Christmas gifts for staff...ideas?

[riley2008]

I recently moved into a position where I now supervise about 25 people. We work for a school district, but only a couple teach.

In years past we always exchange those "token" gifts - which I hate with a passion. You know, the dollar store items - socks, candles, Christmas pins, coffe mugs, etc. We've actually gotten better the last few years and "know" what everyone buys, for the most part, and it's pretty good. (One person buys an assortment of calendars and we all get to choose, another passes out $1 lottery tickets, another small loaves of banana bread, etc)

Anyway, I've always done Bath and Bodyworks antibacterial hand soaps. If I time it right with sales and coupons, I can get the price to under $2. (BTW, other than the foaming handsoap, I do not like that place at all - sends my allergies through the roof.)

So, now that I'm in a different position, I think I would like to do something a bit better - maybe in the $5 price range. (My previous boss gave obvious dollar store stuff - socks, pins, pens, junk.)

I like to give consumables or "usables". Any ideas?

(One idea already used - a lady in our office collected the coupons from the Harbor Freight paper inserts for the free LED flashlights and picked them up weekly. She saved them for our office Christmas gifts. We all loved it!)

Okay, need new ideas - I don't want to look too cheap.

 

[Diabolicdesire]

I'd be thrilled to get a 5.00 gift card to starbucks. Or lunch may be a good option, everyone's gotta eat

 

[gracie1]

I recently moved into a position where I now supervise about 25 people. We work for a school district, but only a couple teach.

In years past we always exchange those "token" gifts - which I hate with a passion. You know, the dollar store items - socks, candles, Christmas pins, coffe mugs, etc. We've actually gotten better the last few years and "know" what everyone buys, for the most part, and it's pretty good. (One person buys an assortment of calendars and we all get to choose, another passes out $1 lottery tickets, another small loaves of banana bread, etc)

Anyway, I've always done Bath and Bodyworks antibacterial hand soaps. If I time it right with sales and coupons, I can get the price to under $2. (BTW, other than the foaming handsoap, I do not like that place at all - sends my allergies through the roof.)

So, now that I'm in a different position, I think I would like to do something a bit better - maybe in the $5 price range. (My previous boss gave obvious dollar store stuff - socks, pins, pens, junk.)

I like to give consumables or "usables". Any ideas?

(One idea already used - a lady in our office collected the coupons from the Harbor Freight paper inserts for the free LED flashlights and picked them up weekly. She saved them for our office Christmas gifts. We all loved it!)

Okay, need new ideas - I don't want to look too cheap.

How about candles?? Most people love candles as a gift and you can go to Walmart and buy their brand. Their candles have amazing fragrance!

 

[sunshine1178]

I recently moved into a position where I now supervise about 25 people. We work for a school district, but only a couple teach.

In years past we always exchange those "token" gifts - which I hate with a passion. You know, the dollar store items - socks, candles, Christmas pins, coffe mugs, etc. We've actually gotten better the last few years and "know" what everyone buys, for the most part, and it's pretty good. (One person buys an assortment of calendars and we all get to choose, another passes out $1 lottery tickets, another small loaves of banana bread, etc)

Anyway, I've always done Bath and Bodyworks antibacterial hand soaps. If I time it right with sales and coupons, I can get the price to under $2. (BTW, other than the foaming handsoap, I do not like that place at all - sends my allergies through the roof.)

So, now that I'm in a different position, I think I would like to do something a bit better - maybe in the $5 price range. (My previous boss gave obvious dollar store stuff - socks, pins, pens, junk.)

I like to give consumables or "usables". Any ideas?

(One idea already used - a lady in our office collected the coupons from the Harbor Freight paper inserts for the free LED flashlights and picked them up weekly. She saved them for our office Christmas gifts. We all loved it!)

Okay, need new ideas - I don't want to look too cheap.

Last year my husband gave the techs who work with him gift cards to AMC. I got them with my Chase Leisure Rewards from my debit card. I packaged them in the plastic popcorn boxes from Targets dollar spot with white and yellow tissue paper to look like popcorn. If I do say so myself, they were pretty cute. Target has the boxes again, so if You could get a good deal on movie passes somewhere...

 

[sharlon]

I would say no to the candles for the same reason the OP said she doesn't get much from Bath and Body Works, the scents can really mess with some peoples allergies/asthma.

