We’ve got 2 more White Elephant parties lined up this week and I need some new ideas. My white elephants presents are never the coveted, stolen, or traded ones. I want that perfect white elephant that gets the good reaction and keeps changing hands. I posted about this for last year’s White Elephant Party and lots of great ideas were shared, but I need something new and fresh for this year (and yes, I’m re-posting the same image as last time, because it’s just that funny!)
Any ideas? Please share!
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I made a bra purse. Took it to the R.S. party so there were only sisters there. It was a hit and was pasted around the group and it’s “steals” were maxed out. It was fun! I can send instructions to ya if you want…hee hee and a picture or 2. I will be making a few more because of request from some of the ladies there. :)
Last year the hot items were a lap blanket and a small food chopper from the Pampered Chef. I had my hands on that one for a while, but ended up with a spa gift certificate that I never ended up using :-(
Our most popular items are $10 in scratch off lotto tickets and a $10 bottle of wine.
That’s what I’m doing for mine on Friday – I’m going to call it a Recession Survival Kit.
I made this cute mini photo album that I got from here:
http://www.graceviolet.com/2008/10/mini-photo-album.html
You can find the photo wheel at Target for 5.99. I already had the Mod Podge and the bit of fabric that I chose only cost me .52 cents. They only have three colors to chose from but I still found plenty of matching fabric.
It was passed around like a hot cake :)
A friend of mine who I used to work did lottery tickets — but she put them in a tampon box with a bow on top. It was so funny to see peoples reactions but it ended up being one of the best things.
You can NEVER go wrong with Starbucks gift cards. Just put them in something silly, or cute or whatever. I always give these and they always get maxed out with trades.
I have also done movie tickets/blockbuster rental cards tied to a bag of microwaveable popcorn. This is fun too!!
Let us know what you end up doing!!
The white elephant gift this year had to be a gag gift. We gave a ream of copy paper, a real 5 dollar bill and a note that said, “Personal Government Bailout Package” It was a hit. Other hits included the a breast pump (which a guy opened up and it was hilarious), used nose hair trimmers, and a bag of chocalate covered pretzels that had been emptied and resealed.
We also had to bring a gft to fight over and the homemade bread and jam was the most popular as was the fandango gift certificates.
These were great ideas. I’ll keep checking back, I have two White Elephants to do as well. Thanks!
The best White Elephants I’ve seen were a 12 pack of name brand Toilet Paper and a California Car Duster. We got the car duster and still use it.
A funny one was a Partidge Family Christmas Album. It was hilarious.
if your husband is a good sport…you can make a CD of him singing his favorite christmas songs (great if you can mix his voice over karaoke versions of the songs), and make a CD cover of him in a christmas sweater sitting by a fire (maybe even holding a small dog?) You could just make a christmas mix from itunes and the picture on the front aught to be funny enough to make the CD coveted :)
I saw this thing at Wal Mart the other day that looked like a great White Elephant gift. It was called “The Gripper” and it’s this claw type thing that allows you to grab stuff from far away. It’s great for grabbing stuff behind the washer or in those hard to reach places. I think they market it for old people so they can reach things without getting out of their chair. It was only $9 so it’s not too expensive, but it would make a hilarious trip around the white elephant circle.
I admit I don’t have any good ideas, but I just have to say I love your blog even more now that you’ve put a lovely picture up of Dwight and Jim. Made my day!
When we have our RS white elephant, the hottest items are ALWAYS homemade. The most fought over are the homemade fudge and the knitted scarf and hat set. I always go for the socks. One year it was three pairs of Christmas socks! I got away with those. Lucky me.
a few years ago we had some fart spray that was the hit of the party. nothing has come close to that one since. booze and chocolate and gift cards are always favorites. but true white elephants are hard ones. this year i have 2 real bowling alley bowling pins. they are perfect. big and useless and random. i like the prize in the tampon box. i have another white elephant to come up with. some great ideas on here.
How about the leg lamp from A Christmas Story?
I am not sure the group you are going to be exchanging with, but my husband brought this one last year and I think it was exchanged at least 15 times. A little scandalous, but hilarious in the right group. It is a candy necklace bra. Here is a link:
http://www.bestbuycandy.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=20&idcategory=16
I think he got it in Draper at Pirate O’s. I have never seen so many men get as into a white elephant thing as that.
Ooh, along the lines of the Christmas Story leg lamp, you could make a mini one with a Barbie leg.
No white elephant gift stories but I just found your site and have been diverted by all the goodies on your site. Thanks for sharing some great ideas and recipes.
