The Best White Elephant Gifts

It always happens. You get invited to a party and they have a Yankee Trader or White Elephant Exchange game. What do you take for people you don't know? Or worse, you do know the people and they know you, so there are no excuses. I have found, over the years, there are many ways to give pleasing gifts regardless the crowd to potentially receive them. Obviously if there will be a mix of men and women, you must be a bit more careful, but all in all the following ideas will go over well.

Movie Basket: If you know the people figure out what they all have in common and try to find a movie that each person would watch within that theme. Then, add popcorn, movie candy, sodas, etc. to make a neat movie night basket. If you do not know the people pick up a movie gift card from Video Magic, Blockbuster, or whatever is local in your area. These make great gifts for kids birthday's too! Sometimes you can find the popcorn that is microwavable and is a bucket-style so that you can use it to pack the gift.

Girls Only: Here I try to find something (again) in common with the women in the group. Maybe they are all professional women, or travel, or have kids, or whatever. Then I try to get something that they wouldn't buy for them selves. Some of the best suggestions are overnight bags for those who travel, or a nice attache` case. A lot of times you can find these at discount stores like TJ Maxx, overstock stores, or just on sale. Other ideas for girls would be manicure/pedicure sets, spa gift baskets, yummy robes and slippers, or gift certificates for services in the local area. Something holiday related that is universal to a variety of traditions is also a good suggestion for a mixed group - that way they can pull it out every year and remember where it came from.

Men Only: This is a little harder for me, but if the group likes beer or other alcohol, that is always a winner. Find a specialty beer mix of lagers or ales for the season. A lot of times you don't even need to wrap those - slap on a bow and you are good to go. Nice whiskey and shot glasses are another suggestion and even a great bottle of wine. If they like to cook, put together food to make - if they don't like to cook, but together food baskets that don't require cooking. Sometimes you can find gift cards that help to pay for a local sporting event. Or even tickets to sporting events if the limit is a bit higher.

Family gifts: You can combine the suggestions above for a family. For instance, I recently used food to bring the family theme together. Our theme is Family Time. For one family that has only girls, I picked up a great Princess cookie cutter set with pink sanding sugar and purple icing from Williams-Sonoma. It wasn't that expensive and will be used many times over. What is great is that it they can use it for a long time. For the families with boys and girls, I decided to get specialty pancake mixes that could be waffles too and I added shaped pancake molds for fun. People have to eat, so it was an easy one for me. You can also do the movie basket for the family by picking snack foods and a movie that they can all take in together.

Kids: Well, here is where movies and foods still stand strong, but you can throw in certificates to food joints like McDonald's and with other ones that are driving, you can pick up gas cards that help fill the tank.

I hope this helps you with your White Elephant gifts this year.