Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest: Categories, Voting Rules and Games

To run an ugly Christmas sweater contest, choose award categories, assign entry numbers, give each guest one ballot, and count one vote per category. Announce the self-voting and tie rules before voting opens. The simple version below has three awards: Most Festive, Best Homemade, and Funniest Theme.

A sweater contest works best as one friendly part of a party. Guests can participate without giving a speech, and the host can manage voting while everyone enjoys food or another game. Keep the humor focused on the decorated clothing rather than someone’s appearance or how much they spent.

This guide includes categories, a complete voting system, a host timeline, invitation wording, and simple party games. The paid printable pack adds ballots, a tally sheet, entry cards, and certificates for the three default categories.

Prefer separate printed sheets? The Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Pack adds ready-to-print pages and host tools for this activity.

Holiday dates for planning

Christmas Day date reference

For Christmas Day in 2027, the holiday date is Saturday, December 25, 2027; the federal observed date is Friday, December 24, 2027.

Choose funny Christmas sweater contest categories

Pick three or four categories before sending the invitation. Too many awards can make voting slow and leave guests unsure which sweater belongs in which category. The default three below recognize different ideas without requiring an expensive novelty sweater.

Explain what Best Homemade means for your event. In this version, guests may decorate a purchased plain sweater, and purchased craft supplies are allowed. The clothing itself does not have to be knitted by the contestant. Ask entrants whether their decorations were assembled by them; do not make the host guess from appearance.

Additional category ideas include Best Tree Theme, Best Gift-Wrap Theme, Most Creative Use of Ribbon, Best Matching Pair, and Best Reused Decorations. A pair category needs separate pair entry numbers and ballots, so keep it separate from individual awards. The pack has a blank certificate for a custom category, but its standard ballots and tally sheet use the three default categories.

Categories to avoid

Skip awards about a person’s body, age, income, or resemblance to an unflattering character. Avoid “most embarrassing” if guests have not explicitly signed up for that kind of humor. “Funniest Theme” gives voters a concrete idea to judge while keeping attention on the sweater.

If you want a lights category, say whether battery-operated decorations are allowed and ask guests to keep wires secured. For a simple home gathering, fabric, felt, ribbon, and lightweight ornaments are easier than decorations that obstruct movement or need a power outlet.

Ugly Christmas sweater contest rules

Use these as a complete starting set and share them before the event:

1. Entry is optional. Guests may attend without wearing a decorated sweater.
2. Enter one individual sweater per person. Assign each entrant one visible entry number.
3. Use three categories: Most Festive, Best Homemade, and Funniest Theme. Only entrants who say they assembled their decorations are eligible for Best Homemade.
4. Give each guest one ballot. A voter may choose one eligible entry number in each category or leave that category blank.
5. No self-voting. Entrants may vote for other entrants; guests who did not enter may also vote.
6. One entrant may win more than one category. Use this rule throughout; do not take away a win afterward to spread the prizes around.
7. Count each category separately. The eligible entry with the most valid votes in that category wins it.
8. Resolve a tie with one runoff ballot for that category. If the runoff remains tied, announce co-winners.

These are HHH’s suggested event rules, not a universal standard. Actual organizations publish their own versions; for example, West Virginia University’s sweater-contest rules illustrate a workplace event with a defined entry and judging process. Use your own announced rules consistently rather than combining incompatible rules from several events.

For an event with only one entrant eligible for a category, you can give that award without voting. If nobody is eligible, omit the category and say so before distributing ballots. Do not encourage an ineligible vote just to fill every space on the sheet.

How to organize entries and voting

Give every sweater a clear entry number

At check-in, record the entrant’s name beside their number on the host sheet. Give them the matching entry card to hold or wear where voters can see it. Use clips or tape suitable for the clothing, or place the card beside their chair. Do not write on guests’ clothes.

Mark Best Homemade eligibility on the host list and show voters which numbers qualify. A small separate list near the ballot station is clearer than expecting voters to remember an announcement made half an hour earlier.

Use numbers on ballots rather than a description such as “the green one.” There may be several green sweaters. If someone forgets a number, they can ask the host before putting the ballot in the box.

Let guests see the entries before voting

Gather entrants briefly for a group viewing, or ask each to stand in a visible spot. Guests who prefer not to parade can remain seated while the host points out their number. Keep any description short: “Entry 4 made the felt decorations at home” is enough context for Best Homemade.

Open voting for a clearly announced period, such as 10 minutes, and state the closing time aloud. Collect ballots in one container. Avoid a public show of hands if your goal is to keep individual votes private.

Count votes carefully

Use two helpers when possible: one reads the entry number and category; the other marks the tally. Then swap roles and check the totals. The host’s name-to-number list should stay separate from the public ballot stack.

A ballot with two different numbers in one category has an invalid vote for that category only. Votes in its other categories can still count. Treat a blank, unknown number, self-vote, or ineligible Best Homemade entry the same way: do not count that category’s vote. Do not discard the entire ballot because of one unclear field.

