Have you ever played White Elephant/Dirty Santa?

[nkjzmom]

This has become a tradition at our family's Christmas Eve gathering and we LOVE it!!! Have you played it and what kinds of creative gifts have you given/received?

 

[jipsy]

Well in our family that's two different games.

Dirty santa meaning that all gifts are good gifts. They are given a number and put under the tree. Everyone draws a number. #1 gets the gift labeled #1. #2 gets the gift labled #2 and can keep it or trade with #1, so on and so forth until back to #1 who gets the last trade if they choose.

White elephant meaning you play dirty santa, but by taking a gift you have received in the past but didn't want and you "regift" it.

We love doing that. This year however, we have decided to draw names at Christmas only. Then the rest of the year, you send that person presents or cards or whatever you feel like doing for them all year. Kind of a secret santa type thing except with a family member. That way, we're not doling out money at Christmas, when it can be kind of tight, and we can spend more during the whole next year if we choose.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

At my IL's they do White Elephant only they are joke gifts to fit the person whose name they have.

Ex: DH was graduating from Chiropractic College and his Grandma got him a white coat and Dilbert like black glasses. He really looked like Dilbert! LOL!

It is a fun thing to do. This year I have my MIL.

 

[snoopy]

I first learned of White Elephant several years back at an office party. We played where the gifts were stuff you had laying around your house - what a hoot that always was. I worked with these people for 5 years and every year the most hideous lampshade made an appearance. I ended up with it, it sits in my cellar waiting for the next White Elephant party.

Unfortunately, I now work with a new group of people that are a tad more serious and they play White Elephant but with good gifts - they call it a Yankee Swap. I so much prefer the gag gifts. I'm thinking I need my family to start doing White Elephant parties.

 

[Disney845]

Yes we would do it every year on X-mas eve with a group of about 10-12. "White Elephant" in our family meant that you each bring a mystery gift (usually something very funny, or silly, with the ocassional really great gift thrown in) and place under the tree, then we all draw numbers. Number 1 picks whatever under the tree gift he wants, then number 2 can steal the gift or choose another from under the tree, and so on. But the gifts have a 3 steal limit. After the third steal it is frozen to that person. If your gift was stolen, you have the option of stealing someone else's (not yours back) or picking from under the tree. Number 1 gets a last chance to steal at the end! One year the gift I "brought" to give was in a fairly big wrapped package and it was very intriguing to everyone...turns out I had brought a $5 walmart mail box!!! hehe, the person who picked it had no one wanting to "steal" that gift!!!

The best gifts I think are the ones that are the funniest. My ex was quite the jokster...and his family could take this joke, so please don't anyone think it is too nasty or anything, but my ex bought a box of douches and opened one of the packages and poored chocolate syrup all over it...I bet you can imagine what it looked like...his uncle, another jokster got that box...hehe the house was in an uproar!!! There were also $10 in scratch offs attached, so it wasn't a horrible gift. Scratch off attached gifts seem to be the most fought over!

Sometimes people are determined to incorporate the idea of a "white elephant" into the gifts. One year the gift I unwrapped was this huge book called "White Elephants (something something) and other Interesting Word Origins" it was actually very interesting.

 

[nkjzmom]

I'm so glad there are other crazy families like us!!

We put a $5 limit on our gifts...so most are really silly, some are useful, and some are downright nice and get fought over many times. We put the 3 change limit on any one turn, not on a single object but that's a good idea.

Here's a question...do you unwrap the gifts for everyone to see what they've chosen or do you leave them wrapped until the end? I've played it both ways....it gets funny when people get creative with their wrapping, like Disney845! One package will be highly desired, then when it's unwrapped it turns out to be something outlandish.

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

We play this every year at work. It's so much fun and we all look forward to it!! We call it the Russian Auction. Not sure who named it but the name has stuck. The only bad part is, the same people stay in the game, the ones with all the coveted gifts. If you end up with a dud, you are pretty much stuck with it and are out of the game, since no one wants to steal it!

