The "ugly" Christmas sweater

I know its a little early but I want to talk about the reuse of Christmas sweaters.  I grab any that I see, especially ones that have a lot of detail.  I know that everyone calls them the ugly Christmas sweater but I think that they are adorable for kids.  No?

Here is one where I just removed the sleeves and used bias tape to finish them off (and keep from ravelling). Then I used a piece of elastic to tighten in the neck.   It was a big sweater, so it fits her more like a dress but I think it is pretty darn cute.

Notice the neck is cinched in a little with a piece of elastic under the collar.  Not even sewn, just weaved into the knitting and knotted off.

I have a whole box of these things, and would love ideas if you'd like to comment.  Now I have seen all the ideas in the world about reusing sweaters by felting.  And it is really neat and the items made are cute, but honestly useless.  Making little balls of felted wool for a centerpiece bowl is not what I have in mind.  And little stuffed felted animals are not what I am thinking of either.  Not a bad idea, just not what I have in mind.  My point in reusing these sweaters is to preserve the art (tacky or not).  And most of these are not real wool so felting is out anyway.

One other idea that I've had is removing the sleeves, sewing up the neckhole and having a office chair cover to bring a little Christmas spirit to the office.  This only works if the sweater is unadorned with hard objects.
I'll have to dig in the attic for a photo of that...maybe I'll post it later.  I'll get my box of sweaters out of the storage unit and start working on those soon (yes I am still working on that - but I have given notice that this is my last month of rental, so I am almost there).

Any other ideas that would preserve the art?

By the way, the sleeves of that sweater have lots of reuses.  I have some lined up for future posts:   mittens, leg warmers, winter dog walking coat (did I mention we just rescued a dog?), kids hats, attaching to a t shirt to winterize it.  Any other ideas for those?