Secret Santa-style gift exchanges are supposed to alleviate the stress of finding presents and add a little fun into the mix -- but for many, they come with their own sets of hassles. On the one hand, finding a gift for these events often gets pushed down to the bottom of the December to-do list, to the point that you find yourself in a gas station convenience store on the way to a party, trying to find something that will be sure to please any one of a dozen possible recipients.
On the other, receiving the gifts often isn't very much fun. About 50% of the carefully-wrapped items at the typical Secret Santa or gift-exchange party come from the liquor store, and the other half are artfully-disguised gift cards from coffee chains and big box outlets.
Here are two alternative holiday gift-giving exchange ideas that you can use in the office or with your friends. Both put a bit of fun into finding the "right" gift, take some of the hassle out of the season. They even offer benefits to your community in the process:
THE "LOCAL BUSINESSES ONLY" GIFT CARD EXCHANGE
In an interview last year with the CBC, Bruce Cran, president of the Consumer Associaton of Canada, estimated that one in four gift cards goes unredeemed. So if you're going to give a gift card, you want to at least be sure that the store you buy it from is one you actively want to support.
An independent-stores-only gift card or gift certificate exchange removes the pressure of finding any one acceptable gift. This alternative gift exchange is great for neighbours supporting the local retail strip, co-workers trying to keep a little diversity in the nearby plaza, or old high school friends doing their part to keep a small-town main street thriving. Gift cards from small shops can also turn into experiential gifts, letting cheddar-only Charlie discover his inner foodie at the cheese boutique, or reminding Tina-the-techie how good printed pages can feel as she pokes around that quirky independent book store.
THE RE-GIFT EXCHANGE GAME
This is a twist on the "Yankee Swap" gift exchange game, in which every player brings a wrapped unmarked gift. In this case, though, the gift must be an item the giver once received herself -- perhaps from a half-forgotten employer, a distant aunt, or even from last year's Secret Santa. The beauty of the re-gift exchange is that it is doesn't require any shopping, and is environmentally friendly -- re-using being the second of the eco-friendly "Three Rs".
Fruit cakes, smutty "novelty" christmas tree ornaments, bottles of home-made cordial, fruit cakes, reindeer sweaters, battery-powered pepper mills, Bart Simpson neck ties, and even fruit cakes all make excellent re-gifts.
The Rules (like a standard Yankee Swap)
1. To begin, everyone puts their wrapped re-gift in a pile.
2. The first player selects an item from the pile, and unwraps it.
3. The second player then picks a wrapped gift, unwraps it, and has a choice of either keeping that gift or trading it for the first players gift.
4. The next player unwraps a gift and then can choose to keep it, or swap it for any other unwrapped gift, and so on.
5. Once everyone has a re-gift, the first player gets one last chance to make a swap, ideally sticking some unlucky soul with something truly hideous.
The re-gift exchange can be made more fun by adding the following guidelines:
1. After a player unwraps a gift, she must praise that gift: "My, what a lovely ... egg slicer?"
2. The person who brought the gift explains its provenance (ideally, in an 'Antiques Roadshow'-type accent): "I once mentioned to an old boyfriend that I liked salad nicoise, and next Valentine's Day, voila!"
3. The recipient must then thank the giver as sincerely as humanly possible for the gift. Useful phrases include: "I've looked at these in stores!", "It's exactly my colours!", "I'll save it for when the in-laws visit", and "How did you know...?"
4. People will ask if they can bring more than one re-gift, hoping to clear out their basements and crawl spaces. As a rule of thumb, a guest can bring as many re-gifts as he likes, but he must go home with as many as he arrived with.
Using recycled wrapping for the re-gift exchange is also encouraged, whether it's carefully folded pink tissue paper from last Valentine's Day, or merely an old pair of sweat pants.
The re-gifting guidelines above can be a great way to break the ice when you bring two social circles together, or to catch up with old friends you haven't seen in ages. But the point, whatever you do this holiday season, is to have fun.
Here are two alternative holiday gift-giving exchange ideas that you can use in the office or with your friends. Both put a bit of fun into finding the "right" gift, take some of the hassle out of the season. They even offer benefits to your community in the process:
THE "LOCAL BUSINESSES ONLY" GIFT CARD EXCHANGE
In an interview last year with the CBC, Bruce Cran, president of the Consumer Associaton of Canada, estimated that one in four gift cards goes unredeemed. So if you're going to give a gift card, you want to at least be sure that the store you buy it from is one you actively want to support.
An independent-stores-only gift card or gift certificate exchange removes the pressure of finding any one acceptable gift. This alternative gift exchange is great for neighbours supporting the local retail strip, co-workers trying to keep a little diversity in the nearby plaza, or old high school friends doing their part to keep a small-town main street thriving. Gift cards from small shops can also turn into experiential gifts, letting cheddar-only Charlie discover his inner foodie at the cheese boutique, or reminding Tina-the-techie how good printed pages can feel as she pokes around that quirky independent book store.
THE RE-GIFT EXCHANGE GAME
This is a twist on the "Yankee Swap" gift exchange game, in which every player brings a wrapped unmarked gift. In this case, though, the gift must be an item the giver once received herself -- perhaps from a half-forgotten employer, a distant aunt, or even from last year's Secret Santa. The beauty of the re-gift exchange is that it is doesn't require any shopping, and is environmentally friendly -- re-using being the second of the eco-friendly "Three Rs".
Fruit cakes, smutty "novelty" christmas tree ornaments, bottles of home-made cordial, fruit cakes, reindeer sweaters, battery-powered pepper mills, Bart Simpson neck ties, and even fruit cakes all make excellent re-gifts.
The Rules (like a standard Yankee Swap)
1. To begin, everyone puts their wrapped re-gift in a pile.
2. The first player selects an item from the pile, and unwraps it.
3. The second player then picks a wrapped gift, unwraps it, and has a choice of either keeping that gift or trading it for the first players gift.
4. The next player unwraps a gift and then can choose to keep it, or swap it for any other unwrapped gift, and so on.
5. Once everyone has a re-gift, the first player gets one last chance to make a swap, ideally sticking some unlucky soul with something truly hideous.
The re-gift exchange can be made more fun by adding the following guidelines:
1. After a player unwraps a gift, she must praise that gift: "My, what a lovely ... egg slicer?"
2. The person who brought the gift explains its provenance (ideally, in an 'Antiques Roadshow'-type accent): "I once mentioned to an old boyfriend that I liked salad nicoise, and next Valentine's Day, voila!"
3. The recipient must then thank the giver as sincerely as humanly possible for the gift. Useful phrases include: "I've looked at these in stores!", "It's exactly my colours!", "I'll save it for when the in-laws visit", and "How did you know...?"
4. People will ask if they can bring more than one re-gift, hoping to clear out their basements and crawl spaces. As a rule of thumb, a guest can bring as many re-gifts as he likes, but he must go home with as many as he arrived with.
Using recycled wrapping for the re-gift exchange is also encouraged, whether it's carefully folded pink tissue paper from last Valentine's Day, or merely an old pair of sweat pants.
The re-gifting guidelines above can be a great way to break the ice when you bring two social circles together, or to catch up with old friends you haven't seen in ages. But the point, whatever you do this holiday season, is to have fun.
1
Nathan Paul Prince 12/16/09 @ 12:09PM
And don't forget that some people in smaller communities do enjoy the rule of thumb to "only give a gift you have made yourself"... this keeps arts and crafts alive in a time of electronics and mass consumerism. Just a thought - I prefer the "locally owned, locally made" idea myself - in the form of a gift card - though it takes the whole event of looking for that perfect something yourself and somehow seems impersonal for some reason.