Being away from home during the holidays can be difficult, but it doesn’t mean that you aren’t still around people who love you. Do things with friends to make the holidays bright and cheerful. Bond with friends over a warm cup of muddled wine and tacky sweaters. Here are seven Friendsmas ideas to help you celebrate the holidays away from home!

1. Decorate Each Other’s Trees: No one should have a Christmas without a tree. Your tree is as personal and unique as you are, but it’s no fun decorating it alone. Invite friends over for the weekend to have a decorating party. Supply the decorations or have everyone make an ornament while they are there. It can be as classy or as ridiculous as you want it to be. Have fun with it and make memories with new and old friends with classic traditions.

2. SantaCon Bar Crawl: Don’t just have the regular night out – make it holiday themed! Find a local bar crawl and dress up in your Christmas cheer. Become the best Santa you can or transform into a little elf. It’s a fun time to dress up, make other laugh and smile, and have a great night out.

3. Secret Santa Exchange: Do you have a group of friends that all like to hang out? Make sure that everyone is covered with a gift by doing a secret santa gift exchange. Get creative and put limits on each other such as best gift under $10, only DIY, things for the office, etc. It helps people express their creativity while keeping the playing field even. You don’t want hard feelings from a difference in money spent after a gift swap. It also helps relieve the pressure to overspend on everyone.

4. Ugly Sweater Party: This one will never get old. Break out the crazy Christmas vests, the kitchy jewelry, and top it off with the best pair on mom jeans that you can find. Put it to the vote. See who takes the cake with the best worst outfit at the party. No voting for yourself!

5. Name That Holiday Movie: Test your friends’ holiday movie trivia with this fun holiday game. Say or play a quote from a film and see who can correctly guess which movie it comes from. The person with the most correct answers can win an extra gift, or everyone will cheers them with a hot toddy.

6. Make Stocking Together: It’s cold out, and there are not as many things to do outside. Bring the fun indoors with a holiday craft. Make a traditional stocking to hang around the apartment. Little things like this can make the holidays feel a little more like home. You can even make little ones for pets, so Santa doesn’t forget them.

7. Cookie Swap: Get your sweet tooth fix in with a creative cookie swap. Everyone brings in a batch of their favorite homemade cookies. Sample as many as you can stand, and then divide up the rest to take home. You’ll have plenty left over for when Santa and his reindeer come.

The holidays are about sharing love and happiness with others. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it with people that love you back. Start your Friendsmas planning now, to make sure as many friends as possible can join in.