Gift Exchange Gift Ideas

julifish

julifish

New member
Instead of giving gifts to my brothers and their wives we do a gift exchange where we all drawn numbers and then pick or steal a gift. (We call it the Yankee Swap)

I am having a really hard time coming up with 2 gifts to put in this year. Our dollar amount is $20-$25. It has to be a somewhat gender neutral gift. We are all in our 30's (well DH is 41, but we'll let him slide).

Any have some good ideas? I want something people will fight over. LOL!!!:blink: I know I"m a little sick, but it's fun to see everyone get excited.
 
We do that at the extended family Christmas. We call it White Elephant. But we always just bring stuff from around the house. LOL!

how about a gift card, somewhere to eat or like itunes or something
a DVD, The Avengers, The Lucky One, Magic Mike those would be stolen at least once I bet.
 
I don't know if this would work for your group but DH's unit is doing one for their Christmas party and he bought a bottle of alchohol - some kind of prespiked egg nog thing. (They had a $10 limit.) But he said alcohol always goes over really well with their group, haha.
 
Oooh! We call it White Elephant, too. :) We usually buy 1 item and re-gift 1. Some of the re-gift items are baaaad & funny which makes the game get pretty heated with the swapping and couples teaming up to get the best gifts. :D I miss playing that game, I used to play it every year with our Bible Study small group.

Some gifts people fought over... anything that costs more than the limit. Buy something worth $35 and your gift will be the hot item. ;) One time there was a set of new tools (screwdrivers, I think) and the guys fought over that. Hmmm... anything in a Crate & Barrel box. They have nice platters & ornaments that go over well in gift exchanges. The popular gift exchange item at the women's Christmas party my mom attended was scarves... nice luxurious ones in lots of colors. :)
 
We call it Steal-A-Gift. (I know, it doesn't sound exactly in the Christmas spirit but it is all in good fun and many times leads to laughs). Our limit is $15 (used to be $10). I'm going to watch this thread because I usually pick up the gifts for my parents to participate so I have multiples to get for this thing every year.

gas gift card
Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card
George Foreman Grill
alcohol
Swiffer Wet Jet
 
When do they fight over it, before or after it's unwrapped? When I was worked, we did this with our team - but called it white elephant, too, because the stuff was bad... pens that didn't work, 30 wedding vases, calendars from a few years ago, really ugly decor,... but we had to fight for it before it was unwrapped... so the one that were the wrapped the prettiest and then the one that was wrapped really badly, like paper bag style ( people always thought something great was in there - the "don't judge the book by the cover" thinking...) haha so much fun!
 
We do white elephant at work, too, after Christmas break. We bring in all the crap we got and don't want. LOL Last year I brought the bean-o joel got in his stocking from him mom and a "first place" ribbon Luke got. LOL

As far as buying things- what about $25 in lottery tickets?
 
This was the coveted item at the last gift exchange swap that I went to.
It's like $17.00


I think computer/techie unusual things would be a hit.
 
scratch tickets
gift cards
margarita glasses

these were all hits when i've done it in the past.

funny one - one guy brought a bundle of wood one year like the kind from the grocery store?
 
Nettio said:
I don't know if this would work for your group but DH's unit is doing one for their Christmas party and he bought a bottle of alchohol - some kind of prespiked egg nog thing. (They had a $10 limit.) But he said alcohol always goes over really well with their group, haha.
Click to expand...

Uh yeah, my husband and I left a party last weekend (where we played this - "Dirty Santa") with two bottles of whisky! LOL!
 
Love all the ideas!

I got one of the nice lever (like the rabbit but Food Network brand) wine openers. It comes with a cork to put in the wine incase you don't drink the whole bottle.

I'm still looking for one more gift. My family is very diverse we have three teachers (drama, chorus and english), 2 recruiter company account managers, a lawyer, an engineer, an operations manager for a physician group and an actor/waiter/drama teacher.

I think I need to find something music/literature oriented.
 
How about a snuggle up with a book basket: a book (or a GC to your local book store), bookmark, some coffee, hot chocolate or tea, some sort of cookie pack or munchie. And definitely something chocolate, just because everyone needs chocolate.
 
Andy bought a 87 piece HUGE box of chocolate (Whitman's Sampler - found at Sears). I have a bird house that one of our neighbor's Up North made out of vintage pieces. I've received margarita glasses, tequila & margarita mix, wine and wine glasses, pasta dinners, a radio that can go in the shower, a small shop vac for the car, car emergency kit, blankets, a snuggie... We do this every year! ♥ it!!

We also have a gag gift we wrap up every year - it brings good luck - everyone who has had it and tried to get pregnant, got pregnant!
 
Good headphones (I love my skull candy ones) and an iTunes gift card. Hot coco, a giant mug, some chicken soup and a gift card to get a book....
 
I have to say out of all these types of exchanges I've been at, the most stolen gifts are always the alcohol LOL. Not that I would want that, but its always popular.
 
Steph several of your ideas sound good. :)

Alcohol is always welcome but I was trying to do something with it - I've been thinking either big wine glasses and a bottle of wine OR nice ear buds and an iTunes gift card.
 
I like the "cuddle up with a book" gift basket idea or the giant wine glasses and bottle of wine...I think either of those would be highly coveted. lol
 
at the last gift swap i went to our limit was $50 - and the most wanted gift was $50 of scratch and win lottery tickets - i guess for the excitement of maybe winning more :)
 
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