The Conner Family gets Tacky

On Christmas Eve we always have our family over for dinner and a little celebration. This year we decided to do a theme-- we went with "Tacky".

I used Evite for simple invitations. They had lots of tacky/ugly sweater invitations to choose from. The party was 'pot-luck', everyone brought something yummy- meatballs, chicken nuggets, puppy chow, cookies and fudge. The 'tacky' theme kept everything light and simple. My mom made this jello mold- reminds me of 'Christmas Vacation'.

Everyone was in town this year-- Amanda came in from Georgia. Becka was here from Oklahoma. And Jessie came all the way from Israel.

We found our 'tacky outfits' at a thrift store. I made Jeff's 'Naughty' vest by cutting up a woman's sweater and hot gluing it to a thrifted leather vest. I hand-cut the lettering on the back of the vest from the sleeves of the sweater. The Santa is made from white felt, yellow ric-rac and googly eyes.

I made these headbands for myself and my girls to wear. 'Tacky Headbands' are a must for a 'Tacky Sweater Party'!

Everybody else had great luck finding 'ugly sweaters' at Walmart, Target, or even Etsy. Some people already owned 'tacky' sweaters too :) 

Santa "Grandpa" even stopped by our party. Most of the kiddos were excited about our guest.... a few were not :) This was Maisy's first year to be happy about visitng with Santa. Might be because she was related to him :) 

Then it was time for the awards! Afton was the self appointed 'Head Judge" We handed out 8 'tacky' awards, plus 4 big buttons. She wanted us to give out lots of awards so no one would get their feelings hurt!

Photo courtesy of The Sassy Writer

My favorite part of the night was the DIY Photo Booth. I was happily surprised how enthusiastic everyone was about taking silly photos:)

I think this year's party was the best yet. It set the tone for a very Merry Christmas too!