Great White Elephant Gift Ideas

"Bag that pup, we'll carry it home." The crowded front room of a friends house and favorite pastime game of the gathering- choose a number for your turn, choose a gift from the gift pile- or, choose one from someone else who has already won and unwrapped one. It turns the art of White Elephant on its large white, leathery head.

White Elephant gifting, at once, has many meanings, and they are seemingly determined by the level of the invite, or the gathering. The invite is to a mansion in the swankiest part of town; your White Elephant might be, indeed, a "White Elephant", made of some exotic crystal, quartz, or other gem. Your gift would fit the occasion, which if the invite were for the annual business Christmas, or politically correct, holiday party, you might find the other kind of White Elephant to be more fitting. "Other kind of White Elephant," you ask, "there's more than one?" Oh yes, read on.

Some have more than others, some have no more, but have different, but almost all people have items in their home that they no longer use, yet, the item is a nice one. A piece of crystal that Aunt Jenny, now passed away for five years, gave to you one Christmas when she wasn't upset with you. The fifth set of bookends that your friend knew would be absolutely the catch of your eye. Any wonderful but unused gift or item that is nice, not cheesy, but nice- can function as a gift that someone will love. The cliché' holds true, one persons trash is another persons treasure. Now back to the game.

Many times the bidding for one particular piece can become quite intense, for the rule is, after you choose a gift away, that person now has the right to either open a new gift, or, choose from someone else, but they can't just choose back. It can make the game very interesting. We found that after three rounds a gift had to be declared "dead" - otherwise, as happened one year, at 12:30 folks were still bartering for position on the prize to be had above all others. Its fun, it makes the evening go bye quickly, and it is something that truly folks do look forward to. What makes the gathering special, however, is the true White Elephant of it all, the friends we haven't seen
who we enjoy so much again.