OT - White Elephant Gift Exchange

Fred19Flintstone

Every year a local professional group everyone in my office belongs to has a Christmas party with a white elephant gift exchange.  I’ve been burned by this darn thing quite a bit.  One year I received an institutional size can of pork & beans.  Another year I received a wadded up mess of old Christmas lights (half burned out).  In other words, rubbish.  

Things have evolved (or devolved, depending on your point of view) into a booze exchange.  I don’t mind that, but there are always one or two tea-totalers I feel sorry for.  This year, I did something different.



I bought $20 in scratch off lottery tix.  In keeping with the spirit of a white elephant, I made a crappy box out of popsicle sticks and hot glue.  I completely glued the box closed with the tix and a couple of loose Jolly Ranchers to provide an enticing sound when shook.  I’m ready for Thursday’s party.

Do you white elephant?  What kind of interesting gifts have you received?

lkapigian

A few I have given-IKEA Paper Airplane



X (ex)-Box



Apple Tablet 



new Apple Phone

EggObsessed

I love the lottery ticket idea, inside a "junky" box.  It's always so hard coming up with something fun to take.  We've resorted to booze the last few years, but we'll be doing your idea this year!  Thanks, @Fred19Flintstone!

fishlessman

its a yankee swap here, the guys sit back on the sidelines and watch the woman get pissed, the children crying as after you pick a gift in your lineup, you trade it for something you want that someone already has. first to pick a gift has the pick of the litter at the end. usually nice gifts though

nolaegghead

I bought some fur-covered handcuffs and flavored sex-lube one year for the sneaky Santa gift exchange.  People fought over it.  Perverts.

RRP

fishlessman said:

its a yankee swap here, the guys sit back on the sidelines and watch the woman get pissed, the children crying as after you pick a gift in your lineup, you trade it for something you want that someone already has. first to pick a gift has the pick of the litter at the end. usually nice gifts though

Back here that “yankee swap” is called a “like or steal”, but being a super friendly neighborhood party then nobody ever skunks with their gifts. We are limited to $20 each per couple, but being a super friendly neighborhood party nobody ever skunks with their gifts and $30 is more norm... This year I planned to box up some jams and jellies from our pantry from a well wisher in another state who loves to give us SO MANY! and still probably will, but in the future I love your rub off Lotto tickets...I think...

WeberWho

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

Photo Egg

WeberWho said:

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

See...this is a prime example of having too much free time on your hands because you get snowed in for 4 month in MN.

WeberWho

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

See...this is a prime example of having too much free time on your hands because you get snowed in for 4 month in MN.

Did you forget about ice fishing, snowmobiling, and eating lutefisk? Very, very busy schedule. 

DoubleEgger

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

See...this is a prime example of having too much free time on your hands because you get snowed in for 4 month in MN.

Did you forget about ice fishing, snowmobiling, and eating lutefisk? Very, very busy schedule. 

Photo Egg

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

See...this is a prime example of having too much free time on your hands because you get snowed in for 4 month in MN.

Did you forget about ice fishing, snowmobiling, and eating lutefisk? Very, very busy schedule. 

I have fond memories of traveling on ice covered roads to the MN BGE Frozen Fest...lol
and having to drive around a Fishing Ice House that fell off a trailer that was in the middle of the road as we were leaving.
I really do miss MN, but now, after being away for so long, 1 week of winter is enough.lol

nolaegghead

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

WeberWho said:

I like to gift white elephant gifts to people not expecting white elephant gifts and write someone else's name on it. 

I gave my cousins 8 month old baby a brand new plug in coffee cup for Christmas one year. I wrote my Uncles name on the gift. Watching my cousin open up the gift and look at her husband and be like WTF is this? Than go see them thank my uncle for the gift across the room is priceless. 

See...this is a prime example of having too much free time on your hands because you get snowed in for 4 month in MN.

Did you forget about ice fishing, snowmobiling, and eating lutefisk? Very, very busy schedule. 

I'm not sure I'd lump eating lutefisk in with ice fishing and snowmobiling (is that called "snow machining" in Alaska?).

Based on my Sesame Street training "one of these things are not like the others".

alaskanassasin

@nolaegghead
  Yes.

alaskanassasin

What’s with the &nbsp?

nolaegghead

alaskanassasin said:

What’s with the &nbsp?

it's code for a forced space.

"Alternatively referred to as a fixed space or hard space, NBSP (non-breaking space) is used in programming, and word processing to create a space in a line that cannot be broken by word wrap. With HTML,   allows you to create multiple spaces that are visible on a web page and not only in the source code."

alaskanassasin

Ok boomer 

nolaegghead

alaskanassasin said:

Ok boomer 

I didn't put it there.  Boomers own and control everything, I'm ok with that label.  Cooking up some goat.

alaskanassasin

That’s cold man

nolaegghead

alaskanassasin said:

That’s cold man

"greatest of all time" steak.  Simmah down nah!

Sea2Ski

That was baaaaaaad  @nolaegghead

Fred19Flintstone

After Party Report - I was busy joking with my buddy when people started picking gifts.  When I got to it, there were two gifts left.  Mine and somebody else’s.  I picked mine because I knew it wasn’t a dud.  Somebody ended up with a Golden Girl’s apron.

When all gifts were taken, then folks have 60 seconds to swap gifts.  The rule is you must swap if asked and don’t swap back.  Mine didn’t look like booze, so folks weren’t interested in swapping and nether was I.  

It took a little effort to pry open the box.  I guess hot glue is pretty good at burning fingers as well as being a strong craft glue.  So how much in winnings did I get for $20 worth of scratch tickets?  A whopping $5.  Oh well.  I had fun.

Botch

Photo Egg said: I have fond memories of traveling on ice covered roads to the MN BGE Frozen Fest...lol

and having to drive around a Fishing Ice House that fell off a trailer that was in the middle of the road as we were leaving.
I really do miss MN, but now, after being away for so long, 1 week of winter is enough.lol

Those of us stationed at Grand Forks, ND envied you guys in the warmer climes of MN, where vehicles could still be started!  
 
 

My last White Elephant party was ten years ago, Christmas party at the Commander's house, for a job that I was to start the next Monday, ie meeting a houseful of future coworkers for the first time, where alcohol was involved; gah.  
Military folks had traditionally been republican (not so much anymore) and this woman was particularly vilified; my anonymous gift:
 

 While my new job, and the rest of my career, were a complete disaster, this gift WAS the hit of the party!  

nolaegghead

Sea2Ski said:

That was baaaaaaad  @nolaegghead

hahaha  good one!