It’s been years since I participated in a white elephant gift exchange.
Here’s the thing: I‘m really awesome at using these exchanges for my personal benefit. Or perhaps I just have good luck.
I managed to wrangle a much-needed paper-shredder one year. Another time, I scored a brand new panini press that a bachelor had no inclination to use. All this while off-loading ugly pot-holders, old and mostly-broken appliances, and decor items received as gifts that never saw the light of day.
Apparently, I have a knack for white elephant exchanges.
And I probably just jinxed myself.
Chad and I are going to a Christmas party tonight and there will be a white elephant gift exchange. We’re not entirely sure what to expect as we’ve never done an exchange with this group of people. Will there be a hidden treasure that I can cleverly acquire? Or will all the offerings be as undesirable as the items we’re bringing?
There’s no way to know.
And what are we bringing, you ask? Well, I can’t tell you. Because a few members of the group might happen upon this blog post before the party tonight.
I will tell you some of the items we decided not to take, though: a bent and useless bicycle wheel; a Play-doh ice cream set that L loves but that I hate because it is a bear to clean; a collection of single socks that have lost their mates; a boardgame that nobody has heard of and that is incredibly boring.
No, all those things will stay at our house until some undisclosed future date.
The items we’re taking tonight are actually usable, but they’ve outlived their usefulness at our house. In the right hands, however, I’m pretty sure they could be treasures.
We’ll see if I find a treasure in return.
hehe I love white elephant exchanges. We are doing one at my office on the 20th and I can’t wait! Good luck tonight!
ha. in spite of coming away with a brand new coffee maker one year (wasn’t that yours?!) i HATE white elephants! i never quite got the idea behind exchanging j.u.n.k. with people who are supposed to be your friends!! now a fun party would be a few pickups showing up here, me loading them up, and hitting CFA for milkshakes after a trip to Goodwill!
But have fun tonight and be sure to report on your haul!
Last year was my 1st white elephant party when our sunday school class had one. The tradition is to take all the unwanted gifts afterwards & leave them on the front lawn of one of our church deacons. Last year there was a possessed looking angel who’s face lit up pukey green! We ended up keeping a really cute Christmas bell ornament & passing the books on to someone else, but I can’t remember what we took.
This year we are taking 2 kids life jackets that I was unable to resell on Craigslist & a handful of free bowling coupons that we won’t use.
I really hope you do a follow up post on this one!
Good luck with this exchange!
I have a giveaway on my blog – a gift card sponsored by CSN Stores. Would like you to come over and enter
What did you get? Inquiring minds want to know!
Our Sunday school class did a white elephant party for years; one gift in particular would show up every single year. The trick was to disguise it so no one would know because it was truly hideous! I’ve found white elephant parties are more fun if there are gifts that people actually want and will “fight” for. If it’s just all junk, like the aforementioned monstrousity, then no one wants anything and where’s the fun in that?
Lisa writes…´s last post ..That was then this is now
I love those exchanges, and I think that hearing people’s opinions of them tells you what kind of person they really are.
I hear lots of, “I don’t like it when people can steal. It’s mean.”
Yes, it’s mean, but it’s fun. That’s life — survival of the fittest!!!
Jennifer, Snapshot´s last post ..The BEST Christmas Specials