Funny White Elephant Gift Suggestions for This Christmas

The holidays always bring with them lots of parties. There are work parties, church parties, neighborhood parties, family parties and many more. At some of these parties, you will probably have a white elephant gift exchange, also known by some as a Yankee swap.

The rules for these fun gift exchanges vary slightly, but are basically the same: Everyone brings a gift and draws a number. The number is a picking order, so if a person picked 1, they will be the first to choose from all the gifts. If a person chooses the last number, they will be the last to choose. When your turn comes, you can choose an unopened gift, or you can choose to "steal" one of the gifts that has already been selected. Once a gift has been "stolen" 3 times, it is frozen and can not be stolen again. If your gift is one that is stolen, you then have the opportunity to pick an unopened gift, or steal someone else's gift. The game continues until everyone has had a chance to select a gift.

What makes a white elephant gift exchange so fun is that you never know what is going to happen and there are usually a lot of laughs along the way. Some White Elephant gift exchanges might have rules for what kind of gift can be given. You can require everyone to bring a gift in a certain price range, or even a gift that is not purchased, but something found from around the home. I once attended a White Elephant gift exchange where everyone brought a Christmas ornament.

A white elephant gift exchange is usually a hit when there are a good mix of funny gifts and nice gifts. It's always fun to see someone groan in agony when they open something embarrassing or funny. A funny gift should be something odd or quirky. A good place to find these gifts might be thrift stores or discount department stores. Sometimes a funny gift is also a popular gift and gets stolen a lot. Here are a few ideas for funny white elephant gifts.

Kitschy or Campy: The Napoleon Dynamite Talking Pen brings the strange yet hilarious movie to life for only $6.95. The pen has 7 funny phrases from the movie including "sweet" and "Tina you fat lard, come get some dinner." For similar items, check out novelty stores like Spencers. You are sure to find a huge selection of weird items that are guaranteed to make someone laugh.

Old Technology: Search your thrift store for an old Atari "Pong" game console or giant 12 inch floppy disks. Look for oversized cordless phones or 8 track tape players. These are hilarious reminders of our recent technological past and make funny white elephant gifts.

Fruitcake: Not everyone will consider fruitcake a funny gift. Some people might actually like it. Fruitcake is the perennial subject of holiday jokes and would make a fun and humorous white elephant gift.

Over or undersized underwear: Try an extra, extra large size of ladies underwear or an extra small, teeny, tiny pair of thong or bikini underwear for a red-cheeked reaction and lots of giggles. One year at a family gift exchange, my brother-in-law opened a pair of gold lamé men's bikini underwear. It took a long time for the laughing to die down after that present was opened!

Vinyl Records or 8 Track Tapes: You might be able to find records and 8 tracks at thrift stores. These gifts are especially funny if the band is funny too. Try a "one hit wonder" band, or an 80's band with big hair. The Village People will probably always get a good laugh.

A big part of a white elephant gift exchange is letting loose and laughing. These gifts will be sure to bring a lot of laughs to your party, and maybe even be re-gifted at next year's party!