The holiday season is famous for the dozens of parties that we all attend each year. Inevitably, you’ll probably find yourself hosting or co-hosting a holiday party at some point. How can you make your party is different from all the others? What makes a great holiday party? A creative party theme. No great holiday party is complete without a great theme. A great theme will make your party memorable and way more fun than all the other parties that your guests might be attending this year. Here are some ideas that might give your next holiday party a little extra kick.

1. Ugly Sweater Party: A favorite holiday tradition among many people is to throw an Ugly Sweater Party. This is a simple theme that can be applied to any holiday party, but by informing your guests that the dress code includes wearing an ugly sweater, it immediately makes your party more festive and more whimsical. This is a fun idea for a big gathering of friends when you can all chat about upcoming holiday plans and admire everyone else’s hideous sweaters. Usually thrift stores have sweaters from decades past that are suitable and cheap. Bonus points if you can find a sweater with jingle bells sewed on.

2. Swanky New Year’s Party: New Year’s Eve parties have always been popular, but it’s always fun to throw a New Year’s Eve party in swanky style. Throw a fancy party on New Year’s Eve, where all your guests dress up to the nines and enjoy a night of high-end celebration. Provide delicate and fancy finger foods for your guests to munch on. Sparkly party favors like hats and noisemakers are a fun and fancy way to bring in the new year. Low-key party games such as charades are still a fun option. It’s a fun way to celebrate the fun of the past year and also bring in the new year in high style.

3. Cookie Party: A really fun and low-key party to host is a holiday cookie party. Each guest brings a plate of their favorite Christmas cookies to share. This potluck-style party is a good idea when the focus of party is on mingling and meeting people or when you need to a pull a party together quickly. Everyone enjoys the casualness of the party and everyone loves eating treats! As a host, you may want to provide around 3 or 4 different types of cookies so that you ensure variety, but don’t stress about this fun, casual party theme.

4. Holiday Fiesta: Even though we’re still several months away from Cinco de Mayo, why not throw a holiday fiesta? It’s unexpected and a welcome change from wintry-themed parties. Food for this party can include chips, salsa, guacamole, tacos, and quesadilla slices. Decor for a fiesta is pretty easy to find – a pinata, bright banners, and confetti, and even an inflatable cactus are fun places to start. Fiestas are usually more upbeat parties, so make sure you have fun music, plenty of food, and conversation games to unsure that your guests never forget your holiday fiesta!

5. Fondue Party: For a fun evening with a smaller group of people, a fondue-party is a great idea. Since fondue can be kind of messy, and only a few people can father around a fondue pot, it’s the perfect theme for a reunion with friends or even a casual night in. Fondue pots range from 20 to 50 dollars at Walmart or Target. The most popular types of fondue are chocolate or cheese fondue, dipping bread, fruit or marshmallows for the chocolate fondue and meats, vegetables, or bread in cheese fondue. This is a fun and yummy way to party with your good friends.