Help! White Elephant Gift Exchange Ideas Needed!

[itsjustCarla]

Our office manager has decided that for our Christmas Party next week, that we are going to have a "white elephant" gift exchange.

Now, I've known some who interpret "white elephant" as re-gifting (giving them something of yours that you don't want/use). I've talked to some who say it's an exchange of gag gifts.

I admit, I've never done one of these before and I'm not real comfortable giving something USED as a gift. Can anyone HELP ME!?!?!? I just need some ideas. Of course, we have one man in our office - maybe 19-20 yrs old so it should probably be a unisex gift.

Hubby and I just got back from Cancun, and one thought I had was getting a cute little basket and putting in the free samples of lotion, shampoo and bath gel (all unused/never opened, of course), but I'm not sure I like the 'El Cheapo' thing either and it's not really a guy gift.

OMG.....why couldn't we just have a simple gift exchange?? I don't need this kind of pressure. LOL

 

[murkey]

in my group of people, white elephant is just a fun way to say "gift exchange". We are expected to determine the appropriate gift for the situation. Since it may mean something else for you all, I suggest asking your boss first, just to make sure WHAT his meaning is.

 

[Shawnna]

I thought White Elephant and Dirty Santa was the same...you know, you open a gift and if the next person likes your gift they can "steal" it from you and you open another gift or "steal" someones elses.

 

[pampchefsarah]

Carla, I actually like the basket of lotions, etc. idea. If the male co-worker gets it and doesn't want it, he can give it to his girlfriend, mom, or other special lady in his life.

I agree white elephant is usually an inexpensive gift (something from home which has never been used and doesn't suit your taste is appropriate - and free!), which people then can try to 'steal' from one another.

We're having a gift exchange in my office on Tuesday. I'm planning to make either the oreo truffles or the cranberry bark (or both), and fill a Small Batter Bowl.

 

[PamperChefCarol]

We did a white elephant exchange at my networking meeting this Thursday. Ours was basically you give your junk away and get someone's else's junk. UGH!! I don't have room for my own junk, much less someone else's. Somebody wrapped up an old satellite dish!

I hate this sort of thing. I picked this old, 1978, electronic game. I was going to Ebay it when someone stole it from me. I ended up with these books, old murder mystery, I think, and just left them there.

Don't mean to sound like a Grinch, but I guess I sort of do.

 

[BethCooks4U]

So obviously, there are several definitions of "White Elephant" gift exchange. I would ask them what they are referring to so you are on the same page as everyone else.

 

[wadesgirl]

We did a white elephant exchange at my networking meeting this Thursday. Ours was basically you give your junk away and get someone's else's junk. UGH!! I don't have room for my own junk, much less someone else's. Somebody wrapped up an old satellite dish!

I hate this sort of thing. I picked this old, 1978, electronic game. I was going to Ebay it when someone stole it from me. I ended up with these books, old murder mystery, I think, and just left them there.

Don't mean to sound like a Grinch, but I guess I sort of do.

That's my thought on these kind of gift giving things. Every time I've done a White Elephant it was actually like a $10 gift or something around your house that is worth giving away. We are doing it for the first time this year at my gma's Christmas. My aunt is writing out all her recipes (she's a great cook), I'm doing PC items laying around our house, etc.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

white elephant in all our groups is old junk
Over the years I've seen jock straps, old car parts, broken printers, mismatched dishes, plastic cups from ballgames, fruitcake, broken crayons & old kids VHS tapes etc
many things even get held onto from year to year in our sunday school class.
never anything anyone would want
I always give the remaining holiday stationary and gift bags

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I've never done a White Elephant gift exchange that had "real" gifts. It's always been to see who could bring the biggest, ugliest, most undesired item.

What makes it really funny is when someone really wants something you are trying to unload as a joke.
One year, in our Small Group, one couple brought this really ugly wagon-wheel chandelier....and another couple got all excited, because they thought it would be just perfect for their Rec Room. Hilarious!

DH usually comes up with old car parts...and I am the queen of regifting other White Elephant gifts I've been given.

 

[BettieC]

Just got this from Wikipedia

White elephant gift exchange (also known as a Yankee Swap, Barona Gift Exchange, Thieving Secret Santa, Selfish Santa, Nasty Christmas, Dirty Santa, or Scrooge's Christmas) is a popular party game usually played during the Christmas season in the United States and Canada.




[edit] Gameplay
Gifts are wrapped, but are not labeled to reflect a specific sender or recipient. Gifts are typically inexpensive, humorous items or used items from home and sometimes, they are just plain trash; the term white elephant refers to a gift whose cost exceeds its usefulness. While the first use of this term remains an item of contention among historians[1], a popular theory suggests that Ezra Cornell brought the term into popular lexicon through his numerous and frequent social gatherings, dating back to as early as 1828.[2][3]

All participants draw a number (from a hat, perhaps) to determine their order.

The participant with #1 unwraps any gift from the pile and then shows it to everyone. Each successive participant, in the order determined from the drawing, can either 1) "steal" an already opened gift (if there's one they really like) or 2) be adventurous and go for a wrapped gift from the pile. If the participant chooses to steal, the person whose gift is stolen now repeats their turn and either 1) steals another person's gift (they cannot immediately steal back the gift that was just stolen from them) or 2) unwraps a new gift.

This cycle of stealing can sometimes continue for a long time, until a new gift is chosen, at which point the turn is passed to the participant with the next number from the drawing. (An alternative to the drawing is to sit in a circle and take turns in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.)

Since items can be stolen, the item in your possession is not yours until the game is over. However, this is often amended with a rule declaring a gift "dead" or "safe" after it has been stolen a certain number of times (usually two or three). This helps the process go more smoothly (avoiding, for example, the hypothetical scenario of the same gift being stolen by every successive participant) and limits the disadvantage of being among the first to choose gifts.


[edit] Variants
The person who picked first also has the option of picking last or keeping the gift already in hand. After they exchange or decide to keep their gift, the turn ends and there is no additional swapping.

 

[stacywhitlow]

I agree with everyone else. I googled to make sure.

White elephant gift exchange - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[BettieC]

I agree with everyone else. I googled to make sure.

White elephant gift exchange - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

LOL, great minds think alike