Where the Trunk Ends - Ideas for White Elephant Gifts

Up until last year, I had no clue what a White elephant exchange was. My boss explained that it was a way of giving a gift without having to spend a lot of money. The ability to give a gift without the commercialism, and a way to get rid of items you no longer use.

This year my in-laws sent the following invitation to the family ( We are going to have a White Elephant gift exchange. Do you remember grandma's prune cakes? Well..... here's your chance to get rid of it. Each of us who brings one can (WILL) take one. So wrap up that thing that nobody wanted to begin with; that even I Couldn't bring myself to re-gift to anyone I liked; or I've had three years and still don't know what it is, and give (IMPOSE) it to someone anonymously. Be creative with the wrapping; think duck tape, Sunday comics, and grocery sacks. Of course, a large trash can will be by the back door for immediate revulsion or re-gifting.)

This invite with it's enticing ideas of prune cake and other things I don't like, got me to thinking. What do I have around the house that I don't like, don't want, or can't stand? There's the 35 cent Tupperware veggie tray I got at the Goodwill and don't use. People don't realize that Tupperware is guaranteed for life, you can pick it up at Goodwill for little or nothing. There's that wonderful mug tree that my grandmother-in-law gave me two years ago, suppose she will remember it? What about if I wrap up my extra dish strainer, suppose they will notice it's used?

I also have that can of yams from three Christmas's ago that no one in the house will eat, the children's potty chair, half a package of bath beads, and two half bottles of lotion. All of these things I have without spending a dime and won't miss. Now comes the fun part. Disguising it so no one will know where it came from. This sends me back to the Christmas that my sister had a field day wrapping not one but all of my gifts under the tree in red duck tape. In toilet paper tubes or enclosed in pringles cans it didn't matter the duck tape engulfed every one of them on the outside. It took two hours to unwrap Christmas that year as my sister sat laughing the whole time. Then there is the time honored tradition of a box, inside a box, inside a box idea, always a favorite. How about wrapping up a jewelry box with a rubber snake from your child's toy box inside, or the box of tea bags filled with your sons rubber bug collection safely enclosed. What they don't notice missing can have an enjoyable reaction at your holiday exchange.

If a prank is not a part of your Christmas idea and you are crafty and enjoy making things, how about a lid topper for a canning jar filled with something you have baked or made such as candy or cookies. A small cross stitch pattern adorning something from your hands and heart. How about a paper doll set you make yourself, this item could be made age appropriate or inappropriate depending on the ages present at you Christmas party.

Depending on your family you could use many of these ideas for many age groups. The dish strainer, a toy for a young child's kitchen or an adults as well. The mug tree could be decorated using the child's imagination to create the magic club house in Never Never Land as they play Peter Pan, or made to look like a bean stock for Jack n the Bean Stock. The ideas are endless. The point is to have a good time and remember that Christmas is about family and spending time together not how much the presents you get cost. It's the thought that counts.