Ugly Echos of Christmas Past

Everyone with an aunt or two has probably received that dreaded gift.  Yes, you know the one I’m talking about . . . the ugly Christmas sweater.  The gift that is always awkward to receive and even more awkward to wear.

It starts with the present shaped in the all too familiar garment box wrapped in paper from the last century (you know the type, olive green with glitter gold stags topped with a bow from a bag.)  As you catch sight of the box, your trepidation begins.  You know that whatever this well meaning family member has bought, it will be:

• A. The wrong size, (Why is it that it always seems to be three sizes too big?  Are they trying to tell you something?)
• B. Two decades out of style.
• C. Hideously Ugly
• D. All of the above.

After you mentally brace yourself and prep the words, “Oh I LOVE it” in response to whatever the ominous box contains, you cautiously open the present and there it is . . . the ugly Christmas sweater.

Most ugly Christmas sweaters come in the form of cardigan sweaters for women.  But men do not have to feel left out of the fun . . . oh no no!  There is no gender discrimination when it comes to hideous holiday knitted wear.

As  a matter of fact, the ugly Christmas sweater was given new luster after Kansas City resident, Ramsey Mohsen.  Since 2005, Mohsen and friends have celebrated the holidays in questionable style with an ugly Christmas sweater party.    It was such a hit, one that was looked forward to all year, that in 2008 they decided to share their holiday fun with others and do some good as well.

Their little Christmas party among friends turned into the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party charity event benefiting the Operation Breakthrough.  The first year raised over $7,000 for the charity.  Now that is some goodwill

Throwing an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

So does this sound like fun?   Throwing an ugly Christmas sweater party is frighteningly easy.  Simply send out an invite, let your friends know that ugly sweaters are required attired, and let the fun begin.

Now of course, while the sweaters alone will most likely be a good icebreaker, it’s always a good idea to have a few more games on hand.

• The ugly Christmas sweater fashion show:   Have each party goer write the highlights of their sweater on a 3×5 card.  Clear a walkway, gather everyone around, play some corny Christmas music, have your guests strut their stuff as an emcee reads their intro.  Vote on the truly ugliest Christmas sweater of the bunch.
• Worst Christmas Gift Swap:  A white elephant gift exchange is always fun, but take it to a new level by having your guests bring the worst Christmas gift they received the previous year to swap.
• Ugly Christmas Sweater Photo Opp: Taking pictures of this collection is an absolute must.  Create a photo opp area, by the Christmas tree for example, to let your guests mark the memories.

Where to Find an Ugly Christmas Sweater

If you are seriously asking this question . . . congratulations on having friends and family with taste.  If you are sweater deprived, there are many . . . MANY . . . people who would love to have you to take theirs off their hands.  While you can buy new Christmas sweaters, there are countless places you can find them second hand.

• Ebay
• Craigslist
• Your local online yard sale
• Your local Goodwill or other used clothing store
• Friends with aunts.

If you have an ugly sweater or host an ugly Christmas sweater party, I want to hear about it.  Send a recap along with photographic evidence to info (at) mypartyplanningsecrets (dot) com.

If you’d like to get more holiday and party planning ideas, check out my ebook that includes step by step instructions for throwing fabulous parties.

Cheers and holiday wishes!

One of the most common decorating ideas for a New Years Eve party is to incorporate Christmas or winter decorations into the party decorations. This is considered acceptable because of the proximity of New Years Eve to Christmas. Most people still have their Christmas decorations up and if they plan to host the New Years Eve party in their home it is understandable that the décor for the party will relate to Christmas. Decoration ideas may include a Christmas tree with ornaments, red bows, holly, silver candlesticks and pinecones. An assortment of pinecones in a glass bowl can make a great centerpiece for a New Years Eve party using Christmas decorations.

