Is dirty santa the same as Pollyanna? I have never heard of dirty santa.

Dirty Santa? I thought maybe you wanted to surprise someone with a naughty/erotic xmas gift but obviously that's not the case. Please explain..

LOL. Okay, from my understanding it's played like this.

You have let's say...10 people.

Each person draws a number from 1 to 10.

#1 gets to pick out an unwrapped gift first. They open it. I'm not sure if #1 can exchange it for another unwrapped gift though, someone will have to fill us in.

#2 and so on, they can either take the openend gift from #1 or choose another unwrapped gift under the tree.

Ditto for the rest of the people in order of their numbers.

Basically the higher the number you draw the better.

We're not going to do gag gifts, these will be fun and decent. Some give wine, ornaments, etc.

I really thought she was talking about naughty/erotic gifts too, and thought...gee wouldn't that be awkward with her son's in-laws there? LOL- smacking head! Now I've played that before, but I've never heard it called that before.

Never done this with family or at work (although hubby's work does have a big to-do and they play games), but have done it at Christmas parties. Some ideas:

candles
picture frame
calendar
good chocolates
flavored/fancy coffees
car wash gift certificates

it is harder when it's unisex. Most times we do a female gift and a male gift.

We've been married 28 years and have never spent a Christmas just the two of us. We always have our time alone - but always have celebrated with family and/or friends. Oakley, are any of your parents/inlaws living? No family in your area? We have friends (older than us) who would be alone for Thanksgiving at time as their children are married and live away from here. But rather than do that, they open their home to extended family and friends - especially those who might not have somewhere else to go.

My FIL passed away several years ago, but he and my MIL and my parents knew each other before hubby and I wed. After that, we just kind of became one big family and included each family at gatherings. My MIL came here with all my family for Thanksgiving. Sometimes her MAN FRIEND comes too! HA!

tina

Ooooh... I was thinking erotic, too. LOL. We call this a Yankee Swap. We do it every year with our dinner club, which is about 14 people, and it's always fun. Some people bring normal stuff, but some people re-gift something from the holidays (we do it in Jan.) and others just bring funny gifts in general. A $10 limit is tricky, but I like tina's ideas above. One year I got a book called "The Book of Birthdays" which I enjoyed. Kind of a fun book for anyone -- everyone at the party was looking up their birthdays.

Here is a link that might be useful: birthday book

Oakley - we did that at work last year instead of secret santa and name drawing. It was a big hit! Our limit was $20-25 and the fun part was seeing the creativity of gifts and the uniqueness of what each person was interested in. We had a country ham (very popular), nice picture frames, gift cards, small digital album, a "movie night basket", pocket knife, hand-tools, cozy throw. People can get very creative with the Christmas sales and come up with some nice uni-sex gifts. The movie night basket was a cute plastic tub (cheap) with two small fleece stadium throws - $3 at Garden Ridge, a couple of popular DVD's (reduced price), microwave popcorn, and I think some chocolates or something like that.

I am modeling my gift this year along the same lines, but with a coffee theme. It will include a large can of good old Maxwell House coffee, a nice tin of hot chocolate mix, an instant cappucino mix, a cheap pack of filters, two cute mugs (not Christmas), and some Ghirardelli chocolates. Now I am on the prowl for a cheap but decent looking tray to present this on and will wrap it in see-thru wrap. Will this interest everyone? No, but I know my co-workers and I think it will interest those who have family in for the holidays, are on a budget, etc. All useful (but enjoyable) items.

Tina gave you some good ideas for your $10 list. I will also add unique Christmas ornaments. There is nothing more exciting than getting out your decorations next year and finding those new ones you forgot about that you bought on clearance after the holiday or received as a gift. Another thing - fast-food gift cards. I know - gift cards are being used too much, but believe it or not - they guys love them. One year my DD told me to get some for her DH (stocking stuffers), because he usually takes his lunch, but occasionally gets caught out in the field at lunch time with no cash. It was always nice to have the fast-food cards, even if it was just to use the drive-thru for a shake or soft-drink.

We have a large family get-together with DH's family and the ladies all do an ornament exchange ($5.00) in the form of a game where it gets exchanged several times. One of the nieces reads a game poem tht give the directions of the passes (example, pass right, pass left, take ornament from person two places to your right, etc.). My 28 year old DD was talking at Thanksgiving about the gorgeous "blingy silver star" type ornament that got away. All the 20-somethings gals worked hard on that one!
The guys just go to the basement and play Rook while we are doing this.

Oakley, It will be fun!

Tuesday

We do this in my family. When we are together on Thanksgiving we pick a tile out of the scrabble game and everyone who want to participate finds a gift starting with the letter that is picked. Our limit is $20. This year it is A. My family leans towards organic/garden accessory type gifts, so I'm sure there will be an amethyst or two. One year it was S and the iron garden snail was a huge hit!
We never had an official name for this exchange, but your dirty santa post definetly caught my attention!

