Julieboo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 08:36 am     Our family is doing a grab bag type game, where the first person opens a gift, then the 2nd person can either take that gift or open an unknown. Anyone know any fun variations on this game and also have any ideas for the gift itself? Family members are adults ages from 23 to 55. |
Reader234 | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 08:41 am     Well, I would buy something that would remind the person of me... a music box, or maybe something from the Disney store... (I have a cute MM pen that cost $12 new in box!!) |
Mags | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 08:49 am     We started that tradition a few years ago and we love it. One year my b-i-l brought a Billy Big Mouth Bass. It is now a running family gag...because Billy comes back every year. We also had several Chia Pets. But to be serious, you could do a big tin of popcorn (who doesn't love that). Lotions, a Christmas CD, gift certs to a car wash or restaurant. |
Resortgirl | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 09:34 am     We do a version where you roll dice, if you get doubles you get to pick a gift from the center. We do that till all the gifts are given out. Then we shake for about 5-10 more minutes and "steal" gifts from each other. Whatever you have when time is up is yours and then you unwrap. We've had some pretty fun times with this, especially since people go for the prettiest wrapping and sometimes those are the lamest of gifts! |
Daydreamer | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:07 am     My family has done that grab bag game for years. It's really a lot of fun. Some of the favorites have been lotto tickets, a restaurant or movie gift certificate or even cash. It's kind of hard to come up with something that can be for male or female year after year. Don't know if booze is an option but that always went over well too. |
Jagger | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:20 am     Resortgirl our family does pretty much the same thing with the dice game, wonder if that's a Minnesota thing. We also have several gifts that are passed on from year to year. |
Julieboo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:24 am     Yep, we do "Dirty Dice" too. Goes like this: Everyone brings a few wrapped items. They could be anything from a box of mac & cheeze to toilet paper (on the practical side) or gag gifts like fake poop or a goofy photo of my mother in law. You set all gifts on floor and everyone sits in a circle around them. Take 3 or 4 dice and roll. Anyone getting doubles picks a gift and puts it in front of them. Pass dice and go around till all gifts are taken. Then set a timer (10 minutes--or ?? depending on number of people) Then if ya get a double, you get to "steal" a gift from whomever you want. as the time ticks down people get crazy and when timer goes off you get to keep whatever you have. Very fun. |
Julieboo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:27 am     Going back to the original game (anyone know the name?) Doesn't it work out that tbe first person is always the "loser"? Oh also thanks for the various ideas. Keep the ideas coming. |
Ddr1135 | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 10:57 am     Julieboo, there's different variations to the game. Some play it where #1 gets to steal the last gift or the last number ends the game. Just make sure you lay the law down before the game begins. How many times can a gift be stolen? etc. I always buy something that I want. It almost always ends up being a gift that is stolen many times. One year I gave 3 Jax Beer Trays that I had picked up at an auction in a box of junk. (I wanted the Falstaff trays that was in the lot). People were fighting over those trays left and right. One year I drove home from a xmas party with a blow up man in the passenger seat. |
Daydreamer | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 12:18 pm     When we play, the last person gets to take anyone's gift or the last gift left on the table. We make everyone hold up their gifts, no hiding them, so the last person can choose which one they want. |
Bandit | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 12:22 pm     How about scratch-off lottery tickets? I've seen that done at a few "Chinese gift exchanges" and those always seem to be real popular, and really get the game going! |
Julieboo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 02:25 pm     What's a chinese gift exchange? (the game we've been discussing?) |
Cathie | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 02:44 pm     We've always called it a Chinese auction. The first person gets to choose any wrapped gift and open it for all to see, then the next can choose the one the first has unwrapped or a new wrapped one, etc., etc. If your gift is taken away, you then choose another wrapped gift or take one away from someone else. We have a 3 exchange limit, meaning once a gift is taken for the third time it is frozen and cannot be claimed by anyone else. The last person gets to choose the last unwrapped gift or take a gift from anyone who doesn't have a "frozen" gift, leaving that person with the last unwrapped gift. p.s. we have a "family fruitcake" that has been making the rounds since 1993... |
Julieboo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 02:59 pm     How do you determine the order that people choose? Do you guys have any other family games/activites? Sometimes we break up into smaller groups (about 3) and do a 100 piece puzzle. First group done gets a prize. |
