Comments on: How to spice up a gift exchange?

Question: How to spice up a gift exchange?

FergieBelle — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:34:13 -0800

Ideas for twist on traditional holiday gift exchange?

My family wants to do something different for our yearly holiday gift exchange. We normally draw names and set a dollar limit, but we want to shake it up a bit this year. There are 7 of us and we are spread out across the country (so we can't do a Yankee swap, for instance). Does anyone have any ideas of interesting things to do with a holiday gift exchange?

By: furtive

furtive — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 09:02:50 -0800

This year for Christmas a friend of mine is having a catering chef prepare a meal for me and my wife. No, this isn't a "spend $200 and I'll come cook a meal in your kitchen" deal, although those exist too. It's a "we'll deliver a tasty meal to you and your wife to your doorstep" and all you have to do is eat it. I think it's costing him about $60.

By: theora55

theora55 — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 09:55:40 -0800

Get everybody to make a fantastic mix cd and make copies for everybody.

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:04:22 -0800

Perhaps you could pick some kind of theme. For example, everyone has to buy a gift for the person that begins with the same letter as the receiver's first name. Or all the gifts have to be green. Or all the gifts have to be handmade. Or, since you live all across the country, the gifts have to relate somehow to the state in which the sender lives (i.e., a giver who lives in Texas sends a gift that has yellow roses on it). Or the gift has to be accompanied by a poem which mentions the article you've given them. These are just ideas - you can come up with your own based on what kind of interests and characteristics you have as a family, be they literary, artistic, musical, into practical jokes, or what have you.

By: youngergirl44

youngergirl44 — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:55:19 -0800

The BF's family all buys the same type of presents for everyone - DVD's, gift cards etc. The gifts are all sent to the house at which the main family holiday dinner will take place (because his family is also spread out). Then they sit in a circle with the gift we brought, others sitting in for the people that can't be there with their gifts. Then someone reads this story, and we pass the gifts accordingly. Everyone ends up with whatever they're holding at the end of the story. Often, we also have the person that's missing on a speakerphone so they can hear what's going on.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:13:17 -0800

My wife's family does this thing where we pile all the gifts on a table, and everyone draws a number.

Then, when the first number is called, they go up to the table and pick a gift and open it.

The next person now has the option to open a new gift or take the first person's gift. If they take the first person's gift, the first person can now take a new gift off the table.

As this plays-out, you can get quite a lot of gift-swapping as more and more gifts become available.

Once everyone is happy with their gifts, the game is over.

Obviously, this can be a hell of a lot of fun with a larger crowd. It's doubly fun if some smart-asses bring gag gifts. It's also kind of funny if grandma brings a gift that she thinks is darling, but everyone else wouldn't be caught dead with.

By: jamaro

jamaro — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:42:45 -0800

Thorzdad, that's a Yankee Swap.

By: peace_love_hope

peace_love_hope — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 15:36:30 -0800

Jamaro:
We southerners call Yankee Swap "Dirty Santa"

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 17:04:03 -0800

In Canada, what you call the "Yankee Swap" is known as the "Snitch and Grab".

By: Sassyfras

Sassyfras — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:48:31 -0800

As I have been organizing and decluttering this week, I realized that a lot of my stuff is nice stuff and perhaps someone else would like it! Why not find things you already own that you think someone else would like? You can still draw names - but the gifts they give have to be stuff they already own.

Or how about just a book exchange? Still pick names but you only give a gift of a book.

By: chickaboo

chickaboo — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:51:31 -0800

Trade magazine subscriptions? Or have everyone give a gift that symbolizes something about you that has changed in the past year. So for instance, if you've gotten into hockey, you could give a jersey and a hockey puck.