Tacky Christmas Flashback

This year feels so different without the all the big holiday gatherings but as someone who loves to party, I am trying to use the time to discover inspiration for future celebrations, but also to reflect back on some of the events we’ve hosted in the past, and the joy those gatherings have provided.

One of the silliest events we’ve held was this Tacky Christmas Party from seven years ago. The party was in our home and was an opportunity to celebrate with friends and neighbors. Since everyone has their own holiday style, creating something deemed tacky could present a challenge, but we sort of adopted an “anything goes” approach, all colors, all textures, all styles, ALL things Christmas-y!! This way I was able to use my traditional holiday decorations along side all sort of tinselly decorations my kids picked out from the dollar store!

Our party wasn’t exactly an Ugly Sweater party, but with a Tacky Christmas theme, you can be many of the guests showed up in festive holiday sweaters, but in addition there were funny hats, jewelry, silly leggings and socks, and lots and lots of tinsel!!

Check out some of these lovely options (click on photo for purchase information):

The family heirloom special ornaments with tinsel and faux garland displayed proudly on our mantle.

The first year my husband was out of college and had his own place with friends, his mom sent a package of holiday decor for him. As the third kid, he was receiving all the pieces his mom and older sisters had no interest in. From the moment we opened this box of “treasures” together and added to it with some lovely pieces my grandmother passed along, it has provided so many great laughs. The box of misfit orgnaments almost has become the highlight of our holiday decorating for Scout. A Tacky Christmas party was the perfect opportunity to showcase this inherited collection. And because there are SO MANY of them, I was able to cover many surfaces in my kitchen and family room.

I took the opportunity to put bows on everything and wrap all the pictures on the wall to bring colorful holiday design all over the walls. Then we strung holiday lights everywhere. I typically stick to warm lights inside my home, but we meshed strands of multi-colored, some with blink, some without, with solid red and green and white strands. I found Christmas paper decorations at the local party store and used a lot of tinsel garlands everywhere.

I found the Little Debbie Christmas cakes, made black coal rice crispy treats and marshmallow holiday peeps on a stick. These are not elements I would probably include during my typical holiday entertaining but they were fun and enjoyed by the guest. We had a pot luck of lots of delicious and unpretentious nibbles. And lots of beverages including spiked punch and candy cane shots.

Growing up my mom was a Christmas Around the World consultant for several years and so we amassed a lot of holiday stuff through those parties. Luckily she held onto some pieces that we were able to use like this skating Christmas bear.

This vinyl wall sticker was sold at Target that year and a perfect addition to set the scene, especially when surrounded in the glow and glisten of tinsel and Christmas lights!

The table top tree below with some of our vintage family “treasures” is now used in lots of my holiday decor and is part of my daughter’s Christmas bedroom decor.

This dancing Santa was a piece I borrowed from my grandparents. He dances to Jingle Bell rock and they display him because the great-grandchildren find him funny. Displayed with other plush Christmas decorations, he fit the theme wonderfully.

Not that a party with a great group of friends and cocktails typically needs entertainment, but I did play the Saturday Night Live Holiday Special during the party.

The biggest hit of the party had to be the photo booth. For this party, I just purchased a large piece of this busy holly berry print and made a bow centerpiece and hung it directly on the wall in the room where we took the photos. Our photos booths have evolved quite a bit since this party, with vinyl backdrops, lots of props and fancy lights and flashes, but we still had so much fun posting for these tacky photos, especially as the night went on. I am an admitted photo pusher at parties. I make it my goal to get everyone or every couple photographed. I find that with most, a little nudge is all it takes and now, years later this group of friends has so much fun looking back to the photos and hilarious shared memories.

Here are a few of the many photos taken. Look at Cindy, Shane and Baby Jensen! So adorable!!

Over the past several years, the Ugly Sweater party has really taken off. If we were to throw another tacky holiday party or ugly sweater event, here are some decorations we would use:

We can’t forget that these silly holiday parties often have white elephant gift exchanges, so here are some fun ideas…

And don’t forget Dollar Tree!! Click on link below to see what is available online for really great prices!