Monday, December 20, 2010

37 Things: Host a Themed Party


I love to throw parties, so this wasn't too much out of my comfort zone on my list of 37 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 38,.but a themed party does require some attention to detail.

I didn't just want any old holiday party. I wanted an ugly sweater party. The rules were simple. Wear the ugliest holiday attire you can find, bring a nice gift for a gift exchange and a retro food dish for a potluck.

I created a wreath with plaster angels I found at the thrift store. We borrowed tacky holiday lights (dancing Santas and a North Pole sign), and I created 50 yards of felt garlands and cut out a zillion paper snowflakes.

I made Swedish meatballs for the crock pot.
I made sugar cookies and gingerbread snaps. The gingerbread was from a weird recipe I had never used before and didn't turn out so good. But the sugar cookies with the cream cheese frosting were delicious.
I made scarves for my papier mache polar bears to hand out as party favors.

The photo booth we set up turned out to be the hit of the party. Trevor went out and found an cordless remote control so that people could take their own photos. We bought a simple clip-on light with a sunlight flood to help with lighting. And I provided props to get people in the holiday spirit.
The photo booth started out nice and normal at the beginning of the evening.
Here I am with my dear friend Rosie. I love my Scotty dog sweater vest. I tried really hard to rat my hair, but it wouldn't stay up for very long.

I was amazed at the amount of work some people put into their sweaters!
Slowly, the photos started showing more holiday spirit.

And quickly deteriorated into fun chaos.
I can't remember laughing so hard at any other party.
I think everyone should have a photo booth at their parties.

My husband is a goofball, but I love him.
It's hard to believe we squeezed 28 people into our house, but we made it work.
We've already decided we want to throw another themed party in April to commemorate 50 years since Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit the earth. It will be a seriously retro themed party with space decorations and Russian themed food and drinks and of course a photo booth!

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