White Elephant/Yankee Swap!

[badunnin]

So, for German Club this year, we (ahem, I) decided we were getting too big to do Secret Santa, so I introduced my kids to White Elephant swapping, and I got the BEST GIFT EVER as a result. I pulled number 14 out of 18, a very advantageous pull I must say. I ended up getting... this. And I think the only reason I didn't have it stolen from me is because everyone (there were 16 boys, Bridget and myself) feared the Wrath of Frau if they did. ;) The set is now in my classroom, to be used for all kinds of fun and games, and all the kids want to take German.


http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000H95WB6.01-A23NLORBGXOLEO._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_V61037667_.jpg

So, what is the best or worst or most memorable gift you've ever received in a swap?

[raka1214]

Oh I have such a love/hate relationship with this particular game - I seem to always be seated next to the person who just cannot get through this game without pitching a FIT!

Anyway, to the question at hand - I think any smelling gift is a bad gift, I never like the scent so it just gets thrown away or regifted - but only if I am SURE someone will like it.

I think the BEST gift to receive is Christmas ornaments - always a special treat for me.

So glad you got a GREAT gift and that your students will enjoy it as well!

[MNGirlTX]

Awesome!

My dad's family does this every year...this year I got a bunch of bathroom stuff - you know lotions, bubbles, etc. But it's better than the package that was stolen from me - screws and nails for a nail gun. My dad picked bungie cords and they were stolen from him, too. I have 2 uncles who are very good at buying things THEY want and stealing them back. :D

Lori

[KristaMB]

Last year at my friend's annual swap we took home a bottle of good vodka. It was quite the prize! (Other gifts were a new toilet seat, a dancing perverted elf, a cat shaped massager, an obnoxious set of candlesticks...) This year we weren't quite so lucky. We came home with a dragon holding a crystal ball that lights up and changes colors (DS age 5 actually loves it!) and a black and silver glittery goblet that spells out in large letters "Ho Fo Sho." Actually, this year there weren't any gifts worth stealing. We all got a little carried away in the gaudy and tacky department. :rolleyes::p

[jjsooner73]

That's awesome Bethany!

I think the worst I've ever received was a container of butt cream. :rolleyes: Of course, the gifts that party were along the lines of vaseline, g-string w/ a '****' (rooster) attached, a blow up sheep, . . . you get the idea. :) We were all mid-20s or so.

[Canice]

Well! No wonder you're gloating: Do those sticks read "Bethany" across them?? ;)

This might sound unbelievable, but I'd never participated in/heard of this game until I was well into my 20s and we held one at a client lunch at Christmastime. I don't recall what the price limit was, but it was awfully low - maybe $5. I had *no idea* what I was supposed to come up with, and it ended up being something REALLY lame. I mean, REALLY lame. I think it was a "decorative" tin with some candies in it. I told a dear (and more seasoned) friend of my humiliation later, and he said, "at that price point you buy a Slinky." A Slinky? Who knew!

Only one more such event followed until 2004, when I was freelancing at an interactive agency with about 25 twenty-somethings. This time the price limit was $20. I felt like some grandmotherly figure, poised to give nose drops and dental floss. I consulted my expert. "Jägermeister" was the one-word response. Hotd@mn, it was a hit! Well, if not a "hit" it was a LOT better received than the "'decorative' tin with candies"!

Sorry. This wasn't the thread about the lamest gift you ever gave at a Yankee Swap? :o

[testkitchen45]

So, for German Club this year . . .

Check out the current thread about the giveaway cookbook in German. You might need it! :)

[badunnin]

Liquor is always a hot item, but not appropriate with kids. ;) Of course, there are days when I definitely need it! :D

Canice - I did my first swap last year, with a class actually. It's a much lower-stress way of gifting. I don't have issues with "but I really don't like this person!"

I also have a Backstreet Boys CD that the final recipient didn't want, so it became a classroom item. Last year the most memorable gift swapped was a box of Saltines (which came in handy, as I came down with a stomach bug that morning and by the time the swap rolled around I was feeling pretty green!).

[LakeMartinGal]

This year's prize was a pig that, (hhhmm) "dropped" brown jelly bellies...

[LakeMartinGal]

This year's prize was a pig that, (hhhmm) "dropped" brown jelly bellies... Oh! And a rooster whose battery was also in the elimination area...:rolleyes: :D