Fabulous gift ideas. I’m loving the bra ideas, or my new favorite is from Heather – that Barbie leg is Hilarious!
I go to a white elephant party every year (this was the 15th!) and I think the best gift I ever brought was a $15 steak. Eeeevvvveryone wanted the steak, lol! I wrapped a bottle of steak sauce and when it was opened we pulled the steak out of the fridge so everyone could see it.
Twice now I’ve wrapped up something really odd but hid money inside, and didn’t tell the recipient until the game was over…of course they were bummed they got stuck with a dumb gift, then realized they scored after all. :)
I bring the same white elephant gift to every single Christmas party we go to….a framed picture of myself.
I usually take some goofy self portrait with a super cheesy smile, or my mouth wide open or something (something that clearly states that I was trying to be a dork), and then I frame it and wrap it up.
You can use a frame that you already have and aren’t using anymore, or you can buy a cute frame and then the recipient can also walk away with a nice gift they can actually use. I always get the best reaction with this….people think it’s hilarious.
We usually have pretty lame white elephant gifts, so I try to wrap some kind of “good” candy with it. An interesting one that I got was a box full of partially burned and some new candles. If people are actually buying small gifts to trade then socks, gift cards, candy, specialty pop/beer, homemade food are often big at the parties I’ve been too. Good luck!
I love all of these ideas…I especially think my family will enjoy the Recession Survival Kit (bottle of wine, scratch off lottery tickets) and the Personal Government Bailout package (ream of copy paper and $5.00 bill)! The lottery tickets tucked in a tampon box is pretty hilarious, too! Some man will be kicking themselves for not holding on to that one! These are just the kind of ideas my family will get a big kick out of! Thanks!
we’re giving a totally waterproof bible called “immerse” as a white elephant party… i’m sure they’ll all be fighting over it! :)
How about a toilet paper roll candle holder? Secure the candle by stuffing some extra toilet paper around the candle and stuff into the tube! Everyone can use one of them!
The gift I always take. And is ALWAYS the most coveted…cordless screwdriver. They are pretty cheap now…and good for men or women. People LOVE these!
Besides home improvement is GLAMOROUS!
Take a really ugly picture of yourself and put it in an ugly frame…but hide a $20 bill inside. Don’t reveal the $20 until it is over. The whole time during the white elephant try to “sell” people on the idea of your lovely “gift”…then when you tell them about the $20 they will be sad. Merry Christmas!
One year we had a bottle of car wash and a bottle of disinfectant doing the rounds.
Do you live by an Anthropologie? I just bought an apron on clearance for $15 and a mini colander for $3.99. It was stolen 3 times!
Also, TJ Maxx and Marshalls carry Le Crueset cookery for under $15! That gets stolen every time too! Good luck!
One of the best we ever brought was Great Bee Gees hit CD. This was before 70s was back in, but it was very popular.
A toilet plunger we won once was funny.
and the most popular guy gift we ever brought was a set of the bungy cords with the hooks on them. Like you sue to tie things down in a truck. That was very popular!
I’ve never done this, but I think a really fun white elephant gift would be a white elephant towel (towel oragami). You take a regular towel and maybe a washcloth or 2 and create a white elephant out of them. There are actual websites that teach you how to fold/shape many animals out of towels (kind of like you see on cruise ships or fancy hotels). They don’t look too hard to do. I don’t have a specific site in mind. I just googled it and found several. Good luck. Looks like you have lots of fun suggestions.
The Chia pet! Our white elephant requirement was no more than $10, so I couldn’t do it (Chia’s are about $16 I think), but I know it would have been popular!
My sister in law made a hand muff and hat out of maxi pads one year she just stitched the sides it was very cute. I just love the goverment bail out idea I may use that this year!
I just went to a we party last night… I brought a little basket with;
two cute mugs
a stack of home made coasters (fabric)
a bunch of instant coffee to go packets (http://www.amazon.com/General-Foods-International-Coffee-Sticks/dp/B00110FILO)
and two candy canes made into a heart
It totally got “stolen” :)
Last night we just went to a party and a copper flying pig watering can was the big hit of the party and of course whiskey.
One of the gifts at my husband’s work party was a “candom”. It is basically a cozy for a can of soda, but it rolled onto it like a condom and had a little nipple-thing at the bottom of the can. The person who gave it got it in Hawaii at a tourist shop. You can check it out at candom.com of course!
Merry Christmas!
One of best we’ve given is a live fish. We took a beta fish along with the bowl. No one expects to open something live.
I once took a boxing nun puppet, and I thought the folks were going to throw blows over it!
I so want the instructions for how to make a bra purse!