The Best White Elephant Gifts for Office Parties

Like many people, I've been to more than my share of white elephant gift exchanges. This seems to be a favored "office party" activity - a way to do a gift exchange without asking employees to spend money on a gift while still promoting participation and a "teamwork" environment. Not to mention, when done correctly, a white elephant gift exchange can be pretty darn fun!

Here are some of the gifts I've noticed are usually a big hit at office parties (see if you have them sitting around your home) -

1. Anything disco - a video tape, cd, or even a cassette tape of disco music can be really fun. I once worked for a company where the same disco dance video tape was exchanged in three consecutive year's white elephant gift exchanges and became a big hit! Other dance tapes are good too - the Macarena, line dancing - just something fun and funky.

2. Office supplies - don't ask me why, but the package of sticky-notes, or the Mickey Mouse stapler seem to go over well. Partially, I think, because people can keep the gift at work and it just seems to be a good fit for office parties. The more personality, the better. Although sometimes, something so bland and ordinary like a box of pens and highlighters can be a big hit. It depends on where you work - tools can also be a good choice if it fits with the kind of work you do.

3. Hats - Again, I'm not sure why, but hats make excellent white elephant gifts. I once got a huge, pink furry hat as a white elephant gift and it was great fun. The giver confessed that she'd found it while she was out on her morning jog and washed it up, thinking she would take it to the Salvation Army. It was so dramatic, it was passed around a few times before I finally "stole" it. Caps and hats from vacation trips, cowboy hats, anything that reeks of originality and personality seems to make an excellent gift to pass.

4. Food - not just any food, but lunch food - cup-o-noodles, wrapped crackers, single servings of soup - If you have some of these things in your pantry, putting together a little care package of foodstuffs that can be crammed in a desk drawer and pulled out for those emergency work-through lunches will likely be a big hit. But, make sure it's not a fancy basket of goodies, it really needs to be a collection of cheap and functional "desk food" for it to be appropriate for a white elephant gift exchange.

5. Picture frames - this might seem pretty boring, but if you have funky picture frames laying around, these can be great contributions to the office exchange. This is another item people can keep at work and use to stick a family or other photo in and keep on their desk. Make sure it's something fun and quirky, though - a child's frame, something your great aunt sent you with seashells all around, something with a story. This will make it all the more coveted and fun.

If your item has a "story," be sure to share it during the exchange. It helps to add to the festivities and may add to the "value" of your special white elephant gift.