White Elephant Gift Ideas for Every Budget

A Black woman wearing a denim shirt is carrying a bicycle down a set of stairs in an urban environment. The bicycle has a green paint job and honey leather wrapped handlebars.

Des modèles originaux et uniques pour vous aider à soulever et à transporter votre vélo

Enveloppes de guidon en cuir Lifetime disponibles en cinq styles pour chaque type de guidon et de vélo

A woman bicycling on a bright summer day over a green lawn wearing suede fringe cowgirl boots and with a 6-pack of Anchor Steam beer connected to the top tube of her bicycle with a honey leather 6-pack frame cinch

Les « essentiels du voyageur » les plus vendus pour faciliter les déplacements quotidiens

A dark brown leather round, barrel-shaped saddle bag with cedar wood sides mounted to the back of a brown leather Brooks saddle on a cream-and-brown painted bicycle

De superbes sacs de vélo fabriqués à la main transportent l'essentiel et font tourner les têtes !

Two people playing a game of travel cribbage on a wooden picnic table with a small leather and birch cribbage board

Nos planches de cribbage de voyage originales et les plus vendues ont des fans dans le monde entier

Two sets of travel dice on a dark brown leather table surface. Both sets show six dice coming out of a square brass tube. The dice are 7mm, smaller than standard. One has white dice and the other has black dice.

Jeux de dés pratiques à emporter : farkle et yacht (yatzy)

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Idéal pour voyager : cartes à jouer dominos dessinées à la main (2 tailles !)

Close-up of a folding leather travel backgammon board mid-play on a weathered wood surface. A hand is reaching in and moving four game pieces (which are brass nails) between triangles, which are laser-engraved in the honey dyed leather. Accessories are visible, dice and doubling cube and peg storage

Backgammon de voyage pour voyageurs, fabriqué à partir de matériaux naturels

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Toutes les poignées fabriquées à la main dans 8 styles, 4 couleurs de cuir et 3 finitions métalliques

Détails de la collection, feuilles de style, dimensions, dimensionnement, palette et plus encore

Walnut Studiolo Drawer Pulls Oswego Leather Wrap

Solide mais doux, durable et résistant, sans bosses ni contusions

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Des solutions flexibles mais robustes et créatives pour les problèmes délicats

Cuir 101

Nous avons écrit une série éducative gratuite sur notre matériau préféré, de la façon dont il est fabriqué à la détection de la qualité vintage

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À propos de nous

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Plus d'informations

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par Valerie Franklin
November 19, 2025
3 min lu

Tips for "winning" the next holiday gift exchange, with hit gift ideas that fit your budget and match your values.

One set of hands offering a wrapped cribbage board as a gift, and another hand reaching out to accept the gift

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White Elephant Gift Exchange Basics 3 White Elephant Gift Strategies with Gift Ideas for Every Budget 1. Everyday People Pleasers Under $25 Under $50 2. Weirdly Niche, Humorous or Funny Under $25 Under $50 3. Nice Items To Be Fought Over Under $100 Under $200 Last Words You Might Also Be Interested In...

White Elephant Gift Exchange Basics

A white elephant party (or "Yankee swap") is a gift-exchange game where participants bring and swap gifts, and vie to bring home the best gift.

As a group, it can be a great way to save on holiday gifting costs: rather than feeling compelled to purchase gifts for everyone, or risk leaving someone out, your friend or work group can bring one gift and receive one gift. Plus you get to have a fun party and game!

The basic rules of the gift exchange game are well-established: participants take a number, then get to "steal" the gifts that have already been opened in the hopes of taking the one they want the most:

But the unwritten rules vary by group:

Should the gifts be serious or humorous? It's up to the group! Although gift exchanges were initially humorous, contests to bring the strangest products, many groups have made these exchanges quite serious, as a substitute for expensive holiday gifts. No matter what's decided, it's pretty normal for at least one person to bring a frivolous or humorous gift anyway!
Is there a specific price point? Usually gifts are meant to be of similar value. It's a good idea for the party organizer to set a general spending guide or cap, but there are no rules.

These unwritten rules will guide your white elephant gifting strategy!

3 White Elephant Gift Strategies with Gift Ideas for Every Budget

Here we present gift ideas for three different strategies, at different budgets:

People-pleasers: something that should be useful for just about anybody. Kind of practical and maybe considered "boring" but are often fought over since few people want to go home with something weird.
Humorous / weirdly niche / goofy: bring a laugh and delight to everyone and maybe just find that exact right thing.
Something they'll fight over: make the game interesting by bringing a little luxury.

1. Everyday People Pleasers

These items should be useful and functional for just about everybody - maybe not the sexiest gift but might be fought over!

Under $25

Under $50

2. Weirdly Niche, Humorous or Funny

The spirit of the white elephant: humorous, weird, niche, or oddly specific!

Under $25

Under $50

3. Nice Items To Be Fought Over

The kind of thing that people don't always buy for themselves but treasure when gifted.

Under $100

Under $200

Last Words

One nice thing about all of these gift ideas is that they're made by a small family company in Oregon. They can showcase your values and reduce the buying of plastic one-time-use joke gifts that just go into landfills.

If in doubt: consumables like good food or wine are always a hit at the parties we've been to!

We hope these gifting strategies inspire you no matter what products you choose to buy: happy holidays!