Need budget-friendly auction gifts

[NYEmomma]

Just got the invite to my family reunion & though we haven't gone to the past few (and the reunions are only every other year so it's been several years) it's really important for me to go this year. My grandfather died about 8 years ago but my grandmother just died in January and since I live out of state, I don't get to see my aunts/uncles/cousins much anymore. There's no real gathering spot or reason for us anymore.

On the invite it said to bring 2-3 gifts for a Chinese auction & a children's auction. I'm trying to keep a positive spin on it all (because DH is already being a crank about it) so I'm trying to think of some budget-friendly gifts to bring that aren't just Dollar Store junk.

Anyone have any good suggestions?

I have the children's auction covered. DD got a gift for Christmas last year that she already had & I didn't have the receipt to return it. I'm pretty crafty so I was thinking I could make one of the gifts, but I can't really think of something that would appeal to adults (most of my crafting is for DD).

Also, what's a Chinese auction???? Lol.

 

[racerangel]

Was just reading your post and I asked myself the same question "What is a Chinese Auction"? LOL This is what I found:

A Chinese auction is an auction where people purchase tickets, then browse the items up for auction and put their tickets in the holders for the items they would like. Then all they do is wait for their name to be called


We have done these all the time but have NEVER heard of it called a Chinese Auction before.

A few inexpensive ideas you can do: (and they go over real well)

1. Get a big bowl from the dollar store, put in a package of popcorn, bottle of pop, chocolate/candy, a small denomination gift card from a movie store for "A Movie Night"

2. Look around the house or go to the dollar store for chocolate, candy, chips etc. for "A Junk Food Basket"

3. Pick up a cheap bottle of wine and then go to the dollar store for candles & candle holders & wine glasses for "A Romantic Night Basket".

4. Buy pasta, pasta sauce, a cesear salad mix (the dry kind that all you have to do is add lettuce) and a dessert of some kind for "A Dinner at Home Basket"


I know we have done a lot more, but the ideas are escaping me. We always found that if you make it up into a fancy basket and package it with ribbons and stuff, it looks like you spent a fortune on it even when you didn't.

 

[racerangel]

Then again, I found this as well. I guess it depends on people's experiences. Maybe for a family event this is more likely to be their definition of a Chinese Auction.

A Chinese auction--also known as a white elephant exchange, dirty Santa and Yankee gift swap--can be a fresh, exciting alternative to a traditional gift-exchange party. Rather than trading presents with just one other person, participants try to get the best gift possible by choosing from among a pile of wrapped gifts, or taking away unwrapped gifts from each other. Everyone plays with slightly different rules; define yours before the auction begins to keep frustration at bay and to keep the game lively.

 

[NYEmomma]

Was just reading your post and I asked myself the same question "What is a Chinese Auction"? LOL This is what I found:

A Chinese auction is an auction where people purchase tickets, then browse the items up for auction and put their tickets in the holders for the items they would like. Then all they do is wait for their name to be called

Oh, this is what it is!! I vaguely remember doing this at one of the reunions when I was a kid. And with the number of people that will be there, this would be a lot more feasible than the white elephant exchange.

I'd thought about a themed basked of some sort... just hadn't really come up with a budget-friendly theme.

Dang, I should've gotten the Fandango tickets from Groupon yesterday... that would've been perfect.

 

[krb2g]

We just had a family reunion with an auction! Here are some ideas:

• Reproduce and frame old family photos.
• Make a set of recipe cards with your family's favorite recipes (and perhaps include a jar of a frequently-used spice, or a set of measuring spoons).
• Make a dishtowel angel with a dishtowel, a washcloth, and a potholder (easy to google).
• Assemble a traveler's kit with sample sizes of shampoos, soaps, and lotions (that you get at hotels).

 

[chris31997]

Going off what the PP said, and you are crafty, if Grandma was a good cook. Put her recipes in a "cookbook" with maybe pictures or stories about her.

You can do a basket with a disposable camera and pictures frames. You can pick some up at the thrift store or dollar store and jazz them up.

You can do a spa basket. Pick the stuff up at the dollar store. No one will really know

 

[LovesTimone]

You could frame older pictures of your cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Or maybe some pic's of past family reunions. Pick up the frames at the dollar store, or you could make collage of them and make the frames if you are the crafty sort of person. Walgreen's has a good deal on copies.

Recipe book or cards using family recipes, and pictures of that person next to his or her recipe, you could cover and design your own book. But with that bring copies to share with everyone on the recipes, you don't want any hard feeling.

Take lots of pic's at the reunion, run to Walgreen's, have developed and bring along some frames that you picked up at the dollar store. This will only work if the auction is the last day, My friend did this for hers, she took her docking station for her camera and printed them right before they set up the auctions. Everyone wanted them.

Have a good time and enjoy those moments.