 

[LuvN~Travel]

I know our Sunday School class had one fruitcake that got 'given' for about ten years! Our teacher said recently he finally had to throw it away since it smelled! ( and that was in the freezer no less!)
Kim

 

[DISshopkeeper]

oooo oooooh! Our "crew" of friends is headed to the beach for New Years and we are going to try this! I heard it described as a "Chinese Auction".

So are these items wrapped or unwrapped and do they get unwrapped as you go or what???

We were thinking of doing it with our Christmas "Duds", things we got this year and don't want or will never use. Out teenage group of kids are involved and they want promises that we won't be offended by what they consider to be "duds" since we bought them!!

 

[Disney845]

Originally posted by nkjzmom

Here's a question...do you unwrap the gifts for everyone to see what they've chosen or do you leave them wrapped until the end?

We unwrap them.

As another poster mentioned...if you get a dud gift, you pretty much have no chance at redemption unless you were number 1...number 1 can be the worst position, b/c every can steal from you, or the best, b/c you have one last chance at the end to take anything (unless it was frozen, which happens with the best gifts).

Another "weird???" tradition we have was to sing the 12 days of X-mas together. Each person gets a different day. I remember one year was hilarious....some of the family was in Ohio, and couldn't make it down for the holidays but wanted to sing the song, as it was tradition, so all of us in FL were going to gather around the speaker phone and sing with them (ok so we were really weird ) The grandparents house we were at had recently gotten this big new custom built sectional sofa with a built in phone in the console part. Unfortunately we could not get the speaker phone to work, and no where else in the house had a speaker phone...except the garage!!! Yup!!! You guessed it, at about 9pm on X-mas eve about 10 of us crowded around the work bench in 3 car garage filled with a car, a truck, a jetski and various other "garage items" to sing The Twelve days of X-mas into a speaker phone!!!

 

[BethanyF]

Our white elephant type game moved from Christmas to Thanksgiving. We actually play 'dirty bingo'. Most of us buy or finds some really silly gifts, wrap them up like they are from Tiffany's and play a few rounds of bingo. As you win bingo you pick a prize or 2. When the main pile of gifts has been taken, we choose to play 2 or 3 more rounds, the winners of those rounds get to steal gifts.

This year I won
Pat Boone, No More Mr Nice Guy on CD
really ugly cardinal Christmas tree lights
and a deck of Hulk playing cards.

some of the other gifts were
Mickey antennae topper
candle
coffee mug
giant note pad from my mom's office
Christmas Carol Mad Libs


the biggest rule is you have to take your gift home and you can not rewrap it for the next round. There have been some really bad gifts along with some decent stuff. We never pay more than $4 for a gift.
My mom, my aunt and I are on the look out for dirty bingo gifts all year. I am actually hoping to get the Partridge Family bus ornament cheap after Christmas this year...that is a perfect dirty bingo gift.

 

[jfulcer]

I proposed to my DW in a White Elephant exchange. I had talked with her parents ahead of time (her mother was handing out the gifts) and I wrapped it special so DMIL knew which it was. They play music and pass a stuffed animal around. Whoever is holding it when the music stops gets handed a gift.

When DW was opening her gift, she thought it was gawdy jewelry from her aunt (who never really did understand they were supposed to be <i>gag</i> gifts) and initially thought she was going to have to pretend to like it. Wasn't she surprised.

Now she's stuck with me.

 

[klmklm]

Have you ever played snoop? It's a card game / white elephant exchanges.We played it in my scout troop. Four to a table, you play for a certain length of time, then the winner at each table gets to "snoop": trade (wrapped) gifts with anyone at their table. Winners then rotate to the next table, and you play again. You play for several rounds. The really good players get to choose from several tables worth of gifts -- but they may still end up with something terrible.
I don't remember the rules of the card game. If anyone knows, please tell!

 

[Lewski709]

We did this and it was fun.....everyone bring a gift, grab a number from a hat, open the gift in seqential order and if #2 likes #1's gift better, they take it. If you are last, you rule.

The most fought over item was a padded toilet seat. Gifts can be whatever....$15 limit, funny or not. I usually buy something I want.

 

[caitycaity]

we do white elephant at work with some good gifts and some gag gifts. last year someone ended up with a squeaky plastic rat! i got a starbucks gift certificate.