Need ideas for a yankee swap

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-1998
Need ideas for a yankee swap
9
Wed, 11-28-2007 - 9:53pm

I'm going to a Yankee swap on Dec. 3 and need a gift with a $15-20 limit. (That's US dollars, which are worth approximately nothing these days!) Anybody have a creative idea? Last year,

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 11-28-2007 - 10:09pm

I bought a book of holiday cocktails with great pictures. If we have an exchange this year I will use it. It actually only cost me $5 through bookcloseouts.com. So some kind of a holiday recipe book like that, or Christmas cookies would be nice. Anything that has lots of glossy pictures. Something to do with chocolate or pizza would likely be popular as well.


Something I did one year was buy two martini glasses and put them in a box with a small bottle of vodka and a recipe for a martini. It was less than $10 as I found the martini glasses at the dollar store. Not fancy or high quality but fun.


A container with a few types of homemade goodies with the recipes included. But something really kind of fancy, not just chocolate chip cookies, but using macadamia nuts or other more exotic ingredients that cost a bit more and most people wouldn't make regularly.


You could also make an "Italian meal" basket. Put in some nice pasta, a small container of pesto, a loaf of bread, some garlic and olive oil (requires it be put together at the last minute if you use the bread), some nice napkins and put it in a basket. You could also include a small bottle of wine and two wine glasses

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-1998
Wed, 11-28-2007 - 10:37pm

Holy cow, girl! You're going to have to go as my replacement. Those are great ideas. And we have a dollar store about 15 minutes away, so I'll definitely check it out. I love the movie basket idea--I just might steal that one.


Last year, the gift I brought was a dud. I got what I thought was a really cool ornament from one of those places that sells crafts from developing countries, and one of my friends got it. She had no clue that I'd given it, but complained about it later. I never said a word. I'm so un-hip that I never seem to "get" the whole fashionable gift thing.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-04-2004
Wed, 11-28-2007 - 11:45pm
What's a yankee swap?
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 7:07am

I have a feeling its what we call a Chinese gift exchange. Someone picks a gift and opens it. Then the next person opens a gift and they have the choice of keeping their gift or exchanging gifts with the first person. So the later you are chosen down the list the more options you have to exchange gifts because you can see everything and take the one you like the most.


In the past I've done them and people sometimes buy gag gifts. Then someone gets stuck with a pair of slippers that look like Shrek's head. They end up being tossed or given to charity which seems like a waste of money. I'd rather just have a bottle of wine or something that you can use at least. But a Christmas ornament would be great from my perspective. Seems like the friend was not very gracious in her receiving.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-04-2004
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 8:32am
Oh I've done those kinds of gift exchanges before, I've just never heard it called "yankee" or "chinese."
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Avatar for ang2gals
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 8:51am
Yup, I've heard it called White Elephant too....but never Chinese gift exchange....I find that very amusing!!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-1998
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 3:16pm

Everyone brings a wrapped gift and places it in a pile with the other gifts. Everyone chooses a number out of a box or bag. The person with the lowest number chooses a gift to unwrap. The next person can decide whether to "steal" the unwrapped gift or take another.

Community Leader
Registered: 07-26-1999
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 3:52pm

Here were a few things that were given out at ours last year:


A gift basket of assorted chocolates/truffles


A gift basket of assorted coffees


A corkscrew set


A christmas CD


A gift card to starbucks


HTH, Tracy


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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-28-2004
Thu, 11-29-2007 - 4:48pm
we do this at our family party that way no one is out alot of money buying for everyone. We all have alot of fun and everyone buys something small for the kids.....we only have three. 11, 3,1 so thats not bad. We enjoy it. This year I am brining a tea bag strainer that I got on vacation with some tea to go with it. All the "ladies" like to drink hot tea. So hopefully it will go over. Last year i got some really cool shot glasses that I stoled from my soon to be sil. We do not have the three time rule though. Hardly anything gets swapped.
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