Since the simple pack does not identify voters by name, self-voting relies on guests following the announced rule; an anonymous ballot cannot prove who wrote it. If you need a checked election, use signed ballots and have the host check eligibility privately. Tell guests which method you will use before voting.

A worked sweater-contest voting example

Suppose eight guests cast ballots and five sweaters are entered. Most Festive receives three votes for Entry 2, three for Entry 4, one for Entry 1, and one blank. Entries 2 and 4 tie for first, so run a Most Festive runoff between those two entries only.

Give every original voter one fresh runoff slip. They may choose one of the tied entries or leave it blank, and entrants still cannot vote for themselves. Count the runoff independently; do not add it to the original totals. If the runoff gives four votes to Entry 2 and three to Entry 4, Entry 2 wins. If they tie again, both receive the award.

A win in Most Festive does not remove Entry 2 from Funniest Theme. This ruleset allows multiple category wins. If you prefer one award per person, design and publish a different procedure before guests enter; do not add that restriction while counting.

For a very small contest where a no-self-voting runoff cannot produce a useful result, name co-winners. You do not need an elaborate elimination tournament to award a funny sweater certificate.

Popular vote or a judging panel?

A popular vote is easy to explain and gives every guest a role. It can also reflect friendships and visibility. Keep it lighthearted, use numbered entries, and avoid promising a perfectly objective fashion judgment.

A panel can work better for a workplace competition with specific criteria. Choose judges who are not entrants, define each category, and have judges independently score entries from one to five in each eligible category. Add the judges’ scores separately for each category; highest total wins. For a tied total, let the panel compare the tied entries once, then name co-winners if they cannot agree.

Use either the popular-vote method above or the panel method for the whole contest. Do not reveal a ballot winner and then let an unannounced panel overrule the vote. The printable pack’s standard tally sheet is designed for popular votes; panel scores need a separate sheet.

A sweater-party schedule that leaves time to mingle

Allow roughly 20–30 minutes for check-in, viewing, voting, counting, and announcing awards, with the voting period happening during food or conversation. This is a planning suggestion, not a guaranteed duration. Larger events need more check-in and counting time.

Prepare entry cards and certificates before the party. At arrival, assign numbers and confirm homemade eligibility. After guests have seen the entries, announce the voting window. While helpers count, offer a short game that does not require those helpers to judge at the same time.

Announce each category winner, explain any co-winner result, and give out the certificate or small prize. Ask permission before posting identifiable guest photos online. A photo can be a nice memory without being an automatic part of entry.

Three easy games for an ugly sweater party

Sweater-theme introductions

Invite guests to describe their sweater in one sentence. Participation can stay optional, and store-bought sweaters count. The host can go first with a simple line such as “My theme is wrapping paper that escaped the gift.” Keep these introductions unscored so shy guests do not lose contest points.

Christmas trivia break

Read one round from our Christmas trivia questions and answers while ballots are being counted. Use separate teams and scores; trivia results should not change the sweater voting.

A short tabletop challenge

Pick one of the Christmas minute-to-win-it games, such as a cup pyramid. Ask players to secure dangling decorations before using the table, and keep contest certificates away from the game supplies. For more activity choices, see Christmas party games for adults.

Ugly Christmas sweater party invitation wording

Wear a Christmas sweater, decorate an ordinary one, or come as you are. We’ll vote for Most Festive, Best Homemade, and Funniest Theme. Homemade decorations can be added to a purchased sweater. One sweater entry per person, no self-voting, and an entrant may win more than one award. We’ll also have a short Christmas game and plenty of time to visit. Add the date, time, location, and anything guests should bring before sending.

For an office party, add whether guests can vote during work hours and whether remote staff have a separate entry route. For a home party, say whether children can enter the same contest or have a separate set of categories. Separate contests need separate ballots and tallies.

Ugly sweater contest questions

Does the sweater have to be homemade?

No. Store-bought decorated sweaters can enter Most Festive and Funniest Theme in these rules. Best Homemade requires decorations made or assembled by the wearer; the underlying sweater can be purchased.

Can guests vote for themselves?

Not under this ruleset. Announce the rule before voting. Anonymous ballots rely on honesty; use signed ballots if the host needs to check who cast each vote.

Can one sweater win several categories?

Yes, in the simple system described here. Each category is counted independently. If you want a one-award-per-person policy, write that different system before the event so entrants know how winners will be chosen.

What happens if two sweaters tie?

Hold one fresh runoff vote between the tied eligible entries for that category. Count only those runoff votes. If they remain tied, name co-winners and use an extra certificate.

What is included in the printable contest pack?

The pack includes the three-category host rules, ballots, a ten-entry tally sheet, entry-number cards, three named certificates, and a blank-category certificate. It does not include sweaters or physical prizes.

Get the printable Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Pack

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest Pack puts the activity into ready-to-print pages. You receive:

• Host rules for three categories: Most Festive, Best Homemade, and Funniest Theme
• Four ballots per sheet and a ten-entry tally sheet
• Ten entry-number cards
• Three category certificates and one blank-category certificate

This is a paid PDF download. The instructions and activity on this page are available to read without buying the pack. Print at actual size on U.S. Letter paper, and keep host-only pages away from players.