'Safe'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
giant ceramic ram's head - best White Elephant gift ever.
I like the idea of WE at parties, but it needs to be clear you are either ALL doing joke or ALL doing inexpensive but not crap gifts - ALSO if it is a joke one - trashing the gift right at the party should be clearly stated as ok.
We always had a really fun time with the White Elephant gift exchange. There was always something odd and funny and made us all laugh hysterically, even if we couldn't end up with it. We weren't mean spirited about it and there were never any hard feelings. Except for the time I got screwed out of the Teacup of Destiny.
I'm anti-white elephant, but when forced into it end up doing this crazy psychological dance where I try to take away a gift that I think the receivee didn't like but was too polite to say so about. Not, you know, one that I want.
The moral of this is that if you are in a white elephant with me, don't be too opaque about your reaction.
The best white elephant variant was when my friend called me up at the spur of the moment and invited me to her group's holiday party that evening (in, like, two hours). Therefore I neither brought cookies for the cookie exchange nor ornaments for the ornament exchange, but they had extras, so I ended up with delicious cookies and a completely gorgeous handmade ornament, but for free!
I've never done white elephant, and it sounds like a lot of fun.
DH's office does the white elephant thing - but the gift of choice seems to be alcohol of one sort or another.
Now that is an exchange I could support.
My extended family is enourmous. After my Grandparents passed away we started a tradition where we have a big party every Christmas but not on Christmas. It includes a Yankee Swap and the little kids still get presents of their own. It is SO much fun. We always have a theme (fun and games, go to your histoical society, anything but golf) There is this giant platter with a Rooster on it that has reappeared several times.
but the gift of choice seems to be alcohol of one sort or another.
Heh. Those were the gifts that were most highly prized at my old job, too.
Ha! Another whitey coworker is bringing cupcakes. I have to decide if I'm going to do it for real and bring the tourtiere (pork pie), even though we don't have an oven, or come up with something else.
ASPIC.
IJS.
Good one-size-fits-all can't go to the holiday party excuse: I need to hang out with my invisible friends on the internet.
... and plan for the Apocalypse.