How to Host a Holiday Ugly Sweater Party

People have been having holiday ugly sweater parties for years, and for good reason. They’re a ton of fun, and they offer you a chance at a bit of sarcasm during a season that is often dripping with goodness and hope. Think you’re ready to have an ugly sweater party this year? These tips can help.

Invitations

The best ugly sweater parties get a helping hand from the very start with great invitations, and there are a number of great ways to spice up your invite. Whether you choose to go with a sweater shaped invite, a fabric invite, or even a creative e-vite that includes the best pictures of ugly sweaters you can find, make sure that you get as creative with the design as you do with the wording. Don’t forget to include your name, the date and time, and any RSVP info. If you want people to bring food or holiday gifts, be sure to note that on your invite. Don’t forget to go with jazzy text like “The uglier the sweater, the better the party.”

Decorations

Wondering how to spruce up your location for an ugly sweater? Try sweaters themselves. Head to the thrift store and find as many horrible sweaters as you can, then send them to a charity clothes closet at the end of your party. Hang them on the walls or hang a clothes line and make a kind of garland out of them. You could also use knitting needles and creative yarn colors to decorate. Alternately, find as many horrible family photos as you can with ugly sweaters in them, and use those to decorate your location.

Party Food

Choosing the food for your ugly sweater party is very easy. You’ll want to go with items that reflect your theme. Sweater-shaped cookies are a natural. You could also decorate gingerbread men with great sweaters. You may want to think about food that’s already wearing a sweater like corn dogs or pigs in a blanket. You should also consider all of the tacky foods that are just part of the holiday season like fruitcakes.

Games and Activities

What’s a holiday party without a few exciting games? A fashion show is an absolute natural for the ugly sweater party. Be sure to have American Idol style voting, too, as well as a prize for the person with the ugliest sweater. You could also have a relay race where guests have to unravel one of the ugly sweaters you purchased at the thrift store. The winning team could even get a gift certificate to your favorite clothing store. Another relay race idea is to have a pile of ugly sweaters at one end, then have your participants rush to put on all of the ugly sweaters at one end, then take them off at the other end, and start all over again with the other person. You could also have guests decorate the gingerbread men you baked with the ugliest possible sweater and award a prize for that as well.

An ugly sweater party is a great way to get everyone into the holiday spirit this year. With a bit of advanced planning, you could have the holiday party everyone is talking about this year and will remember for seasons to come.

Image by TheUglySweaterShop on Flickr’s Creative Commons.

Pinkchic18 is an avid party planner with lots of great ideas for holiday parties. She also regularly contributes to the Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets Blog, where you can find unique holiday gift baskets.