There are various names for Dirty Santa. White Elephant, Chinese something or other, Yankee Swap, etc. Here in OK. it's just Dirty Santa.

Tina, I'm the only family member in the state now. Excluding my children, their families and dh. Mom lives with my brother in MO. My other relatives are all in Virginia where my parents were born and raised.

My dh's family is small too, but his mom will be with his brother this year at Christmas. We had her for TG.

I'm sooo enjoying having a large family gathering now for birthday parties and the holidays. Of course I love to give, but it's been a lot of fun receiving from so many people. I'm not used to this! lol

Right now I'm leaning towards one of those inexpensive electronic hand held games. Something other than poker.

I did find a down-filled glove/ice scraper at Eddie Bauer which is really neat. I think we can go up to $15 if we want.

I love it! Below is the link to what I bought.

I got the Buffalo Check color. If I end up with this I'll be pleased!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mitt

Oakley - call your Christmas gift exchange whatever!!
I want one of those mitts! I'll get DH one......

I am one of those people who can never find their ice scraper. Have you ever scraped frost with a credit card when you are running late?? That's me!

Now I am rethinking my office gift. Let's see....I could do one of those mitts, a nice scraper with the snow brush on the other end, and maybe a can of de-icer.

Hmmm...thinking out loud.

Tuesday

Tuesday, I sure wouldn't mind one for myself. This morning I had to get the ice scraper out even though I warmed my car before I left. I keep it in the glove compartment. And I love the Buffalo Check which is my favorite pattern on material! I was surprised at all the colors they offered.

Not a bad price either. I also bought my dh a pair of wool gloves from them ($16.00) because he loves his wool socks in the winter and has to leave for work at 7am when it's freezing, windshield frosted or snow on it.

They have some mitts at Amazon also, not the same one's, but the Eddie Bauer mitts seem to be well made from looking at the other's. I'm sure anyone would love the gift if it gets cold there, man or woman!

Thank you Sue! I ordered the Birthday Book for my DIL's mother. She'll love it!

iTunes gift cards are a hit in all exchanges I've participated in.

Last year was the first time we tried a swap, and did mostly unisex gifts. I think our limit last year was $20. Here are a few of the items I can remember:

Windshield Wonder (an As Seen on TV) - most popular
leopard print snuggie
DVD - can't remember which movie
funny books
Starbucks GC
auto coin separater
travel mugs - hot & cold
iTunes GC
ear buds (universal) for cell phones, iPods, etc.
breathalizer type gadget
glove & sock warmers

We had so much fun last year, that we're doing it again this year! This year the limit is $15. BB&B has lots of small items (unisex) that are perfect for this type of swap. I have already purchased all of our swap gifts, picked some up this past summer when I would see something that would work.

We are doing the Yankee Swap at work. But the nice part is that you are NOT to buy anything, but to wrap sosmething you already have in your house. I am not sure if some people will bring ridiculous things to get a laugh, or will everyone bring something that someone might actually like? I am bringing a digital key chain that I bought for my daughter and she never opened.

Yep, Oakley's right, around here, I have only heard it called Dirty Santa, but, it has only been in recent years that you play it with "good gifts". When I very first played, it was like ellendi played it, with things from home that are kind of funny, but useable. They are both fun ways to play, but, the things you bring from home, can be HILARIOUS!

Last time I played that way, I got stuck with a "Donut Pillow" (you know, for hemmoroids, or other rear-end ailments) LOL! Was really fun!

Just in case I fall hard on my tush like I did a few years ago, aint no way I'd give away my donut pillow. LOL

We call it Yankee Swap too and do it every year. I search hard to get the best item and price for my 25.00 so very often it's really something more expensive but I got it on sale. I will say that lottery tickets and gift certificates to Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts are always welcome. Also Xmas themed gifts are good too as people are in the mood. No matter what you get the spirit of fun is there and it's a blast. One year I bought a crazy silly gift and threw it in as an extra, boy did that get swapped around a lot, every one was passing it off to another lol.

We used to do this at work too. We called it a White Elephant gift exchange. Ours varied from year to year, sometimes we bought things, but the most fun was when we wrapped up something weird or strange that we had around the house - usually gifts that you've received from others that just made you scratch your head - what were they thinking.

The all time favorite gift that was fought over was a black velvet Elvis wall hanging. It ended up in our VP's hands and he proudly hung it in his office - as he was the "King" of the office after all.

if you have a really nice kitchen store near you, there are tons of nice gadgets which both male(depending!)and females might like. last year i pick up a really great ladle for a yankee swap and it was a hit!!
dvds and nyt best seller books are good choices too.

The bottles have always been a big hit in ours -- Guess we're just a bunch o' drunks...

Also lottery tickets, gift cards (why *is* that?)

#1 is the best numer to draw in Dirty Santa because after everyone's had a turn, #1 has the option to keep her gift or swap it for any of the other gifts.

