A long time ago, we used to be fun. That was before we had kids. Back in those idyllic days, we would host amusing parties. I would say the most popular themed party we had was the Ugly Christmas Ornament Party. Which was a nice break from all the serious holiday parties. It started out fairly casual and became pretty competitive by the end, with rules and stuff. Actually, a lot of my parties seem to have rules. It's because I'm German. I can't help it.
The rules were:
- One entry per person.
- Enter into one of the categories: store-bought or homemade/altered.
- One vote per person. Yadda yadda, can't quite remember all the voting rules for having two categories.
- You must be willing to give up your entry. Everyone will go home with a different ornament.
- The winning ornament stays with us.
Luckily we are organized (snort!) and have all the winners still carefully stored all together in a box. I present them to you for your enjoyment.
1998 Red D*ldo -- Joanne Harrison
1999 Paschke -- Perrigo family
2000 Santabird -- Darin and Olga
2001 It Just Screams Christmas -- N
2002 Holiday Time in Afghanistan -- Tish
2003 Cowpie Snowman -- Kris Ward
And this little bonus item that was robbed of winning. I think John brought it the first year we had the party. His grandma made it or something. I'm pretty sure I voted for it. It's top-notch.
And this. This monstrosity.
This started it all. N and I found it in an antique store in Hebron, IL. It was $7. I took off the little plaques N made with the winners' names on them. And ain't she a beaut.