Festive fancy dress that doesn’t cost the earth (or your sanity)

Picking up my child from nursery, I approach the door to see a huge poster surrounded by a border of candy canes with ‘Christmas in the toddler room’ emblazoned across the top in red and green letters. In the pit of my stomach, I already know it’s requesting some kind of fancy dress for the festive season and as I get nearer, my worst fears are confirmed. 

I promise you I am no Scrooge but there is something about the festive season that really bothers me when it comes to the endless festive clothing requests, whether it’s for family get-togethers, secret Santa exchanges, nativities or seemingly every day at nursery until the big day! It can feel like a never-ending runway of pressure! 

I, like many, am trying to save money this year and so I started hunting for cheap and easy alternatives to nativity costumes and an outfit for the big day. So, I’m sharing some of my findings with you, in the hope it can save you some money, time and patience when it comes to preparing your child for the festive season. 

DIY a jumper or t-shirt  

Take an old jumper or t-shirt and gather glue, scraps of material, paper, Christmas decorations, felt or whatever else you can get your hands on and get crafty. A really simple design is a tree cut out of green material, stuck to a jumper with a yellow felt star on top! It looks ace, doesn’t cost much and recycles an old t-shirt (check out our other amazing article on Christmas jumpers and how to rock that day without buying a new one). 

Dress as a present 

This is probably one to start making a week before the event! All you need is a cardboard box, wrapping paper and festive ribbon. You make and wrap an empty box as if it was a present. Then cut a large hole out of the bottom for your child to fit in, a hole out the top for their head and a hole on either side for their arms. Then decorate the box with ribbon and maybe make a tag! You can even add a ribbon to their hair for added effect. Just be sure your child likes dressing up first, you don’t want to go to all this trouble if they hate it! 

Christmas party outfit 

If you’re looking for a nice festive outfit for the big day, then why not try out Vinted? Vinted: Buy and sell preloved on the App Store (apple.com) It has a huge range of baby and children’s clothes. I bought a lovely Christmas dress for my daughter that was originally from Boden for £2, which was £35 new! Buying second-hand means not only a huge saving for me but is also a more sustainable option and means I won’t want to cry when she inevitably covers it in chocolate within 15 minutes of wearing it. Or why not try a clothing swap with your friends? 

Dress as a Christmas tree 

Simply wear green and decorate with a tinsel scarf, baubles and paper star! Easy peasy. 

Dress as a snowman 

Another simple one. Wear white. Glue circles of black cardboard to the top for buttons, add a scarf, hat and mittens, and you’re a snowman. You can even go one step further with white face paint! 

Christmas PJs 

Recent years have seen an ever-growing trend in Christmas PJs. Now, while they’re absolutely gorgeous, they can be expensive and might not be worn for very long at all.  

One way that you can make some festive PJs for the whole family is by taking some old pyjamas or plain t-shirts and buying some printable fabric paper. You can use a festive image found online or design your own using an app like Canva, then print it off. Simply iron it on and, voilà – you have your own custom PJs! One pack of transferable paper can last you for several seasons of homemade clothing as well. 

Christmas nativity characters 

Some quick and easy nativity characters are… 

• A sheep – Cotton wool stuck to a black t shirt, a hat with black cardboard ears and more cotton wool all over it. 
• A shepherd – tea towel tied around the head with twine. Cut arm holes and a neck hole into an old pillowcase and tie the waist with a rope. Add in a sheep teddy and make a shepherd's crook from cardboard for added effect! 

• A star – use a large piece of cardboard, cut out a star and cover in foil. Make a hole for the face and loop elastic at the back so that they can put their arms and waist inside. 

Elf on the shelf 

All you need is a Santa hat, white material and red clothes. Make a spikey collar out of the white material (felt works best), add it over the top of the red clothes and there you have it – Elf on the shelf. 

Anything your child wants 

If your child still can’t get enough of their witch’s costume from Halloween or lives in a pirate costume, let them rock it – you’re only young once and it’s likely the only time in your life you’re going to get away with being a spider in the middle of the nativity anyway. 

Also, there is something bold and beautiful about recognising when your child doesn’t want to dress up! So, if they are refusing, don’t push it and let them wear whatever they want, and you can waltz into nursery saying “Ethan’s come as himself at Christmas”.