Technically, a white elephant gift is something unwanted by the owner and may be difficult to "unload". (Something you already have at home)

To the right person, however, it might be a treasure. When I take a white elephant gift to an exchange, I try to make sure it's something at least a few of the guests would want.

Dirty Santa is the game that is played to distribute the gifts. The "dirty" part is that there's no guarantee you get to keep your gift.

We call it yankee swap too...GF does it every year at her annual xmas party. The way we play, the #1 person chooses the first gift and then at the end gets to decide if they want to swap from all of the gifts. So #1 has a real advantage.

Some of the gifts are cooking related (pyrex dishes with insulating carriers) or hostess gifts (hand towels, mugs) or a few "guy" gifts like screwdriver sets or practical things like hand crank flashlights or safety kits for cars. Some will give booze or chocolates. Some are funny and useless gifts like crazy toilet paper or crazy boxer shorts.

You didn't say what happens to the person whose gift is stolen. Do they have to choose another unopened gift, or are they allowed to steal? We played this at my family (because of my niece), and I think the person who had his gift stolen was not allowed to steal and was forced to choose again. Also, any particular gift could not be stolen more than twice, and so the person who stole it the second time securely had that gift.

I'm okay with lotteries (except for the draft - I got a very low number in that), but I did not like the stealing part. I think this game works better for some families/groups than others. I would probably like it better without my family involved.

I found this description on line:

Each person gets a crack at choosing a gift. The person who picks the first gift opens it and shows it to the rest of the company. Then the number two participant picks a gift and chooses to either unwrap it or swap it for an unwrapped gift. If the gift is swapped, the person who had their gift taken from them gets to unwrap the chosen gift and the turn passes.

Maybe this game works better for Yankees than for non-Yankees. I found that people could get offended if no one wanted to steal the gift that they brought.

Maybe this game works better for Yankees than for non-Yankees. I found that people could get offended if no one wanted to steal the gift that they brought.

Haha, I'm Canadian and have witnessed that, too. I once saw a generally calm, well-mannered woman yelling across the room "Put the Christmas mugs down, Dwayne, just put them down and walk away".

I played this when I went home for Christmas one year. I have a spoiled adult niece who wouldn't give up her gift. It was the one she brought. I heard she did it again a few years ago. They don't play it anymore.

With both of my parents now gone and all but one child in the group now college age or older, we decided to do a swap starting last year. We had a no gift cards rule (one per immediate family if you were really hurting for ideas) -- otherwise it would be a $20 gift card swap with no fun or immagination at all.

In our swap, if your gift is stolen, you can pick any opened or wrapped gift other than the one that was just taken from you. Since this wasn't a work related party, if the game went longer, that was fine with us. More laughs makes a fun time.

Ours went well and we are doing the same thing this year. Last years hits included a themed Christmas ornament, a "Lime in the Coconut" apron from Woot, some gifts with paper made from pachyderm poo (they also had chocolate bars, so not sure which was the attraction), a calendar made with family photos -- really, all of them got plenty of action and attention.

I think a true white elephant can be fun at work, but dangerous with family unless you are really good at remembering where every gift came from. Even then, the person who gave it to you might have gotten it from someone else in the group and even more folks get offended.

When we play, the gifts aren't stolen but swapped...you open a gift and then decide if you want the one just opened or if you want to swap it with one already opened. If someone swaps with you, then you are stuck with that gift, unless someone else swaps it from you later. And no one takes offense. Especially when there are gag gifts involved which no one really wants.

LOL I also thought this post referred to erotic gifts. When I saw the number of replies, I was surprised and thought the people on this board arent the type of people I thought!

I have done this at ornament parties. It's kind of fun. Can you do gift cards like an itunes or starbucks gift card?

Has anyone realized yet this thread is 5 years old?!?!?!

It was a lot of fun reading this post, five years later. I got quite a few laughs and also got a good idea of some great gifts to give at our Swap party.

I can tell you from experience that children do not like this game. It violates their inherent sense of rules and fairness when an adult takes away something the child got and really liked. They can also be reluctant to take anything away from others and won't, if they know the person likes it.

It's for adults only, IMO. (And obviously not all adults, lol )

i agree, for adults and possibly teens if there are enough 'good' gifts! :)

this game really is most enjoyed when there is a similar price range of gifts and no gifts so tacky or ugly that they will go right into the trash after the holidays... or it's also fun if all the gifts are tacky and worthless! i have been to ornament exchange swaps where everyone was always happy! it is a bit of a bummer when your really decent gift is taken from you and you're left with taking home the 'fruitcake'....

Two words: Fart Filters.

I kid you not. This made the rounds at the last holiday gift swap I attended, and I have never seen grown, professional people fall over themselves laughing so much in my entire life!

http://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Butt-disposable-neutralizers-saving/dp/B001KYVJSC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449592676&sr=8-1&keywords=fart+filter+underwear

I suspect Poo-Pourri would do similarly. Though the thought of fart filters attached to your clothing is pretty crazy.

On second thought -- if I could get those fart filters in a puppy size........LOL