Themes for a New Years Eve party do not have to follow any particular guidelines. These parties can be based on any theme which is preferred by the host of the party. However, when a theme is incorporated into the party planning it is expected that the décor for the evening will reflect the theme of the party. For example a New Years Eve party with a beach theme could feature sand sculptures as centerpieces, plates shaped like seashells, a decorative fishing net as a tablecloth or any other related items which may reflect the theme of the party.

Another fun idea for decorating at a New Years Eve party is to ask each guest to bring an item to contribute to the décor for the evening. This results in a rather eclectic assortment of items decorating the party space but it also greatly reduces the amount of time, energy and money the host has to spend on decorations for the party. It also created an opportunity for guests to get to know each other. During the course of the party the guests will have the opportunity to view all of the decorations on display and may wonder about where each item came from and if there is any significance to the item. Later in the evening the guests can each have the opportunity to talk about the item they brought and explain why it is significant to them and why they chose to bring this particular item. This is like an adult version of show and tell.

Finally in decorating for a New Years Eve party, it is important to ensure the decorations for the party contribute to the atmosphere but do not detract from the party in any way. The guests should notice and appreciate the décor for the evening but the decorations should not be the focal point of the evening. This is important because the focus of the evening should be on the food, the entertainment, the activities and guests socializing with each other and having a good time.

Let’s start with a few relay race ideas. Begin with a candy cane relay. Give each team 4 candy canes (and be sure to have a few more in case some break) and have the child who’s running hold the candy canes between their fingers, with the crooked part of the cane hanging over their fingers. But tell them not to use their thumbs. The canes should be just carefully perched between their fingers.

The children run to their teammate, exchange the candy canes (again, only using fingers), and that teammate runs to the other end and does the same. The game is over when only one team still has candy canes that haven’t dropped on the floor.

Another fun relay that kids love is pass the ornament. In this game, each team gets one ornament (a lightweight, basic thin glass one is fine) and a straw. They must blow through the straw to get the ornament down the line, then the next child blows on their straw to get the ornament back down the line. Make sure each child has a fresh straw, as you don’t want everyone to get sick.

This next simple relay game can be played with just about anything that signifies Christmas. You could have the children pass a Santa hat (perhaps requiring them to wear the hat as they run down the line) or have them wear Christmas socks that they then have to take off and get to the next child during the relay.

“Santa Says” is a fun game that all children will know how to play because it’s just like “Simon Says”. Before playing it, confirm that each child is familiar with “Simon Says” and then create a series of orders from “Santa”, like “Santa says, touch your toes”, “Santa says bend your knees” and so on. But sometimes leave the “Santa says” part off and trick the children. Always a popular game!

Young children love the “freeze dance” which is often played in preschool and kindergarten. Only in this game, you create a Christmas freeze dance: here you play some Christmas music, let the children do a little dance, then turn the music off and the children must “freeze”. If there will be several sit-down games played at the party, this is a great way to let the children use some energy before they have to sit down and focus on the other games.

Young children can play the “clue” game as long as the questions are kept to their knowledge of various things surrounding Christmas. The game is played like this: the teacher gives a series of clues about something Christmas related and keeps giving clues until someone shouts out the answer. It might go something like this:

Answer: Santa’s sleigh
Clue: I’m thinking of something big
Clue: It helps Santa on Christmas Eve
Clue: It holds a lot of presents
Clue: It’s very fast

You keep giving clues until he children figure out the answer. Since these are young children, don’t give clues that are too difficult or beyond their knowledge.

Kids love toss games, so why not create a snowball toss game at Frosty’s belly? Get or make a large cardboard cutout of Frosty the Snowman and cut a hole in his stomach. You can create snowballs out of several things. Take plastic bags and put mini marshmallows inside, or use Styrofoam balls. If you use the latter, don’t make the children throw the “snowballs” very far since the Styrofoam won’t go that far. Have the children stand a distance back from Frosty (you can determine this depending on the age of the children and space you have available) and have them toss the snowballs into Frosty’s tummy. First one to get all 3 snowballs in the tummy wins a prize!

