White Elephant Gifts
Updated by Shannon Ratliff
How to Throw a White Elephant Exchange
When you host or attend a white elephant exchange, it’s expected that you wrap – and bring along - a funny, useless, silly, or flat-out weird gift. There are a few ways that white elephant exchanges are organized. This is often a great way to get rid of items around your home – and gain a new one in the process. Some hosts ask that the White Elephant gifts are something you already own. Others encourage attendees to bring a new product along, but with a monetary limit. You might bring along adult coloring books or a box of hot sauce – there’s no wrong way to play the game!
Note
: This game may also be called Dirty Santa or Yankee Swap.
Looking for White Elephant Gifts?
Since White Elephant gifts usually need to fall under a certain value, we’ve compiled a quick list of our top “under $20” subscription boxes. Keep scrolling for some of our favorite picks!
Hot Sauce of the Month Club - Monthly
Shipping: Orders placed now will ship January 1st. You can use our printable gift notes or send a gift email to notify the recipient. If you'd like to have your box shipped early, let us know by replying to the confirmation email.
Customer Review
the oddball club
Shipping: Orders placed today ship by Feb. 17th. All boxes ship on the 17th of each month. Subscriptions renew monthly.
Customer Review
Succulents Box
Shipping: Your first box ships 3 business days after purchase. Your next box will ship between the 18th-20th each month. Your plant will be meticulously wrapped in bubble wrap and tissue papers and shipped in a sturdy box. Most 2" plants are shipped in their original plastic pot with soil. *** All of our packages are sterilized before leaving the door.
Customer Review
Piquant Post Flavor Kits
Shipping: Now taking orders for the Oct box! An order today ships ~Oct 10** Subsequent months always ship on the ~15th of each month.** Use Cratejoy gift email feature to select a date to send a gift message. Join 10's of 1000's of customers across the globe with best spice club on the market and take your home cooking global!
Customer Review
The ManBox
Shipping: All subsequent boxes ship between the 21st & 25th of each month.
Customer Review
Fun Sock Subscription Box
Shipping: Your first box will ship within 48 business hours after your order is placed. For existing subscribers, your box will ship on the same day you placed your order.
Customer Review
Spice Madam Monthly Subscription 🌏✈️
Shipping: The 1st box of your subscription ships during the 3rd week of the month following your order. For example, if you order on May 25th, your 1st box will ship around June 18th. Perfect for date night, dinner clubs, family meals or home-schooling.
Customer Review
How to Play White Elephant Exchange
There are a few variations of White Elephant parties, but the official rules are as follows:
1. One Gift Per Player
It’s the host’s responsibility to provide attendees with instructions. They might encourage a useful or hilarious item that’s laying around their home or they might set a maximum price limit for new gifts.
2. Pick a Number
The host will write the number of players on slips of paper. Attendees will draw random numbers to determine the order they’ll play.
3. Start the Game
Players will sit in a circle around the wrapped gifts. Player 1 will select and open any gift of their choosing. It’s important that everyone can see what they’ve opened.
4. Let the Swap Begin
The following players can pick any unwrapped gift in the center of the circle or steal another player’s opened selection.Let’s say that Player 4 steals Player 3’s opened gift. This means that Player 3 can choose a new gift from the center or steal a present from Player 2 or 1.
Note
: A gift can only be “stolen” once per turn.
5. The Game Ends When…
After all of the White Elephant players have played, Player 1 has a final chance to take anything they have their eye on. If a person’s gift is stolen, they can select from someone else (who hasn’t been stolen from).
When a White Elephant participant has the opportunity for a final steal – but declines the opportunity – the game has ended. Otherwise, the game ends when there is no person left to steal from.