Pcakes2 | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:01 pm     bath products candles scratchers (lottery ticket) isotoner gloves gift cerificates to book store/music store/mcdonald's bottle of wine $10 bill or a roll of quarters chia pets or any type of "as seen on TV" product (ie: salsa maker, mandolin slicer) picture frame Every year my husband's company does this at their holiday party. The past 2 years we have gotten matching man and woman hula dancers...ya know..the kind you are supposed to stick on your dash board. I love kitchy gifts like that! One year we submitted a plastic pink lawn flamingo, and everyone went crazy over it...it was stole just about every time. |
Daydreamer | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:11 pm     As far as the order of people choosing, we count how many people we have, then take that many pieces of paper and write a number on each one. For example - if there are 25 people, we take 25 pieces of paper and write numbers 1 - 25 on each one. Fold them up and put them in something and have each person pick a number. We go backwards, so the person with the highest number goes first and number 1 is the person who gets to pick anyone's gift or take the last gift left. |
Allietex | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:28 pm     My son and his wife have a party like that every year in their neighborhood. Last year, I found the cutest ceramic pig about two feet high (sitting on his rump and smiling a huge smile)They have been trying to steal it for a year to take to their party. They think it would be the hit of the party and everyone would be trying to steal it. They have not gotten it yet, and they are not going to, but apparently that is the kind of thing they like the best. |
Allietex | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:33 pm     We did this at one of my second grade class parties one year. The parents came up with the idea. I was very relunctant because I thought one of the children might become upset if they really wanted something and some one else took it. I tried very hard all week to prepare them for it. Only one boy was upset, but he did not really make a fuss, and fortunately the boy who ended up with the thing he wanted volunteered to trade. I was so proud of him and so relieved. I don't think I would ever try that again with small children. It is great fun for adults though. |
Skootz | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:50 pm     I think this gift thing is just so much fun. Another gift you could add is a couple of candles, holders, a box of Kraft-dinner - and presto a Candle light dinner for 2. We use to do this with my dh family, however they are very cheap in a sense etc. and said it took too long to do..so they don't do this anymore. I have always loved it. We did it with my side of the family last year and had one for teens & adults combined and one for the kids under 13 - when the kids did it we just had them keep the gift that they picked because it was too hard for them to understand the swapping part. We received one year sani-flush/septic tank cleaner in a cookie tin...of course we ended up using it before we the following year exchange. |
Denecee | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 03:52 pm     We do this at our company Christmas party every year. This year I bought a three box Santa filled with cookies from Costco $13.49 and it was stolen once. The lady who stole it, threatened anybody who even looked at it, LOL. |
Tabbyking | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 04:59 pm     my husband calls is a yankee auction...anyway, sometimes there is a limit to how many times it can change hands. one party we went to, you took a gag gift and a better gift. for our gag gift, we drank beer for a month to get the beer bottle caps that were like cards. there were 52 different tops. anyway, we ended up getting an entire set from Aces through Kings in all the suits. we put them into a ziploc as our gag gift. my husband made a knife sharpener as our good gift. everyone wanted the knife sharpener. i think we had to make several afterward to give to people! i remember getting the plastic egg carton and a collapsible water jug for camping and was thrilled. i was amazed it was the person's idea of a 'gag' gift! my husband ended up with a ceramic football player, with his uniform pants bagging in the front and a little cactus growing in the gap in some dirt! |
Apriljo | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 08:00 pm     i say a magic 8 ball..those things are hours of fun |
Eliz87 | Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 08:52 pm     I got some nice beer glasses in a gift exchange like this a few years ago. We called it a "Chinese Gift Exchange." Also, nice bottles of booze go over well, such as Bailey's or the stuff with the gold chips in it (Goldschlager?). Perfumes and nice lotions from Victoria's Secret are also nice, and I definitely agree that gift cards are always cool. (This is all if you are not expected to get a gag gift, that is.) |
Meridian | Friday, December 12, 2003 - 04:56 am     On the practical side you might wish to consider a car emergency kit,a first aide kit, or a car wash kit. Multiple game board (chess, checkers, etc.)sets are also nice non-gender gifts. |
Pamy | Friday, December 12, 2003 - 10:42 am     I always take pictures at the party then the next year I use those pictures and insert them into Playboy and Playgirl magazines. I had lotto tickets to make up for the value. It usually gets stolen and locked! LOL |