So, I was invited to my friend’s party(or just get-together with friends?) tomorrow but he just told me its a white elephant gift exchange.
I don’t know what to get because one,I have used all my allownace and two, he gave me such a short notice that I don’t know what item is appropriate. Does it have to be funny?
Do you think making a home-made dessert box will make me look cheap?
Is this a group of kids? How about one of those fake candy canes filled with m and m’s ($1-$2). Plus either a bargain priced DVD from Target (they have $5 selections) or a nice box of homemade brownies (box mix $1).
I don’t give food as gift, especially if I don’t know who the recipient is. (S)he may or may not like the food. Worse yet, (s)he may be allergic to one of the ingredients.
I don’t like gift cards. But in this case of such short notice, I vote for one.
(I don’t know what to do about “I have used all my allownace (sic!)”).
@paul2752
A white elephant is usually a fun gift…and it can be funny too…maybe even a regift.
We have taken funny books, ceramic statues, plaques, things that were given to us that made us go “uh”.
A gift card to Whole Foods or anything like that would NOT be a white elephant.
Isn’t that distinction kind of regional? Should probably ask whoever issued the invitation what kind of gifts are expected (funny ones, inappropriate ones, sincere ones, under a certain dollar limit…) I wouldn’t want to be the one person who brought a jokingly crap gift when the rest were “good,” or vice versa.
@bodangles they don’t have to be crap to be funny.
Ask if there is going to be a true white elephant exchange. It is a game where all wrapped gifts go into a pile of sorts and people draw numbers. The first person will have to open one gift out of the pile, and the next persons will have a choice of stealing one of the already open gifts or opening one that is still unopened. It could be a lot of fun, especially if there is a good mix of junk and nice gifts! 
Did your friend say about how much to spend on the gift?
In my neck of the woods, white elephant means “worst thing ever” and is almost always a regift of some item you have in your house. No one buys a white elephant gift; you just rummage around the house for some gawd-awful thing you haven’t yet thrown away or donated. One year, I wrapped the lilac-colored macrame toilet-roll holder someone made for me in the 70’s that somehow survived in one my college boxes. I also used a white elephant exchange to get rid of a Neil Diamond album and a ceramic leopard clock. The fun of the exchange is seeing whose gift is the most atrocious.
Just asked my friend, and he said under 25$…but then he told me he just wrapped a single beer can. last year, I guess it doesn’t have to be too creative.
I plan to bake a cake, cut out the inside and fill it with frozen cauliflower tempura from Trader Joes. That can be funny.
I’d just bake a cake and wrap it up. Nobody will cut the cake at the party and the cauliflower will eventually thaw and make a mess.
I agree that the messy cake idea is not a good one.
Can you decorate the cake so it looks like a…white elephant?? You know…white frosting! A trunk!
@paul2752 Filling it with cauliflower tempura is not funny. Decorate your cake like a white elephant.^
Agree…don’t waste money on cauliflower tempura…that is a waste. But a decorated cake…hilarious if it looks like a white elephant.
We used to have a white elephant exchange at our holiday party…and a gift that came back year after year was a…ceramic white elephant!
“you just rummage around the house for some gawd-awful thing you haven’t yet thrown away or donated.”
We were invited to one of these white elephant events last year. It was advertised as: bring anything that you have lying around, don’t spend money, and, as names are called, expect that previous gifts will be “stolen.” Fun, right? Except that all the other folks brought really nice stuff: bottles of champagne, cologne, etc. Our truly junk gift, of course, really stood out. Someone got stuck with it, rather than a bottle of champagne…
It depends on the crowd. If you really think that all others will bring a joke/trashy gift, then play along. Otherwise, reconnoiter and choose wisely. The guests easily figure out who gave what and then the gossip begins.
I think I bought a large chocolate bar, maybe $6.00, for my first. Someone put his old smelly sneaks into the mix. I’m sure there are items in between.
Do not blow through your budget for this party. I vote for a large chocolate bar ($2-3 bucks) and a cheap, silly ornament from the corner drug store (Charlie Brown, Sponge Bob, some other cartoon character).
You do not want your gift to be a dud, and a plain chocolate bar with no nuts will appeal to many. The cartoon character ornament may appeal to some, but could at least generate some nostalgia comments.
Since this is your first experience with this type of gift exchange, shoot for low stakes gift that is not gross and hits a hint of silly. At the party, you will see a wide range of types of gifts being opened. Note the reactions of the other guests, as that can clue you to how to shop for future gift exchanges with this crowd.
We attended a church volunteers Christmas party with a $10 gift exchange. Everyone brought “real” gifts except for one person, who wrapped up used odds and ends from their house.
It was super awkward and no one owned up to bringing that true white elephant gift.
Always, always ask detailed questions when you are invited to a gift exchange!
Go buy a fruitcake at the grocery store. The heavier the better.
Take it out of the box but leave the cellophane wrapping so people know you didn’t tamper with it or make it inedible.
Wrap it in tin foil and make a tag that says 100% Homemade by paul.
Then wrap in festive holiday paper with a bow.
It will get laughs when unwrapped.
The receiver can unwrap it and share it with the party goers if he doesn’t want to take it home.