As previously mentioned, Christmas decorations are an important part of Christmas, as well any type of party.  There is just something about Christmas that makes everyone want to celebrate it, particularly with Christmas decorations. The same can be said for a party.  Party decorations, even Christmas party decorations, makes a party, well, seem more like a party.  Having Christmas decorations at your Christmas party will likely make your party more enjoyable.  There is just something about Christmas decorations that brings out the Christmas spirit.  Therefore, if you are looking to make your Christmas party a festive one, one that your guests will never want to forget, you are advised to decorate your home for your Christmas party.

While Christmas parties come in all different forms, popular Christmas party forms includes parties that are for children or parties that are for family.  Regardless of whether or not you have adults and children present at your Christmas party or just children, one thing is for sure; children love the Christmas season.  One of the reasons for that is because of the pretty decorations.  If you are a parent, yourself, you likely already know first hand how much children enjoy looking at Christmas decorations.  In fact, the decorations are sometimes the first thing that children notice.  Therefore, if there will be children that will be attending your Christmas party, it may be a good idea to decorate your home for the event.

As previously mentioned, Christmas parities are often associated with friends and family.  That is why there is a good chance that you or your guests would want to document the holidays. This documentation is often done with a video camera or a picture camera.  Regardless of which is being used, you will find that Christmas decorations make the perfect backdrop for video footage or pictures.  In fact, it may also be a good idea to decorate and designate an area of your home for pictures. This may not only put your decorations to good use, but it will also encourage your guests to document the holiday with pictures.

Another reason why you should decorate your home, for your Christmas party, is because, in most cases, you will find that your guests expect your home to be decorated.  A Christmas party really isn’t a Christmas party without Christmas decorations. In fact, the decorations are often what sets a Christmas party apart from any other party.  Since parties, especially Christmas parties, are often associated with decorations, you will find that your guests expect to see them.  Perhaps, that is one of the most important reasons why you should decorate your home for your Christmas party; you don’t want to let your guests down do you?

As you can easily see, there are a number of different reasons why you should decorate your home for your Christmas party.  If you are looking to find the largest selection of Christmas decorations or a particular type, you are advised to start your shopping early, preferably in late October or early December. As Christmas approaches, you will find that many retail stores sell out of their Christmas decorations and very few replenish their stock. Therefore, if you are planning on decorating your home for your Christmas party, you will want to get started soon.  In fact, as soon as the Christmas decorations hit the store shelves, it may be a good idea to, at least, start purchasing your decorations.

Parties at work during Christmas and the holidays may include a voluntary gift exchange and individuals have to make a decision whether or not they will participate in it. In a situation where an individual may not know other colleagues very well and is unsure what Christmas present to give, it may be better to opt out of exchanging gifts. If the party and gift exchange is among a fairly large group, such as company-wide or of several departments, it may not be noticed if someone doesn’t participate in the gift exchange. If it’s a small group however, it is likely to be noticed. To eliminate the possibility of any negative talk regarding non-participation, it would likely be better to be among those agreeing to exchange gifts.

A basic thing to remember in selecting gifts for Christmas gift exchanges at work, which are usually called Secret Santa, is to not choose anything that could be considered inappropriate or offensive. Although the sender won’t be revealed, it won’t leave a good feeling and it will become the topic of conversation among everyone.

Separate from the ‘Secret Santa’ Christmas gift exchange at work, it may also be a good gesture to give Christmas presents, which can be small tokens or even just candies or treats, to colleagues in a division or department if you are the respective leader or manager. Such a gesture shows thoughtfulness and that the work of individuals has been appreciated. It will be a good note on which to end the year and to start a new one.

