DIY: Christmas/Santa dresses

In true spirit of Christmas, I made a couple of dresses for JOE. We will be having 2 Christmas celebrations this year.

Celebration #1 will be at home with J, JOE, my in-laws and I. We often go to my in-laws every year (since we've been married) to do a pre-Christmas celebration. This year, we have been asked to host so it'll be at our place.

Celebration #2 will be with my family in MA. We spend a few days to a week there because it is also somewhat of a mini-family reunion and all the siblings and cousins are able to catch up on what's up with everyone.

Here are the dresses I made for JOE for the celebration here and my folks.

Dress #1 (Christmas wrapping paper dress):

I did the mock up for this dress a couple of weeks ago to see how it'll look when it was all said and done. I liked it so I started sewing.

Then I added the bottom ribbon (not sure what my smartphone camera did to the bottom but it is actually a matching green to the neck tie ribbon.). 

After adding the bottom, I was unsure of if I should still add the ribbon in the middle. 

I did a mock up...

Didn't really like it so I am going without the ribbon. 

After I completed the dress, I decided I didn't like the way the top ribbons looked so I replaced the neck tie ribbon.

I like it much better now :-). 

I will post pictures of JOE wearing her dress after our in-law's Christmas festivities.

Dress #2 (Santa Dress):

My awesome sister in law saw this dress and sent it to me.

Since JOE and her cousin are both 4-months apart, we decided it'll be cute for them to dress alike for Christmas.

So I went to work looking for patterns to make the dress. I found a simple one off the internet (no links...forgot to save it) and proceeded to cut the fabric.

I got everything pinned up so I could see what it'll look like when all was said and done.

I sewed the sides and started working on the belt piece. That was actually the most complicated part of it because it was hard to sew around the buckle.

And here is the final product. I like the way it turned out. 

I will post pictures of JOE and her cousin in the dress after our Christmas celebration.

Expertise needed: Beginner. This wasn't too too hard. The hardest part was doing the waist belt for the Santa dresses.
Total Approximate time: Each dress took a total of about 45-minutes. It was seriously that easy!
Total spent on sewing materials:
Dress 1: The fabric for the green and red wrapping paper dress was about $4.97 altogether. It is a lighter weight fabric. The ribbons added up to about $7. I only used some of the ribbon but I am accounting for the full cost here. So this dress added up to about $12.
Dress 2: The fabric for the Santa dresses was a little more but not expensive. It is a heavier weight fabric and feels really nice and soft. The cost for the fabric for both dresses was $15. The cost for the ribbons for both dresses was $10 (@ $4.99 per ribbon). The buckle was $3.99 from Amazon.com. Total cost was $29 for both dresses. Divided by 2 and that's $15 per dress. Not bad huh?
Feedback: I loved this one and granted, I had some challenges with the waist band, I still plan on using the pattern again for another outfit. I just need to get more comfortable with adding other things like ruffles and such.

I have been thinking about doing the pajamas thing for the family but they are just too darn expensive and I can't justify that cost to unless I can sew it in the future, we won't be doing it.
Do you and your family make or buy anything special to wear for the holidays? If so, do share!