The Uglier the Better

My friend Natalie and I hosted our first ugly sweater party on Friday.  It was so awesomely tacky.

We held it in Natalie's clean garage since we had invited around 60 people.  The Hammer's garage has a nice, clean, sealed floor.  She and I decorated it with cheap things from the dollar store and the DI as well as some of our old, ugly decor and extra lights.  We set up different seating areas, a photo backdrop, had a buffet table, gift table, and a voting table.  She had music playing, though you couldn't hear it once everybody arrived.  Also, she had a little tv showing the classic movie "Christmas Vacation".

I thought it would be easier for me to find just the perfect ugly Christmas sweater.  But after going to a couple of thrift stores, I realized I wouldn't find what I had in mind.  Where are all of the ugly sweaters when you need them?  I know they are out there!  These kind of parties are getting more popular, so the sweaters were getting picked through.

This is what I found.  When I saw it, I knew I had to get it even though at the time it wasn't a holiday sweater.  I decided the day before the party to add jingle bells and ribbon.  The cheap, green skinny jeans and light up earrings came from WalMart.  Ugly abounds there.

UGLY cat sweater with cat buttons.  The cats are on the back too.  Eleven in total.  Do you like the cheesy pose?  Matt's sweater was from the DI.  Itchy wool.  He is wearing a reindeer pin on his chest.  Nice touch.

Here is my friend Natalie and her husband Joel.

Such lovely ensembles.

Everybody (50 people) got their pics taken.  I can't include all of them, but here are a few dandies.

 It was a hard choice for many of us.  And the votes were close.  The winners were...

UGLY:  Brig's retro BYU sweater and his dad's 1970s blue plaid polyester suit (he's not wearing the matching jacket in this pic) were a big hit.
UGLIER:  The Hayes did a bang up job on their lighted up sweaters.  Battery packs and duct tape were discreetly hidden.  Loved Shannon's 80s perm look.
UGLIEST:  George's homemade wreath sweater framed his tummy nicely.

We had a cheap/white elephant gift exchange.

 That was a blast.  Then we played a few more fun party games.

We need to do this again!  I'm going to keep my eyes open for a super ugly sweater for next year.

Random pics...