Dirty Santa gift exchange: Yes or no?

[Ronni]

I think it's also called Yankee Swap or White Elephant Exchange, though here in the South I've only ever heard it called Dirty Santa. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, you buy a unisex gift, wrap it festively and add it to the pile of gifts to be exchanged. Then you draw numbers to place you in a specific order for choosing a gift. The game is "dirty" because it involves stealing a more desirable gift, or being stolen from, as folks take their turns choosing and unwrapping and/or taking someone else's unwrapped gift.

I don't much like these exchanges, though I'm invited to one or two every year. I much prefer to buy a gift that I've chosen for a specific person.

What about you? Do you like them?

 

[Aunt Bea]

I'm with you, I don't like them.

IMO they are a waste of money and miss the mark of what Christmas is all about.

I would prefer to toss a few bucks in the hat or purchase a nice gift for someone that would not have a good Christmas without a little help.

 

[RadishRose]

I don't care for them either. I much prefer the old "grab bag", or secret Santa.

 

[jujube]

They can be fun if done well. We had one at our office party once and the stipulation was that the item had to be bought at a garage sale or thrift shop and you couldn't pay more than $3 for it. The object was to find something as funny/awful/innovative as you could.

There were some doozies. For $2, I found a sort of "sculpture" (for lack of what else to call it) that was a big rock with a bunch of very sharp metal fern fronds sticking out of it. I put it in a box and at the last minute put pineapple and cheese chunks on the tips of the spears and wrapped the box. It was a big hit and was "stolen" several times. Someone else had a complete jewelry set made of shellacked Cheerios. Stuff like that. We all laughed our heads off.

 

[Gary O']

They can be fun if done well. We had one at our office party once and the stipulation was that the item had to be bought at a garage sale or thrift shop and you couldn't pay more than $3 for it. The object was to find something as funny/awful/innovative as you could.

There were some doozies. For $2, I found a sort of "sculpture" (for lack of what else to call it) that was a big rock with a bunch of very sharp metal fern fronds sticking out of it. I put it in a box and at the last minute put pineapple and cheese chunks on the tips of the spears and wrapped the box. It was a big hit and was "stolen" several times. Someone else had a complete jewelry set made of shellacked Cheerios. Stuff like that. We all laughed our heads off.

Yup

Those were fun

 

[RadishRose]

They can be fun if done well. We had one at our office party once and the stipulation was that the item had to be bought at a garage sale or thrift shop and you couldn't pay more than $3 for it. The object was to find something as funny/awful/innovative as you could.

There were some doozies. For $2, I found a sort of "sculpture" (for lack of what else to call it) that was a big rock with a bunch of very sharp metal fern fronds sticking out of it. I put it in a box and at the last minute put pineapple and cheese chunks on the tips of the spears and wrapped the box. It was a big hit and was "stolen" several times. Someone else had a complete jewelry set made of shellacked Cheerios. Stuff like that. We all laughed our heads off.

I never thought of a theme like that. Done this way, I'd enjoy it!

 

[C'est Moi]

Never heard it called dirty Santa, but I can't stand the white elephant things. But I'm a humbug so what do I know.

 

[peppermint]

My friend has a Christmas party after Christmas...We bring a gift that we have and never used....It can be anything...sometimes funny things....The funniest item I took one year was a Mexican item, it
was a painted Mexican face...We were in a Hotel when we got a phone call to go to a dinner, it ended up to be a boring guy trying to get the people to buy a Time Share...We opt out and took the
Mexican face....So this Mexican face get's around every year at the party....We get a number and you pick the package....It's a fun time and many laughs...

 

[Tommy]

Jujube's version sounds like fun!

:grin:

 

[AnneTeak]

I went to a gift exchange yesterday. Because I am a quilter, I carefully chose themed fabric and made a pillowcase. The fabric was a little above the dollar limit we were sposed to spend. The recipient loved it. I went home with some cheap gift that probably was purchased at the dollar store which I trashed when I got home. Most, if not all, gifts were purchased at the Dollar Store despite the $20 limit. I was pretty disgusted. Next year, dollar store it is.