White elephant has become a popular gifting game for the holiday season and is now an annual tradition throughout many families, offices and classrooms. Finding the right gift that anyone will love can be difficult – especially one that is both affordable yet also doesn’t feel cheap – however, this list has loads of gifts that are exactly that.
Below are the answers to a few white elephant related frequently asked questions but feel free to skip on to our list of gift ideas if you are an experienced white elephant participant.
Why is it called a ‘white elephant’ gift exchange?
A white elephant gift is derived from a story about the King of Siam (which would now be Thailand) who gave rare albino elephants to courtiers who he disliked. A white elephant is expensive to maintain so the king knew that the gift would be a burden to its new owners. So the point of a white elephant gift is that the gift is to be ‘useless’ or a burden, however, most gift givers in white elephant gift exchanges do try to give a gift that is useful or that are at least funny.
What are the rules of a white elephant gift exchange?
Each participant in the gift exchange brings a gift (the value of each can be of similar value or random depending on what the participants have agreed upon), players then draws a number which will determine the order gifts are unwrapped. The player with the lowest number opens their gift first and so on with each gift choosing a gift randomly or choosing the git assigned to their number if the participants have agreed to set it up that way.
Some gift exchanges also incorporate ‘stealing’ gifts when it’s your turn but in the end the final participant with the highest number chooses or steals a gift and everyone has a gift.
What is a good white elephant gift?
A good white elephant gift is something which can be appreciated and used by anyone as the gift will be received by a random recipient. This includes your classic gift ideas like a mug or blanket as well as all the other ideas listed below.
Let’s get started with this list that has all the best white elephant gift ideas which are sure to be loved no matter who the recipient of your gift is!
1. Popcorn Bowl
A popcorn bowl is something that can be enjoyed by anyone and makes for an extremely practical gift that can be used time after time by your white elephant gift recipient for all their future movie nights.
2. A Battery Pack or Portable Charger
Who doesn’t need a little extra charge for their phone some days? This is a really cool gift that you will likely want to get two of so that you can keep one for yourself.
3. NEOM Gift Set
You will be hard stretched to find someone who wouldn’t love this additional little trio to incorporate into their beauty routine (not to mention that just about anyone will be able to appreciate just how cute the packaging is).
4. Coloured Markers
You don’t have to be an artist to appreciate a quality set of coloured markers and they are something that definitely come in handy from time to time even if you aren’t an active artist in your spare time.
5. Milk Frother
This is something that is extra handy to have sitting in your kitchen drawer when you want to make your at home beverages a little bit more ✨professional✨. This makes for a particularly great white elephant gift for Christmas time as your recipient can use it to make hot chocolates throughout the festive season.
6. Moon Lamp
A moon lamp makes for such a cool piece of decor for any room of the house and is something that fits just about anyone’s decor style really. 🌝✨
7. Fancy Potato Crisps Tin
This was good enough to reach Oprah’s favourite things which means it is sure to be good enough for your white elephant gift recipient. Seriously though… who wouldn’t want a large tin of some extra fancy and tasty potato crisps.
8. Portable Mini Humidifier
This is such a pretty little gadget which can be used to make any space smell extra beautiful and is also surprisingly affordable too!
9. Bath Bomb Set
A luxury bath is something which can really be enjoyed by anyone which is why bath bombs make for such a nice white elephant gift idea.
10. Travel Bag
A travel bag makes for a super practical gift which gives your recipient a bag with lots of compartments for organising all their travel essentials.
11. Cosy Blanket
You can always do with an extra cute and cosy blanket during wintertime which makes it such a great white elephant gift idea.
12. A Festive Mug
A Christmas mug makes your daily hot beverages during the festive season so much more enjoyable and can also make for a great unintentional piece of kitchen Christmas decor.
13. Planner
A planner is something we all need in our life and is something your recipient is sure to get a lot of use out of.
14. Astronaut Projector
Not much of an explanation required for why someone might want this gadget… projecting galaxy stars is cool.
15. Gingerbread Shaped Chocolates
Hotel Chocolat has the nicest chocolate gift sets for Christmas – with an array of different chocolatey flavours – and make for such a great gift idea that anyone is sure to love. Side note: These chocolates would also make for a really great stocking filler idea!
16. High Quality Hot Chocolate
Fancy chocolate flakes are something I have found to really be a game changer for hot chocolates. Some fancy hot chocolate flakes like these are sure to seriously step up your gift recipient’s hot chocolate game.
17. Blue Light Blocking Glasses
These are a such great way to protect your eyes from the damage that can be done by too much screen time.
18. Scalp Massager
A scalp massager is such a must for a haircare routine and is something which many people are yet to include in theirs. This is a really great gift for whoever ends up receiving your white elephant gift as they likely won’t have one of these already.
19. Rechargeable Candle Lighter
Lighting candles can often be a hassle and this little gadget totally takes that hassle away. If you are feeling generous you may want to gift this alongside a candle!
20. Summer Fridays Hot Cocoa Lip Balm
A lip balm is an essential which everyone needs at least one of for their bags which makes this a gift that anyone is sure to get a lot of use out of.
21. Book Light
We’ve all been there at night trying to use our phone torch to read a book and understand why it just really isn’t ideal so the chances are your gift recipient is the same. Late night reading or studying is sure to be a breeze for whoever is the recipient of this white elephant gift.
22. A Candle
This is always a timeless gift idea that you can’t really go wrong with. A really nice candle likes this also makes for such a nice Christmas gift for your mom or someone else who you might not know what to get.
23. Pickleball Paddles
This set of pickleball paddles is such a great bargain for the price and makes for the perfect introductory set for a new player.
24. S’more’s Maker
S’mores make for such a great wintertime snack and having this maker just makes the snack so much easier (and better) to make at home during the festive season.
Hope you liked these white elephant gift ideas and have found some inspiration for your upcoming white elephant gift exchange! Thanks for reading! 🙂
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