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White elephant gifts

It’s that time again. The holidays are coming up, and a handful of the events I’m invited to involve a white elephant gift exchange. I generally don’t enjoy these because I always end up with more stuff that I don’t need, and I’m afraid whoever receives my gift will feel the same way.

So what’s the best/worst white elephant gift you’ve received? Why did you like or not like it? I’m trying to come up with some better ideas for this year.

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Re: White elephant gifts

  • What is a white elephant gift?



  • @swazzle I think it's like secret santa maybe?

     

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  • It sounds like a secret santa to me.  We usually do one ever year with FI's family.  I usually do bottles of wine or liquor.

    Anniversary

  • I like to bring Christmas-y smelling candles, gift card to Starbucks (DD is not big around here), cute gloves and scarf (extra points if they have the techie fingertips).  you could also do a bottle of wine or a box of holiday pops or drinks (I saw some holiday ale at the grocery store last night).  I would think that would be popular as well.

    I just try to shop for myself, and generally it turns out alright.  if I don't like what I get, I can always give it away to someone else later!
  • Like, when each person brings a wrapped gift (usually under a certain dollar amount, or something you already had) and then each person picks a gift to open. So I've never heard of a yankee swap but I guess it's the same thing?
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  • Gift cards are always the way to go with these I feel like. Unless it's more of a secret santa where the names have already been picked.

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  • Ahh ok. My family does this but we call it Polyanna. You can also "steal" a gift if you want. 

    This will be my first year participating in the adult one (yes, I'm 28) and I'm not sure what I'm bringing yet. I'll use this thread as inspiration!



  • edited November 2013
    I got a really cute throw blanket that I just loved at a Dirty Santa once.  I still use it!  there's another idea!

    ETA:  you could add on to the wine idea, and do a wine + cheese + gourmet crackers gift, for a cute little wine&cheese deal!  I'm all about food at Dirty Santa.  I'm all about food ALL THE TIME, actually. 

    or a Christmas DVD, or a fun DVD in general.  or a Christmas CD.  those are all things I would love (I still use CDs, yes.  I am "that girl".)

    or a cute coffee mug with a bag of gourmet coffee beans (Elemental brand is EXCELLENT, do y'all have that in the NE?)
  • I got a really cute throw blanket that I just loved at a Dirty Santa once.  I still use it!  there's another idea!
    Dirty Santa? That's a new one. I love it!
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  • Consumables: bottle of wine, box of chocolates, Starbucks giftcard, soap, etc. 

    The best one I received was a box of my favorite chocolates (mmmmm). The worst I received was some relaxing desktop water fountain thing (waste of space).
  • I always thought White Elephant gifts were usually something you were re-gifting because you didn't want them or couldn't use them. Some of the white elephant parties I've been to consisted of a mix of ok gifts and really tacky/useless gifts. I like everyone elses's White Elephant ideas much much more!



  • I think @lmhollister is right (at least White Elephant gifts in my experience are re-gifted "bad" gifts").  The first year I went to one of those parties I bought a nice Secret Santa kind of gift and felt like a dummy.  :)

    Worst gift I got...a foldable chair for an infant.

    Best...chocolate.

  • I always thought White Elephant gifts were usually something you were re-gifting because you didn't want them or couldn't use them. Some of the white elephant parties I've been to consisted of a mix of ok gifts and really tacky/useless gifts. I like everyone elses's White Elephant ideas much much more!

    This is what I thought a White Elephant was too!

    We do it at my work every year and we try to find the tackiest/ most humurous gift to swap.

    Most people end up with useless junk that they re-gift the following year but we be get a lot of laughs out of it!

  • We did a White Elephant exchange for our lab holiday party a few years ago. Someone brought a cock ring (a rotation student, no less - not even a permanent lab member). It was shaped like a shark and aptly named "the man shark."  No joke.  The sweetest most conservative woman in our lab ended up with it, which was actually pretty hilarious, but I don't recommend this gift. 

    I've never actually received a White Elephant gift that was useful. I think booze is always a good option. 
  • We just did one at my first holiday party of the season - I went to Target and picked up a Kelly Clarkson Christmas CD and a Home Alone DVD, along with a couple of small things of candy. The people who got them were happy!



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  • We did a White Elephant last year but everyone had to bring the ugliest ornament they could find. It was great.
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  • We call this Dirty Santa where I'm from. Once I took a brick as a present. I would have actually brought something useful, but I wasn't told there was Dirty Santa until about 5 minutes before I left the house. I happened to have a brick lying around. It was a hit at the party. Everyone loved it. 

