I love a good white elephant gift exchange. It gives people the opportunity to mingle and laugh and sends everyone home with a gift! This year I’m attending four different parties with white elephant gift exchanges! One of my goals each time is to create a package that really makes people want to open my gift… and then fill the package with something that is sure to be stolen a few times. I created these white elephant gift wrap printables with the adorable illustrations from Lorats from Freepik.
This is the sixth day of my 12 Days of Christmas DIYs for 2018. Each day for the next twelve days I share DIY projects, recipes, entertainment, and more, that you can incorporate in your holiday season. Most will be super simple!
So, how do you play White Elephant? I am pretty sure everytime someone has described the game it has sounded complicated, but in practice, it is really simple and a lot of fun. I’ll share the rules I have always played by, but always run with the host’s rules!
How to Play White Elephant
- All players must have provided a wrapped give of a determined value and/or theme. Most of the times I’ve played the gifts were valued from $15-$25. However, I have totally played with a $10 limit before and had just as much fun. I added in theme here because I’ve been to some white elephant games that set not only a price range but also a theme for a party. One of my favorite traditions is attending a mug swap with friends and we all get different mugs and then play a game of white elephant for the mugs.
- Write down a number for each of the gifts and put all the numbers in a bowl/hat/box/what-have-you.
- Have every person draw a number.
- The person that receives the number one is a very special player. They get the opportunity to go first, but then at the end of the game, they have the opportunity to steal a gift that hasn’t been locked (more on that later).
- Person one picks a gift and opens it. They make sure to show the gift to everyone present.
- Person two then has the option to either open a new gift or steal the gift from person number one. If they choose to steal the gift then person number one gets to open a new gift.
- Each gift can be stolen only twice. Once it has been stolen a second time (so it has reached its third owner) it is locked and cannot be stolen again.
- You can steal a gift back that was stolen from you only if it was not JUST stolen from you and is not locked.
- At the end of the game the person with the number one gets the opportunity to either steal or end the game. If they steal then the person they steal from has the opportunity to steal, etc. In that case the game goes on until someone ends it by no longer stealing. The gifts that have been locked may not be stolen.
Tips for Great White Elephant Games
- Pick a gift that you truly love or think that others will love. Sometimes White Elephant games are called “Dirty Santa” and are gag gifts. Even in that case, go for the funniest gift available rather than the dud gift. No one wants to go home with a dud!
- Wrap it up nice! Make the gift look so fun that someone wants to open it up right away. It is fun to see your gift opened up and stolen. Plus, people really enjoy opening gifts. On that note, don’t make the gift too complicated to open. Everyone will be watching and time may be limited.
Free White Elephant Wrapping Printables
Below are some free (for personal use) printable gift wrap items to help make your white elephant gift extra adorable. I mean… if I saw a gift with cute little elephants on it at a White Elephant Party, well, I’d for sure pick it!
- Download the White Elephant Gift Tags 2UP: These are the larger tags. Print on cardstock, cut out along red outer lines, and hole punch the top circle. Attach to your gift with ribbon.
- Download the White Elephant Gift Tags 4UP: These are slightly smaller tags. Print on cardstock, cut out along red outer lines, and hole punch the top circle. Attach to your gift with ribbon.
- Download the 8.5X11 White Elephant Gift Wrap: Print this out on copy paper using a home printer or, for better quality, print at your local print shop. This size is perfect for small trinkets.
- Download the 11X17 White Elephant Gift Wrap: Print this on copy weight paper at your local print shop.
- Download the 18X24 White Elephant Gift Wrap: Print as a color engineering print from your local Staples or favorite print shop.
