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!
Spike ,'Same Time, Same Place'
Natter 55: It's the 55th Natter
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.
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.
Oooh!
The church I grew up in had a cookie swap. Best. Thing. Evah.
On the day we decorated the church (The Greening of Christmas -- could NOT be more fun) you bring two or three dozen of your best cookie and they get sorted into mixed platters that you then take home at the end of the day.
I should throw a cookie swap! Make New Yorkers bake!
Oh, oh, oh - I just realized I should have DH take Fernet this year and confuse the heck out of everyone else.
Hummm, pretty bottle. Smells like ass. Tastes like....something...not quite ass. But, damn, good stuff.
One of my friends did a cookie swap with her others of her friends every year. It was alot of fun. (More difficult now because they are all over the country.)