Inexpensive idea for christmas gift giving

[leisawessa]

I just wanted to share with others who may be a bit tight this year for gifts. Every gift sure adds up and before you know it you've spent hundreds of dollars.

This is what we are doing this year:
Christmas at our place, with 14 adults. Every adult attending christmas lunch brings a plate (if at your house, you choose what they bring ie ham, chicken, coleslaw, salad, dessert etc) and each adult buys 14 random gifts for under $2 each and wraps them up.

After lunch, we all sit around the big pile of 196 presents and each present has a number on it, and each person draws out of a hat 14 numbers each (should a person only turn up with 10 gifts, then they only get 10 numbers, its only fair that they get what they give) The fun begins and this can take as long as you like.

The fun part is when you have received one of your own gifts, you'll have an idea of what it is and before you unwrap it, you can swop with others. (or open them - then swop) but no one know's who's gift is from who.

Some ideas of cheap gifts to buy under $2 for this sort of christmas lucky dip: Scissors, coffee mugs, money box, egg rings, sippers, picture frames, calenders, 2007 diarys, beer mug, ashtray, packet lollies, hair stuff, tape measure, socket set.... much much more...

Also each family buys for the other familys a gift for their kids. (If the kids are really little, they'll have fun helping you unwrap all those presents, they don't care much for what's inside, its the opening of the present that they love.

happy christmas everyone

from Leisa

[jasminesmum]

Sounds like a great idea and lots of fun too!:yes:

[Chub Chub]

We do something much similar!

My cousins come over with their kids and our big extended family. Each family chucks in say $20 and my cousin and I go to Crazy Clarks and buy loads of quirky $2 pressies.

All of the presents are wrapped up and placed in the centre of the table. We get some dice and the game goes as follows:


Roll a "pair" and you take a present from the middle.
Roll anything that adds up to seven and you have to put a present back.
Roll anything that adds to 4 and you can steal from someone else.:wizard:
We place a timer on to signal the end of the game but most times it goes for hours! There is more fun out of "stealing" and trying to accumulate as many presents as you can rather than what is actually on the inside!

It is lots of fun and relatively inexpensive. May be an alternative rather than buying all of the neices and nephews an expensive present that is usually cast aside after a while anyhow!

We have fun with it!