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Talk to me: White Elephant Edition

Sara

Sara

Riding in the Neil mobile
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So talk to me, pretty please about your White Elephant gift exchange experiences. What have been your best White Elephant gift ideas? Or what was the best White Elephant gift you've ever received?

Is it best to go gag-gift? Or for-real gift?
 
GAG gift!!! and if you can find the biggest pair of men's shoes...oh I love this game, especially with fun people. Go with the expectations of laughter, take as many photos as you can and laugh some more.
The singing fish on fake wood was a big hit too. My mom and dad got a carved wooden hand that had the number 1 finger up, and my mom loved it, it was supposed to be a gag, but she still has it on her dresser for her rings...lol
one man's trash is another mans treasure...lol
 
Oh gosh, I have done both!

One year, I found this great sushi set. Hand carved wood, 2 sets of chopsticks and a beautiful tray, stunning...everyone fought over it, then the one I had in mind was the last to choose it. Score!

Another party, couples only, we created this cheesy box. Weird "love" candle - like the company thought love was a great name for vanilla - total 80's love ballads cd, oil, 2 wine glasses and some wine. I SWEAR, the next year, same box, same stuff. I think this group of friends have kicked the present back into play 5 or 6 years now. Its hilarity to the max.
 
Um, the best white elephant gift I ever bought was a white elephant. A white ceramic elephant. It was a hit!

I've gone fun with dollar store items, and silly with thrift shop items! I think it really depends on the group that is doing it.
 
It's fun to see what a good box of chocolates will do at an exchange. That gets exchanged a lot. Also my husband works repairing garage doors , so some tool or flashlight always go around and around. Worst gift I got was a plaster hand made by pouring plaster into a glove.
 
Oh this thread already has me giggling. We have only ever had one White Elephant experience. It was the first year we hosted an ugly sweater party and DG and I dressed as Cousin Eddie and Catherine from Christmas Vacation. He doesn't look a THING like Cousin Eddie but we got the whole outfit...dickie, shoes, too tight pants. And anyway we decided to give a framed picture of DG in the outfit. We felt a little guilty about it so there was a gift card behind the photo. But of course no one wanted the photo and it got passed around and around. :giggle
 
scarletsierra said:
Oh this thread already has me giggling. We have only ever had one White Elephant experience. It was the first year we hosted an ugly sweater party and DG and I dressed as Cousin Eddie and Catherine from Christmas Vacation. He doesn't look a THING like Cousin Eddie but we got the whole outfit...dickie, shoes, too tight pants. And anyway we decided to give a framed picture of DG in the outfit. We felt a little guilty about it so there was a gift card behind the photo. But of course no one wanted the photo and it got passed around and around. :giggle
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Our family Christmas party was tonight. One of the cousin's dressed as Cousin Eddie - the robe version! Short white robe. And his mom in law did Aunt Bethany.
 
Oh that's too fun!!! Yay for Aunt Bethany! "Don't push me down Clark!"
 
I think the last White Elephant party I went to involved a book about Dan Quayle so it must have been ages ago! I just remember no one wanting that book. lol I was not the one to bring it!
 
What is this 'White Elephant' gifting you all speak of :cornfused lol
 
scarletsierra said:
Oh this thread already has me giggling. We have only ever had one White Elephant experience. It was the first year we hosted an ugly sweater party and DG and I dressed as Cousin Eddie and Catherine from Christmas Vacation. He doesn't look a THING like Cousin Eddie but we got the whole outfit...dickie, shoes, too tight pants. And anyway we decided to give a framed picture of DG in the outfit. We felt a little guilty about it so there was a gift card behind the photo. But of course no one wanted the photo and it got passed around and around. :giggle
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I had the idea to do the photo thing this year, too. I inadvertently themed Christmas with "games" (every got some games to play, I'm doing a scavenger hunt for husband, kids will have silly tasks to complete before opening like spin three times, touch your nose, etc.) Also, husband and I did ugly sweater photo shoot for this year's card, and it's horrible. But, husband expressed interest, and it was his idea, so I'm humoring him. Anyway, so if I put the Christmas card in a frame, i would feel bad. Hahahaha
 
We have found that if you put pez dispensers in a gift, the adults will fight for them longer than the kids do! :)
 
Thank you Lorry. I will look it up when I get a minute. Sounds fun though :)
 
I like gag gifts the best b/c honestly, with real gifts you feel sort of sad when you end up with something lame after bringing something good :giggle

This happened to me JUST.LAST.NIGHT. (not that I'm bitter about it, LOL). And if you get something totally lame like I did, nobody is gonna steal it to give you a 2nd chance, hehe.

I also highly recommend a $$ amount attached to the gift if they are not gag gifts, so the values are similar.

Oh, another fun one I participated in was a re-gifting theme. It has to be something you already have in your house. This can be interesting, you just need to make sure you are not giving away something you were given by someone that is there :giggle
 
jenevang said:
I like gag gifts the best b/c honestly, with real gifts you feel sort of sad when you end up with something lame after bringing something good :giggle

This happened to me JUST.LAST.NIGHT. (not that I'm bitter about it, LOL). And if you get something totally lame like I did, nobody is gonna steal it to give you a 2nd chance, hehe.

I also highly recommend a $$ amount attached to the gift if they are not gag gifts, so the values are similar.

Oh, another fun one I participated in was a re-gifting theme. It has to be something you already have in your house. This can be interesting, you just need to make sure you are not giving away something you were given by someone that is there :giggle
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So, what did you take? And what did you get? We need to share your misery with you! LOL.
 
Sara, if you'll be having a group of people who don't know one another well, the gag gifts are a fun ice breaker that can generate a lot of positive energy.

We do a family one every year and the most popular one last year was one of those knit hats with the attached dreadlocks.
 
My story is funny. We received as a wedding gift a large, framed collage of (printed) line drawings from various sites around New York City, with a subway token smack dab in the middle of it all. Well, not my style, but the frame it came in was cool. Had carved stuff around the frame. Well, the packing people had taped the glass so it wouldn't break, and it carried over to the frame. When I removed it, I found ... plastic!


DH brought it to his office White Elephant party. Well, the person who got it loved the frame, until they found out it was ... plastic. And they were stuck with it.


This gift came back to every White Elephant party at his office for the next 9 years, and some unsuspecting newbie would take it because they loved the frame, until they found out it was ... plastic. And everyone in the room would laugh.


We have no idea where it is now. DH lost his job there a few years ago, so it could still be making the circuit, for all I know!
 
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