White Elephant Gift Ideas

The best white elephant gifts make the room laugh and then start a fight over who keeps them. Top white elephant gifts use a picture the whole group knows, because anyone could end up with them: last year's Christmas party, the office dog, the snowman that fell over. On a Printerpix mug or jigsaw puzzle, that is an awesome gift to steal.

Fun white elephant gifts get their laugh the moment the wrapping comes off. Try a pillow with the group's most dramatic selfie, a mug of the burnt barbecue with a caption you write yourself, or a puzzle of the worst group photo ever taken. Gag gifts like these still get used after the party is over.

Work white elephant gifts should be funny without embarrassing anyone. The best office picks use a picture everybody on the team is already in: the softball team's loss, the break room plant that refuses to die. A mug fits any desk and coasters suit any coworker. Keep it to what you would happily show the whole company.

A good dirty Santa gift is one people fight over, which is the whole game. Dirty Santa gifts for adults can stay friendly and still earn the laugh: try a puzzle of your friends' silliest road trip or a pillow with a ridiculous family portrait. Check that every person in the picture will laugh too.

A Yankee swap is the New England name for a white elephant exchange, and the best Yankee swap gifts get swapped more than once. Bring something funny that is still worth keeping, such as a mug of the neighborhood's legendary snowman or a jigsaw puzzle of the street decked out for the block party. Those stay in play until the last turn.

Since you never know who will open it, unisex white elephant gifts are the safest bet. Coasters of a beloved local diner or a mouse pad with the group's pet suit men and women alike. If your crew is mostly guys, a mug from the fishing trip that caught nothing gets a laugh from everyone there.

Family white elephant gifts work best with old pictures everybody remembers. Try a puzzle of your parents' most questionable vacation outfits or a mug of Grandpa's famous turkey disaster. For teens, a mouse pad of the cousins pulling faces is the one they will actually steal. Practical gifts like these get used long after the holidays.

In Secret Santa you draw one name and shop for that person. In a white elephant exchange nobody knows who will end up with your gift, because players open or steal in turn. So choose a photo everyone there will recognize. If you drew a name instead, our Secret Santa gift ideas are the better place to start.