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The way our office handled the gift thing this year was actually, I thought, a good idea. We had a potluck breakfast and you could bring a gift or not, your choice. Everyone who brought a gift (and that was most people) put their name into a stocking, so everyone who brought a gift, received a gift. Worked for everyone.
Originally Posted by famita;3249182;
I just made some for my kids teachers. Well, not exactly candles, but gel air freshners. So simple and inexpensive. I got this receipe off the Internet.
2 cups distilled water
2 Tablespoons salt
Food Coloring
Glass or Plastic jars, glasses or bowls
4 packages gelatin (unflavored)
Essential Oil or Fragrance
Plastic wrap
Ribbon
Heat 1 cup of the distilled water with the 2 tablespoons of salt to boiling.
Add as much food coloring as you want. If you don't add food coloring the air freshner will be clear.
Mix the 4 packages of gelatin in the remaining cold cup of water and stir.
Upon boiling of the water/salt mixture remove from heat and add in the gelatin/water mixture. This will change the color, so add more food coloring if needed.
Stir until gelatin crystals are dissolved.
Add your scent. (I used a lot as I really wanted mine to smell and now my whole house smells like sugar cookies!)
Put your mixture in your jars/bowls/glasses and allow to set at room temperature. It will look cloudy, but will clear upon cooling.
When cool cover with plastic wrap and tie with a ribbon.
I doubled this recipe and made these for the first time today. It took about 10 minutes to make from start to finish. Seriously. Had I known it would be so easy, I would have made a whole lot more. lol With the receipe doubled I made 4 jars full. They are a little larger than the size of a coffee cup. Altogether I spent about $16 and have enough ingredients (minus jars) to make probably 16 more air freshners! The jars I used are actually votive holders and cost .57 cents each.
I'm not positive, MissKitty, but I think that is where everyone brings a gift, and select someone to choose the first gift. After it is opened, the next person can choose an unwrapped present or take the one that's been opened. This continues on until all the gifts have been opened and everyone has something. There's usually a limit of how many times a particular item can be taken.What are Yankee swaps?
What we called a White Elephant gift exchange was taking a nice item from your house that you didn't want and wrap that up as a present. Its called regifting now.I remember my mom used to love going to White Elephant parties. Throughout the year as she got gifts that she didn't like she'd always tell me it was just something she could use to trade at the WE parties.
At our geocaching Christmas event last night we played dirty santa and I have to say that is a brutal game. One guy kept opening really good gifts only to have someone else take them from him. He was a really good sport about it. I got a really awesome flashlight (2,000,000 candle power) I threatend anyone, who acted like they were going to take it, with death.
I would not like to play this with my co-workers. I have to many that would get mad or get their feelings hurt.
The White Elephant exchanges I've been to aren't about nice items, they're about the most god awful stuff you can find. While you might not end up with something you love, they're a whole lot more fun. My mom's company always had one and there were a number of "gifts" that came to the part year after year. The party was always at the boss's house and the big challenge was to try to leave your gift somewhere in the house, so you didn't have to take it home.
One of the gals I work with gave everyone Christmas coffee mugs with fresh walnuts from her friend's farm. Maybe I didn't need another mug, but the walnuts are yummy. I keep thinking I'll bake cookies for everyone, but my oven is so unreliable (can't hold a constant temp), I fear that would be a losing proposition.
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' - Isaac Asimov
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
I thought it was some kind of sadistic ritual here in the south wherein you marched a pain in the butt Northerner somewhere approximating the fabled Mason-Dixon line and exchanged them with an equally pain in the butt Southerner who had somehow made their way into the upper territories and had worn out their welcome.What are Yankee swaps?
No??
That dirty Santa game sounds kind of fun.
Oh, not THAT kind of game! Sorry!!
ElizabethG, I amI can think of one particular pain in the butt Northerner I'd love to exchange. I have to deal with her in person often and it's WAY too often for me.
I actually like the Yankee exchanges. I've also heard them called Chinese gift exchanges as well. I think they are fun, especially if a $10 limit has been placed, then none of the gifts are worth too much so if it's taken away, it's ok. I've always thought everyone that played went into it knowing what could happen and just laughed along with everyone. At least in the ones I've been involved in.
I did however get my Magic Bullet food processor from one exchange like that that had a $50 limit on it. It was exactly what I wanted and everyone else was avoiding it like the plague. That's the only time I've done such an expensive exchange.
Oprah showed thrifty Christmas ideas this week in place of her "My favorite things" segment. I'll bet the audience members were in shock as that's usually the show everyone tries to get tickets for because she gifts the audience with everything she shows. Anyway, this was a cute idea that you can give to co-workers or teachers.
Hot Chocolate Cones
With 15 nieces and nephews, Kellie in Houston had to come up with a great gift that's both thrifty and sweet. "Who doesn't love hot chocolate?" Kellie says.
To put a twist on this classic winter treat, Kellie created her own hot chocolate mixes. Using a plastic piping bag to hold the mix, Kellie says to start with a layer of cocoa, add marshmallows, and top with chocolate chips. Tie the top with a ribbon, and voilą!
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