**Santa's Little Yelper**

Theme Party + Christmas. What do you think of when you see these words? If anything other than pure joy and bliss are what come to mind, we’d be shocked! There are few things that can create more happiness a ugly Christmas sweater party! Whether you’ve hosted an ugly Christmas sweater party before or not, here are some tips to make yours the best of the best.

Invitations

A good party always starts with great invitations. Make your invitations fun and memorable and your guests will surely be more excited about attending your party. Make sure that you stress the “Christmas Sweater” theme in your invitations so that everyone knows to show up dressed to impress. 

Keep some spare sweaters on hand

Even after your awesome invitations that told everyone they MUST wear an ugly Christmas sweater to your party, there will still undoubtedly be a person or two who shows up in their regular street clothes. There’s nothing worse than showing up to a party and realizing that your attire is all wrong (think Elle from Legally Blonde showing up to a non-dress up Halloween party in full Playboy Bunny gear). To spare any forgetful friends embarrassment, scrounge up some spare sweaters to keep on hand, just in case. 

Food and Drinks

Having plenty of great snacks and drinks is essential to keeping any party alive. Don’t just get enough food for your Christmas party. Take it one step further and get creative with your grub. Think ugly Christmas sweater cozies for drinks, ugly Christmas sweater shaped cookies, and more. The sky is really the limit here, so don’t be scared to get inventive and have fun. Also, if you don't want to prep all the food - make it a Friendsgiving occasion where everyone can contribute something to the gathering.

Music

Make sure you have lots of Christmas tunes ready to go to get all of your guests in the holiday spirit. It never hurts to work in some fun dance numbers and classic hip hop tunes to get the party going as well. If you are planning on using your phone to communicate with guest - think of another device to keep the music pumping and bring energy to the atmosphere. 

Contests and Awards

If everyone is going to dress up in their best Christmas sweater, be sure to create some awards to recognize the best of the best. You can definitely go further than just an award for “best” ugly Christmas sweater. You can also have awards for “funniest”, “ugliest”, “most original”, “jolliest”, “scariest”, etc.

Photo Booth (Shake it like a Polaraoid Picture)

Create some lasting memories of your party with a makeshift photo booth. Find someone with a polaroid camera, create some fun accessories and set up your own photo booth. Everyone will be excited to take silly pictures and it will be a great remembrance of the party for everyone to take home with them.
                                                      

Get in the holiday giving spirit

The holidays are all about giving. Why not urge your guests to each bring an extra Christmas sweater (or other article of clothing) to the party to give to charity? If everyone brings in just one piece of clothing, you’ll put together a nice collection that will certainly bring some holiday cheer to someone (or several someone’s) in need. You’ll have a blast at your party and feel like you did something good at the same time.

Cheers

You and your friends have had a busy year and sometimes the Holiday pace does not slow that down. Make sure to grab a cocktail or hot chocolate and soak it all in. Introduce guest to one another and relax and let the games begin :)