She Says: Heather & Mark’s Holiday Sweater Party – Take 1

by Heather Sunday, December 6, 2009

Mark and I knew we wanted to have a Christmas Party this year, so we decided to make it extra fun and require our guests to wear their best holiday clothing.

Friday night we set up our very first Christmas Tree.

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And last night was the first snow of the season; a perfect holiday mood-setter!

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As for food, we kept things simple with snacks and sweets.

  • I incorporated Mezzetta Sundried Tomatoes and Marinated Artichokes I received to sample and added some Roasted Vegetable Bruschetta for spreading on the Italian bread I brushed with EVOO and baked.

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  • Various chips, veggies and dips including onion dip, hummus, a bean dip with cilantro, a Greek yogurt dip, and corn & bean salsa.

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  • For sweets I made Mark’s favorite, brownies – some with peanut butter, some plain.

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  • And I made some festive Mini-Vanilla Cupcakes from with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. The cupcake recipe is in Apples for Jam.

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We also asked our guests to bring a non-perishable food item that we are going to drop off at a local food bank.  They were very generous and we have a whole basket to drop off! Thanks everyone.

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And of course, there was holiday clothing galore!

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It was a fun way to enjoy a festive and fun night with friends.

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40 Responses to “She Says: Heather & Mark’s Holiday Sweater Party – Take 1”

  1. 1 Evan Thomas says:

    The brownies sound delicious.
    And that’s such a great theme! I have some wicked embarrassing sweaters I could dig up for a party like that :-)

  2. 2 Erin says:

    I love sweater parties — plus, you can be comfortable! :) All of the food looks delicious, especially those brownies.

  3. 3 Katie says:

    That sweater is HILARIOUS!

    Music/Fitness/Food – http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/

  4. 4 Anne P says:

    How fun :) I love the sweaters, hehe. And gorgeous photos, especially the first one of the tree and the food ones!

  5. 6 Marissa says:

    That is so cool about the canned food!!

  6. 7 Lee says:

    That’s such a great idea to ask people to bring canned food.

  7. A sweater party – what a great idea! Everyone has one of those awful things stashed somewhere!

  8. 9 Amelia says:

    Cute party! Looks like a great time. The canned food donation is such an easy way to incorporate a charity aspect into your party. Good idea!

  9. 10 MelissaNibbles says:

    The appetizers look delicious. Great way to incorporate the Mezzetta samples.
    I have many ugly sweaters, but can’t bear to part with them. I keep thinking I’ll be able to wear them to an ugly sweater party. I should just throw my own party.

  10. Glad to hear you had a lovely evening decorating your tree!
    Love the sweater party pictures, looks like a yummy setup.

  11. I got those cupcake liners at Target, too!! So festive. Love the canned food donation idea too.

  12. 13 Erica says:

    The food looks fabulous and I love sweater parties! How fun. AWESOME that ya’ll collected canned goods. Perfect holiday party :)

  13. 14 Kristie Lynn says:

    Love the idea to ask your friends to bring canned goods. Looks like it was quite the fun party!

  14. 15 Jenny says:

    tacky sweater parties are THE BEST! You and Mark look great :)

  15. 16 trifitmom says:

    love the sweater party idea …….

  16. 17 caronae says:

    I LOVE your smiling gingerbread ornament!

  17. Love the sweater party! Always a great time ;-)

  18. How fun to have a holiday party on a snowy day. And it is sweet to have a donation for a food bank. As someone who runs a food bank we really appreciated donations from the community.

  19. 21 Melissa S. says:

    what a fun holiday party, and great idea with having others bring some canned goods to donate! that’s wonderful!

  20. 22 Rose says:

    We were just talking about throwing a sweater party and now you’ve inspired me! Yours looks super fun – and like others have said, I like the idea about donating some canned goods.

  21. 23 Heather's Bestie says:

    why was my comment spammed dude?

  22. 24 carolinebee says:

    Awwwesome :D I’m having a sweater party on Friday I caaan’t wait!

  23. 25 RunToTheFinish says:

    AHH i love the whole idea of this party, how cute and fun!!

  24. 26 RhodeyGirl says:

    SO FUN!!!!!! Beautiful table set up too, Miss Hostess!

  25. 27 Gena says:

    Can’t decide what’s more mesmerizing, the sweaters or your lovely spread of food!

  26. aw that looks like a ton of fun! I love parties.

  27. 29 Susan says:

    Oh man, love tacky sweater parties. And how cute are those cupcakes?
    PS – Apples for Jam is one of my fave cookbooks! Best pictures hands down.

  28. Love the tacky sweater party idea-how fun!!

  29. Did you get a new camera?? Your pics are looking great!

  30. zomg is that a light up snowflake necklace you are wearing?! I must have one! :D

    What a fun party and great idea about donating food!

  31. 34 Erin says:

    Those cupcakes and brownies look so great! And the hummus too, yum. Gotta love the ugly Christmas sweaters!

  32. 35 Mark's Mom says:

    Everything was perfect from the sweaters, to the food, decorations and even the snow. It was very festive and a nice start to the holiday season.

  33. It looks like a great holiday party. Your cupcakes look So good!

  34. 37 Bridget says:

    I LOVE sweater parties!!! Haven’t been to one in ages :) Your guy’s were awesome!

  35. 38 Erin says:

    You guys are so cute and SWEET! I love the donation idea! I think I might steal it! What made you decide to get a tree this year? The party?

  36. 39 Candi Roske says:

    I am at it once more, always attempting come back up one thing to scan about. This happens to be higher than usual that is like underwater basket weaving.

  37. 40 Kandy Gietz says:

    Lots of Good information in your posting, I bookmarked your blog post so I can visit again in the near future, All the Best, Kandy Gietz

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