(Low budget) White Elephant Exchange Christmas Party

            Friday we had a White Elephant party for my Nonfiction Workshop class mates from college.  We all had a great time, and I did not spend a lot on preparations.  This blog is dedicated to those who do not have any extra money to spend this Christmas, but they would still like to carry on with the Christmas fun.

 

            I once heard a woman on the radio say, “Women, I would rather visit a messy home, sit in the corner drinking water and eating crackers, than to never be invited over people’s homes.”  In the past twenty- five year, I have tried to live by these wise words.  I cannot tell you how many times my friend have visited my home, while the kids were young, chatting and helping me fold laundry or wash dishes.  Ok, my friends “always” got a good meal for their efforts.  Just because my home wasn’t as clean as I would like, didn’t mean that I could not cook a tasty offering for their help.

            Back to my party, we do not have any extra money for Christmas this year.  The recession has hit our family hard, and due to our choice to finish college, we live on a very tight budget.  Yet the desire to have my class mates over for a celebration was greater than the lack of funds.  You really can entertain a group fifteen to twenty people on a shoestring and feed them s tasty meal to boot.  In the end, I think I only spent a maximum of $25.  

            White Elephant party menu: Sloppy Joes, caramelize onion and bacon green beans, potato chips, and sugar cookies.  For beverages we drank pop provided by the kids, water, hot tea and coffee. (recipes in previous blogs)

The evening was filled with funny stories, food and the present exchange game.  Everyone being a poor college student, the required price on the gift was, “please do not spend money, find something around your home and wrap it.”  Everyone had to sit like Indians on our floor while playing the game, seats were limited.  As they sat down on the floor I told everyone that our living room makes you feel like you are in a Christmas tree. Reason being,  Brian decorated the windows, walls and doorways with lights and decorations; sitting on the floor gave the illusion of being inside the tree looking out.  In the end, humble food, accommodations and presents did not stop us from having a great time.  Hours later, the last guests left after midnight with smiles on their faces, thanking us for a great night. 

 

 White Elephant exchange:

Everyone bring a wrapped gift from home.  It is important that they do not spend money on the present.  The idea of the party is to re-gift something that you got in the past that you did not like, or give something that you want out of your home. Next, count how many people are in your home cut little papers and write numbers on the little pieces equaling up to the number of noses in your home.  Now, everyone needs to sit in a circle, start with “number one” and have the person who has that number grab a gift out of the center of the circle and open the gift.  Continue on to 2, 3 … . This is where the fun comes in, if someone desires a gift that is already open, and it is their turn, they can steal it from the person holding the gift.  Now the person less a gift gets to either steal a gift from someone else or select another gift from the center. You many not take a gift back that was taken from you.  We always provide a couple of extra gifts just in case someone gets a can of sardines or worse and is unhappy with their gift.  At the very end of the game we allow the biggest looser to exchange their gift for one of the remaining gifts.  Remember, this is a low budget party and you would like everyone to feel welcomed, putting a price limit on the gift will hinder those who are financially limited.  The object is getting together and having fun.