Host the Ultimate White Elephant Gift Exchange
A white elephant gift exchange is a low-stress, low-cost, high-fun way to connect during the holidays. It’s simple to organize, easy to participate, and gets a roomful of people laughing, chatting, and enjoying themselves.
Here’s your complete guide to hosting a white elephant gift exchange to remember, from the initial planning to the very last turn.
Inspired? Create and share by tagging @HallmarkStores.
White elephant gift exchange planning tips
A white elephant gift exchange doesn’t take much prep (yippee!), but there are a few necessaries:
Create the guest list
Inviting your closest friends guarantees a great time, but a white elephant is also the perfect chance to build connections with a broader group—think cross-generational family members or coworkers. A focused activity means everyone is included and there’s less pressure to make small talk, which can be stressful.
Set guidelines
Making sure all your guests are on the same page about what kind of gift to bring is probably the most important part of a successful white elephant exchange.
This most often means a price limit—often $5, $10 or $20. The joy is in the unexpected elements of the game and the creativity of the gift, not the price tag. In fact, you can take money out of the equation completely and instruct guests to bring something they already own and won’t miss.
While white elephants don’t always have a theme, choosing one can add an extra layer of fun. Some theme ideas—with or without price limits—include:
- Favorite books
- Christmas ornaments
- Games and toys
- Vintage items
- Tacky knick-knacks or gag gifts
- Handmade gifts
- Upcycled thrift store finds
Remind guests to wrap the gift—it doesn’t have to be fancy, but at the very least the gift should be hidden in a bag. Whether you include the giver’s name is up to you. Knowing who brought a particular present adds an element of strategy some may enjoy; however, skipping them adds surprise. If you’re feeling brave, you might even decide to make the gifts completely anonymous, emboldening your guests to select something they might not openly admit to.
Send invites
It’s a good idea to send invitations, however you do it, at least two weeks in advance so everyone has time to pick out the right gift. In addition to the date, time and place, don’t forget the guidelines listed above: price, theme (if any), wrap, and gift tags or no.
White elephant gift exchange party rules
Choose a place to display everyone’s gifts in plain sight. Ideally, you don’t want to pile them up—part of the fun is watching people check out all their options before choosing a gift.
If you have enough seating for everyone, arrange the seats around a table. If you don’t, no worries—simply offer seats to those most in need and ask everyone else to sit in a circle on the floor and put the gifts in the middle.
Basic white elephant rules
1. Players draw numbers from a hat to determine picking order.
2. Player 1 chooses a gift from the pile, unwraps it, and shows it off.
3. Player 2 can “steal” the first player’s gift or choose another gift.
4. Remaining players do the same—either steal somebody’s gift or choose a new one. Once a gift is stolen, the player who was robbed gets to steal someone else’s gift or take a new gift from the pile.
5. Once everyone has had a turn, player 1 gets one last turn. They can decide to keep their gift or swap it with someone else’s. If they choose to swap, the player they swapped with makes the same choice: keep or swap. The game ends when someone decides to keep their gift instead of swapping.
Time-saving white elephant tips
Some white elephants can seem to last forever. Depending on your time frame (and anticipated guest patience), you may want to add a few of these time-saving rules:
1. No take-backs: You can’t steal a gift that was just stolen from you.
2. Three (or two, or one) steals per gift.
3. Three (or two, or one) steals per player: If a player has already been robbed, you can’t steal from them anymore.
4. No extra turn for player number 1.
5. No steals at all: Each player picks a wrapped present. Once all presents are chosen, they’re opened. Keep it ultra-quick and get on to the eggnog.
Best white elephant gifts
Funny gifts
Many times, the ideal white elephant gift is the one that makes everybody laugh. If that’s your goal, try these hilariously weird suggestions from Hallmark writer and thrifting extraordinaire Amy Trowbridge-Yates:
• A beautifully framed, 8-by-10 photo of a family nobody has ever met
• “As seen on TV” gimmicks everyone’s heard of but nobody owns
• Instagram-worthy gifts: pajama jeans, a pair of overalls big enough for two people, shirts and hats with interesting names
• Personal care items, like box of waxing strips
• Outdated, unusable technology: VHS tapes of weird, old movies or clunky cell phones with antennae
• Vaguely creepy porcelain doll
• Vaguely creepy clown painting
• Vaguely creepy anything
Inside jokes
The only thing that makes weird gifts even better is if they include an inside joke. It helps if everyone at the party is in on it, or at least can easily get it. For example, a box of waxing strips becomes “Craig’s Waxing Strips,” named in honor of the hairiest guy at the party or that cousin Grandma is always nagging to shave his soul patch.
