Around the holidays there are SO many family gatherings and parties, sometimes they can seem to all run together. Make yours stand out by hosting an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! I hosted one a couple of years ago with my best friend, and it was a blast! The creativity people had with their sweaters was incredible and we had such a great time! Adding the one little twist really made the entire party stand out!

How to plan an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party:

The Invitations:

They’ve got to let your guests know what type of party it is. For the party I hosted with my friend, we found a picture on the internet of a couple wearing some really ugly sweaters and cropped our heads over the top of the photo and put the wording on the back of the photo.

You can use PicMonkey – a free photo editing program, to create a cute invite. Snap a picture of a swatch of your sweater and use that photo as the background and add a text box over the top to add the party information. Then just save it to your computer and either print and mail them or email the photo to your friends. Ta-da, you’re on your way!

If you’re tight on time, you can order these Ugly Sweater Party Invitations.

The Sweaters!

You’ve got to head to the thrift store STAT! In my area, this type of party is popular so they get picked over fast. Get there and find the tackiest sweater you can for cheap! Can’t find the perfect one? Don’t fret, Amazon sells some pretty awesome Ugly Christmas Sweaters. PS- Sweater vests are totally a go for this event!

The Decorations: 

– While you’re at the thrift store, pick up a few extra sweaters and get crafty by turning them into drink coasters, hot pads, couch/armchair arm covers, a pennant banner to hang and placemats.

– Then head to your local Dollar Store (every store sells them, but you want to stay on budget!) and gather as many tacky, over done and gaudy decorations you can find – channel your inner Clark Griswold.

– If you don’t have a real fireplace, cozy up the place with a nice Faux Brick Fireplace (remember how we’re going for tacky?)

Aunt Bethany: “Clark, is your house on fire?”
Clark: “No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights” – Christmas Vacation

The Food:

I suggest hosting it as an appetizer party. Make sure you provide at 2 sweet and 2 savory and then invite your guests to bring their favorite holiday appetizer or bite size dessert.

A Hot Cocoa Bar seems to be a holiday party MUST! You can provide tea kettles of hot water and a variety of Hot Cocoa packets (I like the Land O’Lakes Cocoa Classics because it comes with 42 packets in 7 different flavors) or offer just Milk Chocolate and have flavored coffee creamers to mix up things up (like these International Delight Variety 4 Pack Coffee Creamer). A cute bar of fun mix ins will give the perfect finishing touches. Include whipped cream, sprinkles, toffee chips, chocolate chips or chocolate shavings, caramel topping and marshmallows (Feeling domestic? Make my homemade marshmallows – they’re heavenly!)

The Activities:

Sweater Decoration Station: You know you’ll have a guest or two that “can’t find an ugly sweater”, so be prepared. Stock up on Christmas Pom Poms, Tinsel , Battery Operated Christmas Lights, Christmas Felt Shapes and Puff Paint to set up a decorating station. Have your hot glue gun at the ready and let your guests spruce up their sweaters.

Photo Station: Set up some retro props and let guests relive the glory days of getting a picture taken at a high school dance. Wrap large boxes in shiny foil wrapping paper and top with giant bows, string lights and if you’ve got the space an inflatable Santa should round it out really well. Add in some props like reindeer ears, a red clown nose and a few Santa hats and you’ll be all set. This set of Christmas Photo Props are super cute!

Voting Station: While you’re at the thrift store pick up a few of the random trophy’s they always seem to have and hand them out to those voted ugliest sweater!

Play Christmas Music: Find the upbeat tunes and plug them in. I love the Glee Christmas Album because it has a great mix of songs!

Name That Christmas Movie: Play video clips or quote famous lines from your favorite Christmas classics. Have guests write down their guesses and the one who gets the most correct WINS!

Here are some of my favorite lines from my favorite Christmas time movies:

Christmas Vacation: “Hey, Griswold, where are you going to put a tree that size?” “Why don’t you bend over and I’ll show you!”

Christmas Story: “Fuuuuuuudddddgggee” or “You’ll shoot your eye out” or “Aunt Clara had, for years, labored under the delusion that I was not only perpetually 4 years old, but that I was a girl.” or “I want a Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle.”

Elf: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.” or “Christmas-gram, what’s a Christmas-gram?! I want one!” or “First we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.”

It’s A Wonderful Life: “What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word an I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down!”

Home Alone: “Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi!” or “I’m going to give you to the count of ten to get your ugly, yella, no-good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full of lead!” or “Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.”

I’m so happy to be participating in the 30 Days of Christmas Series hosted by Crafty Night Owls. Check back each day as new projects are added below!