Another important thing to observe during Christmas parties at work is good behavior that is considered casual but still business-like. Although there will be much fun and laughter, it will still be occurring within a work environment or within the parameters of work. So, individuals will still be observed by their colleagues. It is of utmost importance to be careful about how much drinking is done, or how much alcohol is consumed, because drunken or any offensive behavior will not be tolerated and could have negative repercussions on one’s career.

The consideration of good etiquette is also something to be remembered and observed at holiday parties at work. As examples, talking and laughing with food in one’s mouth, emptying a platter of delicious hors d’ouevres or bagging candies, cookies or treats to take home are all considered poor etiquette.

A Christmas party at work can also provide an opportunity to have a brief conversation with supervisors, managers and other company officials whom one may not come in contact with frequently. It can be the ideal time to leave a good impression on a key decision maker. By introducing yourself and striking up a conversation, it is also putting a face to a name or making yourself known and standing out among fellow colleagues.

For those who are strivers and who want to advance such interactions at work holiday and Christmas parties can be beneficial and advantageous.
It’s therefore important to keep in mind that while Christmas parties at work are fun, there are still ways to inconspicuously seek some benefit while you laugh and enjoy a break from the stress, competitiveness and daily routine of work.

In deciding to have a party at home, one of the first things to consider is whether it will be formal or informal. Among the key things that need to be considered are the number of people to attend, the menu, the preparation of food and arrangement of decoration that is attractive and has themes for the holidays. It’s also important to make a note of how much, if any, help will be available from friends or family members.

A formal Christmas party likely would include a small number of people -not more than 12 and likely fewer – who would be seated at a table for the duration of the meal. It means that place settings and seating have to be done and a decision made on whether the meal will be a three- or four-course dinner.

The advantage of a formal dinner is that it is very organized, it has a known content and everyone around the table usually engages in pleasantconversation. It also usually provides a good opportunity to get to know and hear from everyone present without having to initiate any small talk, which some people are not comfortable doing.   As the host of a formal dinner, you will also have the responsibility of keeping the meal flowing smoothly by having each course brought out at the perfect timing and to also be aware of any special needs that a guest may have.

In contrast, an informal Christmas party at home is organized in a different manner and does not have the predictability of a formal one. The fun

and festive spirit of an informal holiday party comes from groups of people who mill around, move about freely to have conversations, laugh and enjoy munching on Christmas treats, goodies and other foods.

Despite the easy, fun-filled atmosphere, it is necessary to plan the use of space and to think about the area that people will use or wander around. Making such a plan will facilitate contact between partygoers so that the party spirit will pervade everywhere and put participants in a livelier mood.

Another consideration to make for an informal Christmas party among friends and family is if children will be present and about their ages, if they are allowed to attend. Children, even older ones, always need careful supervision. If children are going to attend a holiday party at home, arrangements should be made for adequate supervision of them and special activities should also be provided that can occupy their attention.

An important feature that must be a part of a festive Christmas party at home is the right mix of music. In selecting Christmas music, consideration should be given to what will be played at the start of the party as guests are welcomed and introduced to each other, the songs that can be played later to inject or enhance liveliness and later to create the right mood as the partygoers bid farewell with ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays.’

Along with the music, Christmas decorations and even the food can also help to enliven a Christmas party at home. Food that is interesting because it looks ‘pretty’ due to the color palette of items, infuses a mellow feeling among guests and adds an intangible element to the level of enjoyment and excitement of the partygoers.

Christmas parties at home can also be personalized with special cookies, treats and dishes that are ethnic. The presence of some ethnic food, but not an overwhelming quantity, which isn’t frequently enjoyed by guests will be different and will add something that is unique to the host. And that is a part of what a Christmas or holiday party at home is about. It’s to entertain family, friends and acquaintances with a personal style while all enjoy some merriment in the season of goodwill and good cheer.

There are several activities you can impose to make the gift buying interesting. For example, you can declare that one of the rules of the gift exchange is that gifts must be handmade or put together in some way and not purchased. You can take this a step further by declaring that the gifts feature the school’s colors in abundance. Perhaps they might also somehow incorporate the school’s mascot.