Practical(ly) perfect
Not everybody has a knack for humor, and that’s OK. Often low-key, super-practical gifts keep things interesting by getting caught up in a stealing frenzy. Simple, can’t-miss gifts include food, booze, gift cards, a mini tool set (where’s a tiny screwdriver when you need one?) and lottery tickets.
Maker magic
If you’re a baker, knitter, crafter, woodworker or something-else-er, nothing beats a one-of-a-kind present. It might not be a Bob Ross chia pet, but it will last in the heart and home of the recipient. And isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
We’d love to hear your favorite white elephant gift exchange stories. Tell us about your favorite gifts, marathon exchanges, and most memorable moments by tagging @HallmarkStores in social media.
Shop Christmas
See allYou may also like
See more-
Baby Gifts for new parents: Thoughtful things to give and do
We know what to get for babies: onesies and blankies and binkies. But what about the newly overwhelmed moms and dads?...
-
Gifting Gift ideas to celebrate parents
How do you say “I love you” to parents that mean so much—the ones who’ve handled plenty of diaper changes (the really...
-
Calendar Flip Woo-Hoo—summer’s here! June 2024 holidays and celebrations
Summer is here in all her glory and we are ready. Warm days and cool drinks lay ahead. So it’s time to flip the ca...
-
Calendar Flip Yay for May! May 2024 holidays and celebrations
Flowers are blooming, students are graduating and moms are getting some well-deserved appreciation. What a fabulou...
-
Calendar Flip Welcome back, spring! April 2024 holidays and celebrations
Oh, spring, we’ve missed you most of all. We don’t even care that you bring showers—we’re just excited to be outsi...
-
Easter Easter basket ideas for all ages: DIY decorations, gifts and more
Excited to get hopping on those Easter baskets? We love to see it. And we love to inspire it, too! So we’ve put toget...
-
Graduation The College Survival Guide: Make the perfect graduation gift even better
The College Survival Guide was created to turn the most-requested high school graduation present (money) into a de...
-
Easter 25+ ways to make Easter extra fun for kids
When it comes to Easter, we love leaning in to joy, faith and the beauty in creating core memories for the whole fami...
-
Birthday 25+ ideas for creative, personal birthday care packages
When a friend’s birthday rolls around and you can’t be together to celebrate, the next best thing is to bring the cel...
-
Valentine's Day 200+ Valentine’s Day gift ideas for everyone in your heart
In junior high, I made a giant Valentine’s Day collage for my first girlfriend. She loved it. Was it amazing or dorky...
-
Valentine's Day DIY Valentine's Day treat bags for kids
One of the best things about kids valentine treat bags is the surprise element—there could be anything in there! But ...
-
Calendar Flip Hello, Love: February 2024 Holidays and Observances
Let’s warm up this cold month with love and connections. From valentine cards to dressing up your pet, this month has...
-
Calendar Flip Spring Forward: March 2024 Holidays and Observances
Color us excited! From the wearin’ of the green and more sunny fun to colorful Holi festivals and celebrating crayons...
-
Calendar Flip Welcome a New Year: January 2024 Holidays and Observances
HAPPY NEW YEAR! If that hurt your head, you might have celebrated a little too much. When you’re feeling better, we h...
-
Christmas Christmas wishes: What to write in a Christmas card
Get sample messages, tips and watch our new video guide to write the perfect Christmas card.
-
Winter What is Lunar New Year?: Shining a light on a celebration shared by billions
Lunar New Year is celebrated by an estimated 2 billion people around the world. It’s a holiday that marks the arrival...
-
Winter Find your Chinese zodiac sign just in time for Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is the longest, most celebrated event for billions of people in Asian communities around the world. Ea...
-
Kids Free Black History Month coloring pages to celebrate with the family or in the classroom
There are so many way to celebrate Black History Month. And we absolutely love the ones that can be done as a family ...
-
Birthday 60+ winter birthday party ideas for kids and adults
Having a winter birthday can be pretty bittersweet. On one hand, there’s literally magic in the air around your big d...
-
Christmas 60+ Christmas appetizer ideas for any kind of holiday gathering
Gathering to share joy with the people we care about is one of the best things about Christmas. And while sitting dow...