You could go get a bunch of $5 giftcards for different places (Donut shop, Starbucks, Panera Bread, lunch places, etc) Put them in a cute grab bag and let everyone pick "blind" so they don't know what they are getting.

 

[soccerchick]

Could you treat for lunch or a dessert bar one day in the office/workroom?

A couple of pasta dishes, salad, bread and drinks from somewhere like Rubino's should be close to your budget.

I also like the gift card idea- Starbucks, local moview theater, books store, etc.

 

[riley2008]

I thought about the $5 gift card idea - I like it doing a gift card "pick".

And although I like some candles, I can't stand them. (My friend/co-worker loves when we get the smelly stuff, because she gets all mine too and shares with her sister.)

I'll check into the rewards/discounts too for movie tickets - that would be a great one if I could get a deal.

(And I recently won a $25 gc to Starbucks - that could be 5 gifts down!)

Thanks - I'm open for more!

 

[wendydarling826]

No candles. No mugs. No smelly bath stuff. If your budget is a $5 limit, anyone could use a gift card to Starbucks or a convenience store and you could package it in some kind of cute way like put them in a stocking on a tree. Another gift I really appreciated was personalized note pads "from the desk of....." - I think you can order them pretty cheaply.

 

[Justsyd2]

This may sound a bit dorky or maybe not. A few years ago my Supervisor gave all of us book lights (around $5.00), and we all LOVED them! Just a thought...

 

[herdtoDisney]

Maybe give them one of those nice steel waterbottles? Walmart has them right now in many colors for less than $5. 'Green' stuff like that is hot right now.

 

[HLDisney]

Along the lines of the water bottles mentioned in the previous post, how about reusable shopping bags?

Helen

 

[riley2008]

OP here - thanks for all the great ideas! I have lots of places to start.

Thank you

 

[stephbillalec]

I think your employees might really enjoy a staff lunch hosted by you. I bet you could do it for $5 a person....pizza or those long giant sandwiches, chips, soda, cake, etc.
I also like the various $5 gift card idea.

 

[timzagain]

I'm faced with a similar predicament - I need to find several token gifts that are budget friendly, without looking cheap.

It suddenly dawned on me last week that I might find the answer to my dilemma by buying nice but small items from a wedding favour supplier.

I've been looking on www.myweddingfavors.com and found a few ideas that might work.

Natural Bamboo Coasters (Set of 4)
http://www.myweddingfavors.com/natural-bamboo-coaster.html

Photo Coasters (sets of 2)
http://www.myweddingfavors.com/foreverglass.html

Wine Cork Spreader
http://www.myweddingfavors.com/wine-cork-spreader.html

I've highlighted the three I'm considering for my own gift-giving but there are lots of other ideas on that site.

 

[Perditamarie]

I like the mystery gift card idea and the water bottle idea - plenty of budget friendly choices out there w/all the back to school stuff and you could even tuck in a tube or two of the flavorings for water too. Or consider those stretchy gloves, which always come in handy, or if you catch a Vera Bradley sale just right, you could get change purses/id holders/glasses cases etc for $5 or less.

Oh, yeah, you can get bulk pricing for these cute lunch bags:

https://shop.thebreastcancersite.co...eId=224&origin=BCS_GOOGLEBASE_ADGROUP_7-12-10

 

[hambirg]

I like the random $5 gift card thing. . .and if you time it right you can collect the ones that come free when you buy something. . .Target. . .Rite Aid. . .etc. I found a Barnes and Noble one last year that you got when you bought peanut butter and I gave those to my kids' teachers along with some items from my free Wags stockpile. I do, however, really like the reusable water bottle idea! I know I would be happy with that.

 

[Topper]

http://www.burtsbees.com/my-budget/10-under/

 

[buzz5985]

Find out what your rules are concerning ethics. You may not be able to give any gifts.

 

[figment52]

I think your employees might really enjoy a staff lunch hosted by you. I bet you could do it for $5 a person....pizza or those long giant sandwiches, chips, soda, cake, etc.

This one has my vote too.

 

[Alexander]

Find out what your rules are concerning ethics. You may not be able to give any gifts.

They've been doing this for many years, including the supervisor.