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November 6, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Christmas Gift Guide: White Elephant Gift Ideas

Christmas· Seasonal

It’s time for the 2020 gift guide! I always love scouring the web for the best gifts to give to my family and friends, and I like to put all that research to good use and share what I find with you. Today, I’m sharing a whopping 100 White Elephant gift exchange ideas! 

White Elephant gift exchange ideas

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. 

Do you ever play White Elephant?

I’ve also heard it referred to as Dirty Santa or Yankee Swap (although, I like White Elephant a lot better!), but whatever you call it, it’s a hilarious and never full game to play at Christmas parties, and we usually find ourselves attending at least one or two events where it’s played!

This year things are, ahem, a little different, and there’s no telling what kind of gatherings you might have happening – if any!

But, whether you’ll be playing White Elephant this year or not, I think we could always all use a good, solid list of little (sometimes silly) gift ideas, right?

Honestly, I think the most fun part of playing White Elephant is coming up with a witty and unique gift to bring. There’s nothing more satisfying than bringing the gift that makes the whole room explode with laughter and gets traded around all night long. But, it can be tough to find good gifts within the price limit (ours is usually $20-$25), so I wanted to share a monster list of ideas to ensure you can find something that’s perfect for your White Elephant party, your small family gathering, or just a silly gift to ship to a friend!

But first, just in case you do have an opportunity for this fun little Christmas tradition and don’t know how to play White Elephant, here’s a quick rundown of the rules:

White Elephant Gift Exchange Rules

Note: There’s no one way to play White Elephant – most people play with house rules. But, I’ve played with tons of different groups over the years and these rules seem to be the most common. 

  • Place all of the gifts in the center of the room and make small, numbered slips of paper – you’ll need enough for each person playing to have a number.
  • Put them all in a bowl, and have everyone participating draw a number.
  • #1 will go first – they go to the center of the room then choose and open any gift they like.
  • Now it’s #2’s turn. They have a choice – they can either choose a new gift from the pile or steal the gift that #1 opened.
  • If they open a new gift, it moves on to #3 (who then has the same options); if they steal a gift, then the person they stole from now has the opportunity to choose a new gift.
  • If your gift is stolen from you, you can either open a new gift from the pile or steal a gift from someone else (you may not steal back what was just stolen!).
  • Continue until everyone has had a chance to open or steal a gift. Each time someone takes a turn, they can steal any opened gift or open a new gift.
  • Once a gift has been stolen three times (meaning, once it lands in the hands of the fourth person to have it), it cannot be stolen anymore.
  • When everyone has had a turn, #1 gets to go again – they have the opportunity to choose any opened gift (unless it’s been “locked” by being stolen 3 times). If #1 decides to keep their gift, the game is over – but if they’d like, they can trade gifts with anyone in the room who has a gift available for stealing.

It’s a really simple game, but it’s pretty much guaranteed to bring lots of laughter. We’ve had gifts that show up year after year at certain parties, we’ve had rivalries that continue throughout the years, and we’ve had some years where we actually get some pretty good gifts!

Are you ready for the ideas? Before we dive in, let me give some context for the uninitiated – generally speaking, White Elephant gifts are gag gifts. Typically at every party you’ll have a handful of actual good gifts (lottery tickets, alcohol, and hot chocolate sets are popular in our groups!), but the majority of the gifts should be funny, silly, or downright weird.

White Elephant Gift Exchange Ideas

Here are more than 50 (UPDATED: There are now 100 gifts ideas!) of our best gift ideas for playing White Elephant. Since most White Elephant gift exchanges have a price limit, everything linked below is $25 or less! I’ve broken the gifts into five categories (books, games, gadgets, random, and Christmas-themed), so just scroll to the category you’re interested in and check the gifts out!

