the sweater. Pick up your sweater and hold in front, so you know the items are on securely, and your good to go, party time!