🎁 Winning white elephant

Author

Patrick Kucharson
December 06, 2022 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

This is Better Gift Coach, where even if the spending limit is $20, we’ll give you gift ideas that show you care a whole lot more than a homemade oven mitt's worth. We’re talking video iPod-level of caring.

Just to test the waters before I throw in more future The Office-related references, if you know, please simply reply to this email with what Kevin ended up with at the end of the gift exchange.

For any new subscribers, please know that you can freely access our library of past gift ideas.

Also, next week’s email will focus on last minute gift ideas.

Estimated read time: 1 minute & 57 seconds

🎁THE GIFT:

The “white elephant tradition gift" Gift

“Proudly, shamelessly, and gloriously brainless, it redefines "so bad it's good"...” describes the movie Sharknado. It’s about a killer tornado filled with sharks. Every year for our office’s white elephant (aka Yankee Swap) gift exchange, someone re-gifts the Sharknado DVD and accompanying DVD player. The eventual gift recipient is challenged to watch it and write a review that’s kept in the DVD’s inside cover. It’s regularly quoted/referenced around the office.

Brian from Colorado

What's the best gift you've ever received/given?

.

🌮 WHY THIS GIFT IS GREAT:

  • Wow

  • Group bonding rocket fuel

  • Irresistible annual tradition potential

.

📂 If this gift idea is save-worthy, create a “Gift Ideas” inbox folder & file it away for future use ~or~ find it again in our library.

Tags to find similar stories: less than $20, workplace, experience, last-minute, tradition

YOUR VERSION OF THIS GIFT

💡TIPS FOR YOUR GIFT:

For white elephant gift exchanges:

  • Give gifts with great tradition potential

  • If you receive a gift with great tradition potential, save it for next year

  • The group experience should overshadow the utility of the actual gifts exchanged

  • If compelled to give practical gifts, add something silly to it (like the wrapping job or a single sock)

White elephant gift ideas:

Just for you, I scoured Reddit to find a few personal favorites:

For Secret Santa gifts (you know who you’re buying for), consider inside joke gifts

🤔GIFT BRAINSTORMING PROMPTS:

  • Does your white elephant gift have annual tradition potential? ______

  • How can you add a dash of silly to your practical white elephant gift? _____

  • What group in your life should do a white elephant but doesn’t (until you step up) _____

▶️FORWARD THIS GIFT IDEA TO:

  • Everyone participating in your white elephant

And introduce them to your favorite 1-minute a week shortcut to always having awesome gift ideas well in advance. They can read past editions and subscribe here.

👂LET'S HEAR FROM YOU:

  • Reply to this email with the best white elephant gifts you’ve ever received/witnessed! For everyone’s enjoyment, we’ll share the best answers in a future email (if we receive enough).

🤓GIFT GIVING BY THE NUMBERS:

Move over pop vs soda vs coke debate...

😆GIF/MEME:

All the best,Patrick KucharsonBetter Gift Coach™

P.S. I’m very thankful for this newsletter being recognized in the December issue of Real Simple Magazine as a best tip for “finding ridiculously memorable gifts - on time & under budget”! Pick one up in the checkout aisle so you don't miss out on the other tips for winning gift-giving this holiday season.

Real Simple Magazine - December 2022

Want more? Here's a few of our past popular posts:🎁 Inspire the next Oprah🎁 Gift-giving’s most taboo question🎁 Almost everything has a cuter identical twin

Reply

or to participate.