White Elephant Book Ideas

BOOKS:

  1. The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions
  2. 101 So Bad, They’re Good Dad Jokes
  3. How to Traumatize Your Children
  4. The Totally Awesome Book of Useless Information
  5. Bad Days in History
  6. Does it Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence
  7. The Book of General Ignorance
  8. Celebrity Mugshots Adult Coloring Book
  9. What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
  10. Home Sweet Home Adult Mad Libs
  11. All My Friends Are Dead
  12. Damn You, Autocorrect
  13. 52 Things to Do While You Poo
  14. #Dadlife: A Manly Adult Coloring Book
  15. #Momlife: A Snarky Adult Coloring Book
  16. Awkward Family Photos
  17. Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes
  18. Can Holding In A Fart Kill You?
  19. Crap Taxidermy
  20. The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook
White Elephant gift guide

GADGETS:

  1. Microwave S’Mores Maker
  2. Mini Tube Guy
  3. LED Toilet Night Light
  4. Tamagotchi
  5. Banana Storage Case
  6. Justin Bieber Singing Toothbrush
  7. Personal Fondue Mugs
  8. App Enabled Smart Egg Tray
  9. Dwight Schrute Talking Keychain
  10. Cable Bite
  11. Smoko Food Light
  12. World’s Smallest Vacuum
  13. That’s What She Said Button
  14. Multi Voice Changer
  15. Hidden Meowing Cat
  16. Circular Saw Pizza Wheel
  17. Whisk Wiper
  18. Talking Toilet Paper Spindle
  19. Tech Neck Hands-Free Device Collar
  20. iArm Forearm Mount
White Elephant games ideas

GAMES:

  1. Watch Ya Mouth Game
  2. Pass the Pigs
  3. Farkle
  4. Pie Face
  5. Exploding Kittens
  6. Heads Up
  7. Hedbanz
  8. Things They Don’t Teach You In School Game
  9. I Should Have Known That!
  10. If You Had To Game
  11. The Office Downsizing Game
  12. World’s Smallest Uno
  13. Frozen Unicorns
  14. Beanboozled
  15. Taco vs. Burrito
  16. The Upside Down Challenge Game
  17. Deer Pong
  18. Brain Freeze
  19. The Awkward Storyteller
  20. Artsy Fartsy
funny white elephant gift exchange ideas

RANDOM:

  1. You’ve Just Been Poisoned Mug
  2. Bob Ross Chia Pet
  3. Tiny Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
  4. I Adulted! Stickers for Grown-Ups
  5. 100 Movies Scratch-Off Poster
  6. Self-Watering Dinosaur Planter
  7. 100 Things To Do After Quarantine
  8. Work From Home Survival Kit
  9. Build Your Own Robot Kit
  10. Dinosaur Taco Holders
  11. Shrimp Neck Pillow
  12. Shakespearean Insult Bandages
  13. Potty Putter Toilet Golf Game
  14. The Zombie Survival Guide Deck
  15. Passive Aggressive Note Pad
  16. Cat Butt Magnets
  17. Silicone Shower Coffee Holder
  18. Slang Flash Cards
  19. Tortilla Blanket
  20. Wooden Labyrinth
funny white elephant gifts

CHRISTMAS-THEMED:

  1. Leg Lamp Nightlight
  2. Ugly Christmas Sweater Adult Coloring Book
  3. Light Up Christmas Bulb Necklace
  4. Christmas Headbands
  5. Christmas Tree Hat
  6. Novelty Christmas Sunglasses
  7. Amazing Growing Christmas Tree
  8. Ugly Holiday Sweater Puzzle
  9. Toilet Paper Christmas Ornament
  10. Christmas Refrigerator Door Handle Covers
  11. Snowman Toilet Seat Cover Set
  12. Pickle Tree Ornament
  13. Novelty Christmas Tree Hat
  14. 12-Pack Novelty Christmas Socks
  15. Reindeer Antler Toss Game
  16. Santa Hat Silverware Holders
  17. Beard Ornaments
  18. Christmas Tree Plunger
  19. Snowman Refrigerator Magnets
  20. Christmas Scavenger Hunt Game

BONUS IDEA: Get one of these prank gift boxes and wrap an actual good gift inside!

I’d love to hear what your favorite White Elephant gifts are! One year, Corey had the idea to save all of our used gift cards for the whole year and buy one new one – then, we’d package up a bunch of empty gift cards and hide one real one in there. We both thought it was hilarious but haven’t had the stamina to remember to save the gift cards! Maybe next year…

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