63 Perfect White Elephant Gifts That'll Cost You Less Than $25 (2024)

FAQs

What are cheap white elephant gifts? ›

“There [are] some things that you can't go wrong with in general: beeswax candle sticks, pretty stationery, a box of chocolates, lottery tickets, a small bottle of rum if it's the right crowd to give alcohol to,” Smith says. “There are certain general things that can make for really fun gifts.”

After all, you're not buying for a specific person, anyone could end up with it! To get started on selecting the perfect gift, Isom Johnson suggests items such as throw blankets, coffee mugs, or even a themed gift such as a co*cktail shaker with ingredients for mixing a drink.

A: Most White Elephant gift exchanges or Yankee Swaps have a set price range to make sure everyone is gifting items of equal value, so check in with the person organizing the swap first. If you're still unsure, a good default range for a group of friends or coworkers is $10 to $25.

Nachosaurus snack holder, money toilet paper, Tamagotchi and Yodeling Pickle. The fast-paced, trade-based holiday gift swap goes by many names: White Elephant, Pollyanna, or, where I'm from, a Yankee Swap.

The white elephant gift is not supposed to be ordinary. That generally means no gift cards, nice clothes, or common home goods. The more unusual or garish, the better! The present should be wrapped, bagged, or otherwise obstructed, so you can't tell what it is before opening it.

The first person opens a wrapped gift, and the turn ends. On subsequent turns, each person has the choice to either unwrap a new present or to steal another's.

The White Elephant Game Rules

Sit in a circle and place the gifts in the center, preferably under a festive tree. The person who drew #1 selects a gift from the pile, opens it, and holds it up for all to see. The person who drew #2 decides whether to steal that gift or unwrap a mystery present from the pile.

As far as white elephant gifts ideas go, candles are always a winning option.

The best White Elephant gift for 2020 is surprisingly useful and potentially hard to find — toilet paper. You can score this locally, or you can pick up a 24 pack on Amazon for under $25, which is actually a deal in 2020.

Archer Roose was featured in ELLE as one of the best white elephant gifts you can give this Christmas. Who wouldn't want canned wine for the holidays? They wrote: “If you're picky about rosé in a can, this refreshing spirit will surprise you.

Are scratch offs a good white elephant gift? ›

Perfect White Elephant Gift! $15 worth of lotto scratchers and $1 frame from the dollar tree. Perfect White Elephant Gift!

Whoever drew #1 selects a gift from the mysterious pile of gifts, opens it, and reveals what it is to everyone. Whoever drew #2 can either select a gift from the pile or choose to steal #1's gift (this is where the dirty in "Dirty Santa" comes in). If #1's gift is stolen, they must choose a new gift.

What is a White Elephant gift exchange? White Elephant is a party game in which players bring wrapped gifts at a set price, such as $20. From there, they draw numbers and pick the gifts out one by one from the pile. They also have the option to steal.

The term white elephant refers to an extravagant, but impractical, gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The phrase is said to come from the historic practice of the King of Siam (now Thailand) giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, so that they might be ruined by the animals' upkeep costs.

In Secret Santa, there's so much pressure to pick the “perfect” gift for one person, but everyone has different interests and needs, making it difficult to choose. However, for White Elephant, finding a gift for someone is no longer a hassle; a simple and functional gift works for anyone.

Quartz has written an excellent and through explanation of the history of white elephants, which explains the cultural significance of gifting a white elephant to someone: “To possess a white elephant connoted political power, wealth and prosperity, great wisdom, and the love of one's people.