How To Throw An Ugly Sweater Making Party

Hey y’all! Are you aware of my obsession with ugly Christmas sweaters? No? Well I should tell you, I collect them. A few years ago, I even opened a little instagram shop selling them! It all started the first time I ever went to an ugly sweater party. I actually made my own, and won the contest for best sweater! This year I decided I wanted to make another DIY ugly sweater.

Ugly Sweater Party Ideas

I thought it would be so fun to make them with friends so I put together a ‘make your own ugly sweater party!’  I highly recommend throwing one – so here are the details and what I stocked the supply table with:

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First, decorations were simple and I went with plastic tablecloths from the dollar store so we could just not worry about getting glitter glue all over the table. I put out little pom poms which add tons of festivity and they’re also part of the supply stash! Two birds. I also picked up some cute “ugly sweater party” napkins and plenty of white paper plates – some to be used for food and some to be used as paint palettes.

The best thing is that the craft supplies can actually double as decor!

I got a couple plain sweatshirts from Walmart and one from Goodwill, but I think if you were inviting a bunch of people you could tell each guest to bring their own sweater to decorate and you just cover the supplies.

A few tips for making ugly Christmas sweaters: the more outrageous, the better! Think glitter and 3-dimensional… pom poms, garlands, ribbon, jingle bells, etc. The more the merrier with these flashy things.

Supplies Needed to Make an Awesome DIY Ugly Sweater:

Glitter paint

Fabric paint

Glitter

Stencils

Fabric glue

Cricut Maker and Rotary Blade (optional)

Felt

Glue Gun

Freezer Paper

Pom Poms

Jingle Bells

How to embellish a tacky sweater:

You can print an image or words and trace it onto your sweater using the Freezer Paper Stencil Method!

Cut shapes out of fabric or felt with a Cricut Maker and rotary blade. My new FAVE. That’s how I made the felt gingerbread men  and sweaters you see above.

You can also find cheap stockings and ribbons from the dollar store, and cut them up. Then just use fabric glue or hot glue to glue the pieces onto the sweater!

For my 2014 sweater DIY, I cut out the gingerbread man from the dollar stocking and decided to write “Not my gumdrop buttons!” using the letter stencils. 10 points to whoever can name that movie?! (It’s not a Christmas movie but gingerbread men remind me of this quote every time.)

I used a sponge brush to paint the letters with matte fabric paint, then did a layer of white glitter paint over the top of that and then traced the letters with silver and red glitter paints!

Here is my sweater along with a couple others’ creations as well.

Are they hilarious or what? And below, here I am modeling my sweater. I am kind of obsessed with it and I had so much fun that I really want to get everything out and make another one! The possibilities are endless…