How to Throw an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

What do you get when you take a really ugly Christmas sweater, some excessively tacky holiday accessories, and multiply them by a whole bunch? You get an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! I'm going to show you how my friend Christy and I put an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party for our MOPS group.

After choosing a date and sending out an Evite (which, by the way, had an actual "Ugly Sweater Party" design!), our first step was to find some delightfully ugly sweaters before the local thrift stores were sold out. Ugly Sweater parties are all the rage these days and tacky stuff goes fast!

We landed our sweaters at a Salvation Army not too far from my house. Neither of us spent more than $5 on our sweaters...but we spent a lot of time making sure they got cleaned really really well! We were also giddy when we saw the vast array of Tackiness on display at our local Wal-Marts--sweater vests, turtlenecks, light-up necklaces, you name it! We stocked up on turtlenecks and accessories at WM, The Dollar Tree, and the Claire's store at the mall:

Yes, that is tinsel wrapped around my leg and I am wearing Christmas socks with my (genuinely cute) Tartan plaid flats:

Lucky for us, our friend Stephanie agreed to host the party this year. We also opted to make the party a potluck, since the group was large. We asked guests to bring an appetizer or dessert to share, and we brought drinks and paper products. Stephanie's house was decorated for Christmas to get everyone in the holiday spirit, and she found an awesome Christmas music station on cable to play some festive tunes as guests arrived and chatted:

The absolute best part of the party was hearing the doorbell ring and seeing ladies come through the door in all their tacky glory!

We wanted a really low-key party, so when guests were finished eating, we had each mom introduce herself and name her favorite Christmas movie...favorites ranged from Elf to Miracle on 34th Street. I did some Googling and had a fun Christmas Trivia Quiz before the big Tacky Fashion Show!

Yes, we made every single guest walk the "runway" so that the moms could vote for Tackiest Dressed. The winner received a Fruit Cake (wrapped in tissue paper secured with a hair band--got to keep the tacky theme) and also a $25 Gift Card to Charming Charlie. We figured that the winner was so tacky looking, she needed to go shopping for a whole new look. {wink}

It was so cool to see the ladies be such good sports about the party theme. Most of the moms really got into it, and we had all sorts of flashing lights, rhinestones, and glitter on display. The winning look sported high-waisted, plaid wool pants, suspenders, acrylic rhinestone heels with Christmas socks, and an elf hat that wiggled mechanically and played music!

This was, hands down, one of the most fun Christmas parties I have ever been to. You can guarantee yourself a night of laughs with an Ugly Christmas Sweater theme!

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