Definitely in a gift exchange with children, there should be a low dollar limit on the gifts (such at $5).

But once the gifts are ready, there are many fun exchange activities and games that can be used to make this even fun and memorable for the kids.

You can use a “white elephant” gift exchange method; here the kids draw a number and choose their gift from the pile of gifts in order by the number they drew. They can exchange their gift for a different one if they choose. A gift can only be “stolen” three times and the person who drew the first gift can “steal” a gift at the end of the gift exchange if they like. Kids always get a kick out of the “stealing” aspect of the white elephant gift exchange.

Children enjoy buying gifts for other people, so having them draw names is an excellent activity for a gift exchange. To add a twist, make the gift activity interesting by telling the children they can’t tell their recipient they are buying for them. Then create a fun activity during the exchange itself to play up the “mystery” element of the gift exchange.

In the mystery scenario, you can have each child open their gift, then try and figure out who it is from. If the children were asked to make a gift, this can be particularly fun, as some children might have drawing skills, or woodworking skills which might make it easier or harder for the other children to decide who have them a gift.

As the children open the gifts, have them guess who the gift is from. If they are wrong, they have to do a little dance or silly physical act before making another guess. This repeats until they guess the right giver of the gift they have been given.

Another fun activity for gift giving among children in a classroom is to have each child make a game piece for an unknown game board. Everyone brings a handcrafted game piece (there can be rules as to its size, for example, no larger than 2 inches high), to play with on the communal game board.

The “game board” can be nothing more than a large rug that’s been fashioned into some sort of game, ideally a Christmas-themed game. Always popular is “get Santa back to the North Pole” played much like Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. Since most children know how to play these games, the learning curve is small and at the Christmas party, they can get to playing right away. To keep with the gift exchange idea, each child can be asked to bring their handcrafted game piece wrapped and the pieces can be exchanged as gifts before everyone plays on the big game board.

One obvious choice for some fun at the office during the holidays is to have a party. You could have several, in fact. How about a cookie exchange party? Plan to do this at lunchtime one day, and during that block of time, everyone brings several dozen cookies they have made. You have to set a particular number of cookies everyone brings. Because once everyone has an empty plate, they go around the table picking up cookies that look good to them and place them on their empty paper plate. If everyone brought 3 dozen cookies, say, then everyone gets to take home 3 dozen cookies. This is not a particularly unique idea, but one that brings a bit of fun into the workplace.

Keeping in mind whether or not the public visits your workplace, you might choose to decorate. Why not have a Christmas tree decorating event? Everyone brings 6 ornaments and as a group activity, everyone decorates the tree. This is a good way to build team spirit and decorate your workplace at the same time.

Don’t forget to institute a “secret Santa” event at work, where you secretly buy gifts for someone and have some type of gift exchange. But what about a “Santa’s helper” activity? Someone in the group has to begin this on the sly. Essentially, this first person (the only one in the know about how the whole thing began) puts together a little gift. Ideally, it’s a basket with a few gift items in it. They might be decorative items, or baked goods or even bath items. Attach a card saying that “Santa’s helper” dropped by and brought these items. Now the person who received the “helper’s” gift must put together a little something for someone else and – again on the sly – deliver it to the next person. It continues until everyone has received a visit from “Santa’s helper”.

Nothing brings people together like a group activity designed to help others. What if your officemates came up with an activity designed to help people less fortunate at the holidays? You might adopt a local family and everyone in the office purchases items for that family. You might choose to purchase Christmas trees for needy families. If the public visits your office often, you might even begin a “sharing” tree and people can bring items to put under the tree for needy families or children. As a group activity, the office workers can then deliver these items to the needy.

