Holiday Ugly Face Contest Kit — Free Printable Ballots, Scorecards & Certificate

Why it works at the holidays

It started on a Christmas Eve.

QUFC began the way most family traditions do: siblings making horrifying faces at each other for no good reason, until one Christmas Eve the eldest turned the chaos into a contest. One face each, one vote each, one winner immortalized forever.

It's the rare game that works for every age at the table. Grandparents are weirdly good at it. Teenagers who refuse every other game will quietly practice in the bathroom mirror. It needs no board, no batteries and no explanation, and it fits in the gap between dinner and dessert.

What's in the kit

Three sheets, all free

Ballot slips — eight per page, for a secret vote.
Judge's scorecard — score every face on the four official QUFC categories.
Winner's certificate — because nothing is official until it's printed on nice paper.

Plus a free Group Face-Off board for relatives who can't be there in person.

The game plan

Run it in fifteen minutes.

Pick a host and name it

Someone with a loud voice and no shame. Give the event an absurdly official name ("The 1st Annual Martin Family Facial Invitational") and write it on the certificate before anyone can object.

Read the rules out loud

No props, no filters, one vote each, and nobody votes for themselves. That's the whole rulebook. Contestants choose their own faces — the host never assigns an expression.

Faces, then votes

One at a time, each contestant gets a few seconds of glory. Snap a photo if everyone's comfortable. Then hand out ballot slips (or let the judges fill in scorecards) and count.

Popular vote or panel of judges?

Popular vote is fastest: everyone writes one name on a ballot slip, most votes wins. A panel of judges is more dramatic: two or three judges score each face from 1 to 10 in Realism, Creativity, Humor and Pure Ugliness, and the highest total wins. Big crowd? Do both — the judges pick three finalists, then everyone votes.

Breaking a tie

Sudden-death face-off: the tied contestants make one more face at the same time, on the host's count of three, and the room cheers for a winner. Still tied? Let the QUFC lab settle it — both play a Face-Off and the higher score takes the title.

Make it fit the occasion

Holiday variations.

Thanksgiving

Run it between the main course and pie, while everyone's too full to move anything but their face. The kids' table versus the adults' table makes a surprisingly bitter rivalry.

Christmas Eve

The QUFC original. Ugly sweater contest first, ugly face contest second, and the winner wears the ugliest sweater for the family photo. Wrap the certificate and put it under the tree.

New Year's Eve

"Last ugly face of the year" at 11:55. The winner gets to keep a traveling trophy for twelve months and must defend it next December.

Relatives who can't make it

Start a free Group Face-Off: name the group, drop the link in the family chat, and everyone — at the table or three time zones away — makes a face on their own phone. Scores land on one live board, so you can prop a laptop on the counter and watch the out-of-towners try to steal the title. No accounts, and nobody's photo leaves their phone.

Start a Group Face-Off

The printables

Print, cut, judge.

Each sheet prints on its own page (US Letter or A4). The buttons print only what you need — or the whole kit at once.

1. Ballot slips (8 per page)

QUFC Official BallotThe ugliest face belongs to:One vote. No voting for yourself. Keep it secret. · qufc.it.com

2. Judge's scorecard

Official Judge's Scorecard

Event: Judge:

Score each face 1–10 per category. Realism: classic ugly, nightmare, or both. Creativity: something nobody could have imagined. Humor: the size of the laugh. Pure Ugliness: repulsive, unpleasant, almost inhuman.

Contestant	Realism	Creativity	Humor	Pure Ugliness	Total

Judges may not score themselves, their spouse, or anyone who still owes them money. Rules and rubric: qufc.it.com/rubric

3. Winner's certificate

Quarantine Ugly Face Contest · Est. 2020

Certificate of Facial Achievement

This certifies that

made the single most unfortunate face at the

on this day,

and is hereby awarded all associated glory, bragging rights and lasting regret, to be defended at next year's contest.

Head Judge

Witness (still recovering)

qufc.it.com

Frequently questioned decisions

Holiday contest FAQ

How long does a holiday ugly face contest take?

About fifteen minutes for ten people: a minute to read the rules, a few seconds per face, a couple of minutes to vote and count, and however long the awards speech runs. Add a finals round if the room wants more.

Can kids play?

Absolutely — kids are often the fiercest competitors. Keep it kind: QUFC is about ridiculous faces, never anyone's real appearance, and nobody should be pressured to take part or be photographed.

Do we need phones?

No. Pen-and-paper ballots work perfectly. Phones just make it easy to keep the evidence, and the free Face-Off and Group Face-Off add an automatic score out of 100 if you want a tiebreaker or remote players.

What if someone doesn't want their photo taken?

Skip the camera for them and judge their face live. The contest is about the moment, not the photo — and a face made in person is often funnier anyway.

What makes a good prize?

The more ceremony and the less value, the better: the printed certificate, a plastic trophy, a paper crown, or a traveling trophy that has to come back next year. See the QUFC Prize Cabinet for the original hardware.

Want the full playbook?

Formats, judging options and prize ideas for any time of year are in the How to Host an Ugly Face Contest guide. For the history of the sport — yes, there's a world championship — read about gurning.

The Holiday Ugly Face Contest Kit