    I also have another present waiting to be used. It's a University of Alabama blanket wrapped up in Auburn University wrapping paper. They are huge rivals, and it can get kind of nasty between people from opposing sides. BF's family consists of both fans, so it will be funny when I get to reveal that one at his family Christmas party.

    As you can see, I like to play Dirty Santa the gag gift way. Not everyone does, but I find it more fun.
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  • My family does white elephant with all the cousins on X mas eve and we normally play with nice gifts, gift cards. One year we got a killer set of margarita glasses! My aunt also does an ornament white elephant at her annual cookie exchange and I love having new ornaments to put on my tree!
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  • edited November 2013

    H and I usually host a White Elephant party for the holidays with our friends. It's usually a couple nice gifts and a couple "prank" gifts. I personally love the prank gifts...but I don't know if that's the kind of party you're going to.

    Nice Gifts:

    • His & Her's Mugs
    • Booze
    • Scarf/Glove Set
    • Gift Cards

    Gag Gifts:

    • Autographed Self Protrait
    • Marshmallow Gun (was a HUGE hit with the guys)
    • Prize-Winning Ugly Holiday Sweater w/Certification
    • An actual White Elephant (spray paint a kid's toy)

     

  • We've always done 'White Elephant' as a 'gag-gift' - the limit is usually $5 or under.  For that type, I always give the same gift - a nicely wrapped can of Spam.

    For a 'nice' exchange - I'll typically give something like a nice assortment chocolates with a gift card.


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    Anniversary
  • We do one on Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house.  It's a mix of serious and funny gifts.  Last year I brought all mustache themes items.  The person who ended up with it was clueless about mustaches, and really didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did.

    Funniest gift I've seen was a Christmas toilet paper holder with a partial role attached.
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  • At a church party in 5th grade, I got my first ever copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Photographic evidence:



    God that's huge. But there it is!

    I always liked the gift cards. 

    One White Elephant party I went to the hot ticket item was a really elaborate tool box. I'm not sure why everyone wanted it, but it was a big deal. 

    My favorite gift I saw was a gift card to AMC along with a box of candy. 
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    "You're our early 20's BSC scarecrow. They cower at your maturity." - lennonkdc Anniversary
  • We call this Dirty Santa where I'm from. Once I took a brick as a present. I would have actually brought something useful, but I wasn't told there was Dirty Santa until about 5 minutes before I left the house. I happened to have a brick lying around. It was a hit at the party. Everyone loved it. 

    I also have another present waiting to be used. It's a University of Alabama blanket wrapped up in Auburn University wrapping paper. They are huge rivals, and it can get kind of nasty between people from opposing sides. BF's family consists of both fans, so it will be funny when I get to reveal that one at his family Christmas party.

    As you can see, I like to play Dirty Santa the gag gift way. Not everyone does, but I find it more fun.
    You're dirty. 
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    "You're our early 20's BSC scarecrow. They cower at your maturity." - lennonkdc Anniversary
  • I got a plunger once. And it was at my high school Spanish class party. The teacher sort of dared someone to bring it. She was saying how the gifts had to be new to avoid what happened one year (a USED plunger was brought). And of course any teenage boy will then think "I can bring a NEW plunger and it's almost as funny, but it's not used so I won't get in trouble."
    It was one of those where every time a person says right you pass it to the right.

    I try to give a gift card to a movie theater. That's always been one everyone loves.
  • someone I know who did a gag gift gave a gift card that had 1 penny on it. Talk about dirty!
  • I've done these before. The other name that's been used is a Chinese Gift Exchange (which I hate the name of, but it's the same concept). 

    Worst Gifts:
    A clock
    Socks
    Label Maker

    Best Gifts:
    Alcohol
    Car detailing kit
    Gift Cards

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  • I love the fake scratch off cards that make it seem like you won $10,000 and then you turn it over and it tells you to redeem at "Santa's Workshop" or something similar. 



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  • We just did this at the office today! I received A Gateway to Sindarian: A Grammar of the Elvish Language from JRR Tolkien's Lord of The Rings. I got a good chuckle out of it, but when I got home my FI went BSC. He is a huge LOTR fan so I happily handed it over. 
    At these types of things, I always try to make sure its something that a person could use so I feel safe going with gift cards. 
  • My worst gift was soap.
     
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