The particularly festive office might want to have someone come in and do a cooking demonstration. If there are enough people interested, you can hire a cook or baker to come into your office on your lunch hour and do a demonstration or class. Say you want to bake but don’t know what to bake this year. A baker can come in and demonstrate cookies or other goodies you might not have thought to make. Or someone can come in with ideas and samples for the perfect Christmas meal. These ideas are perfect for the environment where people work many hours and are quite busy but still want to do their regular cooking and baking each year.

Consider the culture of your work place and take that into consideration when choosing office Christmas party activities.

Graduation party planning is typically not any different then regular party planning.  In deciding to throw a graduation party, you do have to put a lot of thought into the guest list.  When the child is younger it is easier to figure out who to invite.  As the child gets older, this part can get kind of tricky.  Have the person you are throwing the party for involved in this aspect.  Although, if you are planning to have a surprise graduation party figuring out the guest list can get all the more complicated.  You are going to need a few people to help you with the guest list.  The last thing that you would want to do is leave out someone.  Maybe you are part of their family.  So you might need to recruit a friend from school to give you the names of the guests that your guest of honor will appreciate having at their party.  Plus, the opposite it true; a school friend would be able to let you know who to avoid inviting.  Maybe the person you are throwing the party for is married.  In that case you may also need someone that is in the guest of honor’s spouse’s family.  The guest of honor might be involved in clubs or very close with the neighbors in which case you would need to investigate these areas also.  Once you finally have the guest list finalized, you can finally send out the invitations.  The thing that should be most prominent about the invitation is the fact that it is a surprise graduation party.  The number one way that a surprise party gets ruined is that someone will slip and give the guest of honor a clue that there is something going on.

Choosing decorations for any type of graduation party is only hard because they have so many to choose from.  These days they make so many different kinds of party supplies you will have an easy time finding ones specifically for graduation.  You can also decorate using the colors of the school that the person is graduating from.  Make sure that you include the year in the decorations.  Look into getting a cake that is in the shape of the graduating year.  For a more unique approach, choose an interesting theme rather then just graduation.   Throw your grad a luau, a masquerade ball, or even a flash back party.  Why not celebrate the years of hard work by flashing back into a specific year?

Your grad needs to let loose.  No more teachers, no more books, no more tests.  Allow them to leave that pressure behind and start a new faze of their life with a party that will give them the time of their lives.

First things at the top of your checklist should be to create a budget for your party.  By creating a budget first you can figure out how many people you can invite which leads into the next section of your checklist.  The next set of things on your checklist will be in reference to the guests.  Some things on your checklist should include making a list of people to invite, buying invitations, writing out invitations and sending out invitations.  Give yourself a date of when to send the invitations out by.  You should send out your invitations a minimum of three weeks before the date of the party.  Guests should then be given two weeks to RSVP if they will be attending or not.  You can create a second checklist with a list of the people you invited in order to keep track who will be attending.

Next on your checklist should be in reference to the place where the party is to be held.  If you are not sure where your party is going to be held and if you have it in your budget to hire an outside vender, you will need to do a little research.  Place on your checklist calling venders to get price quotes.  You will need to figure out if they will supply the food and how much it will all cost.  You can then determine if you would like to have the party at your home and hire a caterer.  You will need to place on your checklist, get quotes from caterers.  Or you might want to make all the food yourself in which case you will need to place on your checklist to investigate how much supplies and food will cost you.  Once this is determined, you will need to add a place on the checklist to book the vender or caterer and further down the list place a checklist that will remind you to confirm with them closer to the party date.

Other things on your checklist may include buying party supplies like plates, napkins, utensils, cups, drinks and food.  You also will have to determine if you are going to grant your guests with party favors when the night is through in which case you will need to add researching, buying and preparing the favors to your checklist.   You may have to also add researching and hiring rentals like tables, chairs or a tent if it is so required to your checklist.

The exact things that are on your checklist are greatly varied from party host to party host.  But it is clear that creating a party planning checklist is a wonderful way to stay organized, get everything done in the proper amount of time and the ability to give the best party you can.