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.