Post-Christmas Re-gifting Party
Seems like most every year you get something as a gift that is nice but just not you. What to do with it? Well, it’s certain that your friends got something like that too. Why not make it a post-Christmas party to regroup with your girlfriends and exchange those unwanted gifts for something you might like better? Just be sure not to bring any gifts that your girlfriends gave you, of course!
What Gifts to Regift
Invite everyone to bring a gift that they received that year that doesn’t suit their taste. Maybe it’s a nice purse in an unfavorable color (maybe she’s just not a red kind of girl) that can’t be returned. Or perhaps it’s some knick-knack that is cute but doesn’t match your décor at all. It could even be some horrible gift you think your friends would get a kick out of and you’re fully willing to let whoever ends up with it donate it to charity, but you’d like to bring it to the party for everyone to get a good laugh.
When to Hold the Party
Come January when the kids are back in school and it’s easier to get together with your girlfriends, hold a brunch at someone’s house and invite everyone to bring their re-gift in a gift bag without a name attached to it. (Granted, at the end it’s certain that everyone will discuss why they re-gifted their item and share some laughs over it.)
Ways to Exchange
There are a variety of ways to orchestrate the exchange:
Small Group Exchange
With a small group it’s easiest to sit around a table and hand the gift bags out. Everyone opens their bag and as each gift is opened the person who brought the re-gift tells the story of why she is re-gifting the item (you know you can’t resist telling the story). Once all of the re-gifts are opened, allow for any trades willing to be made and also have a clear “Donating to Charity is Allowed” policy on all re-gifts. It’s not like you expect your friends to keep that ugly pea soup-colored sweater, but you get a good laugh out of passing it along.
White Elephant Game (a.k.a. Bad Santa)
The most popular and most fun is the white elephant game. It works best with a fairly large group of people (such as 8 or much more). Everyone sits around the pile of re-gifts. The host picks who goes first. The first person chooses a package and unwraps the re-gift to show it to everyone. The person next to them now has the option to “steal” the previous person’s item or choose a gift bag from the pile. Should someone’s item be “stolen” the person left without a re-gift now returns to the pile and opens another one. All of the stealing can get pretty funny.
Instructions in a Bag
Make up your own game by writing instructions, cutting each one out, and putting them in a bag. Have each person hold their own re-gift. Then each person draws out an instruction. Get creative with the directions with things like, “Hand your gift to the person that laughs the loudest,” or “Trade gifts with the person wearing the cutest shoes.” At the end of the instructions, should anyone be holding more than one package, have the last instruction be, “Hand out your excess gifts randomly to those that have none,” and “If you have your own gift in your hand, trade it with the person on your right.” It should make for an entertaining game and at the end everyone has a different re-gift to open. Then the fun continues as everyone is either delighted or horrified by what they receive.
Now that you have re-gift party plans, there’s no need to fear those unwanted gifts because in the back of your mind you know fully well they will serve a fun purpose cracking up your girlfriends at your post-Christmas get together.
