A White Elephant Gift Idea

You know,when I go to a white elephant party, I just want a white elephant gift idea that will get stolen over and over and make everyone laugh. If I can find a christmas gift exchange idea that is also useful, that is the icing on the cake.

At the parties I've been to, the rules vary. The first one I ever went to, everyone was supposed to look around the house and find "something useful that you never use". At another we were all supposed to give something worth $20.00.

Interpretation of the rules given seems to vary. At the same party I see people with extravagant gifts everyone tries to get and boring gifts no one wants. I don't want to be the one with the white elephant gift idea that NO ONE can use! I like to bring the gag gift that breaks up that awkward gift-unwrapping silence and fills the party with joking and laughing. Here are the best christmas gift exchange ideas I've seen:

• City Dwellers Smores Kit - Used candles or tea lights, old pronged fork, marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers
• A new or used game - At a party my in-laws invited me to, this was the christmas gift exchange idea that got passed around many times. Many people wanted it to play at their own parties.
• Plastic storage containers from the kitchen filled with snack food or home baked treats.
• An assortment of new or used office supplies along with business cards you print on your computer - Choose a logo that looks like a govermental seal and put "Department of Annoyance "in large official font. Under that put "Contact Info: None".
• An old sock full of holes with a gift card inside
• Gigantic Multi Roll Pack of Toilet Paper
• Big and Gaudy Lawn Ornament - You may want to add a gift certificate to a local nursery or home improvement store.
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Kit (loaf of bread, jars of peaut butter and jelly or jam, plate -try one with a cartoon character or a tin pie pan- and a large spreading knife)
• An Electric Plunger - Take a regular old plunger and drill a hole in the top of the handle. Then glue an electric cord in the hole.
• An Assortment of Batteries with a Tag that Says, "Gift Not Included"
• T-shirt That Says, "Sometimes I stop to think...and forget to start again." OR "I went to the (Insert family or company name) White Elephant Party and all I got was This Old T-shirt!" - Paint it with acrylic or fabric paints.
• A New Toilet Seat - Decoupage a picture or slogan over it to create a one of a kind throne.

If you have been given a required spending amount for your christmas gift exchange idea, you can always look around your house for an item that is collecting dust that you would never give as a gift. Then add a gift certificate that relates to the item in some way. This way the person who ends up with your white elephant gift idea has a laugh, but gets a prized gift too. For example, wrap up an old broom and dustpan with a gift certificate for a free house cleaning or a clean empty ice cream carton with a gift certificate inside for an ice cream shop.



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