Not quite ultimate gift for a quilter?

[Sandy Navas]

It's actually called the Chinese gift exchange. The White Elephant is the one where you pick something new or used from your own house that you don't need to give away. That is the one my MIL and SIL did every year. I refused to play that one with them.

Was the reason you refused to play because they'd already given away Martin . . . ??

[kensington]

Was the reason you refused to play because they'd already given away Martin . . . ??

No... It's hard to explain in a post. I don't want someone to take it wrong. But, Christmas is so special to me, and a time of the years when tradition and the "Special" means more than so many days before. Getting together and spending an hours, with 25 people you are supposed to care about trying to dump some broken, cracked or dirty piece of junk you don't want on them, just doesn't seem like Christmas to me.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend, but I'd rather sit at home by a cozy fire on Christmas Eve than do that. Oh well, after a few years, my Bil said the same thing, he wasn't playing to get some dirty dart board wit no darts that his mom found in one of her rental houses. She thought it was funny to stick people with that junk. But, boy did she get mad if she got stuck with something she didn't want. Like a used back pack. She went OFF!

I played the first year we moved here, and I was a good sport, but once I saw how it went... NO THANKS. My parents are gone, Christmas means to much to me. It's the only gathering we and our kids attend (besides our own) and I thought the least we could do as a family is manage to come up with one new and useful gift each. $10.00 limit. If our kids were getting together with cousins, aunts, uncles and gramma, at least they should feel it's Christmas and get to take home a new gift. That's just me. So, I did not play any more.

Martin and the boys played another year or two... but, they ended up saying the same thing. It wasn't really a fun time of gift giving, it was a time of dodging gifts. Bil was uspet and said they same thing. He said he was the only one who SHOPPED for his gifts. The last year I hosted it, we did new gifts, and it was a blast, now that is fun to watch... to see all the men trying to get that Norelco shaver, to find out after it was safe, that was another exactly like it under the tree and the fight was on again!

[kensington]

hahaha, sounds as if you know their gifty ways far too well. lol.

Ditto, but you should see how hard they would try to get a nice gift if there was one in the pile! And get upset if they didn't get it.

[Hulamoon]

That sounds sad Kensi I wouldn't want to play that either. I thought it was white elephant because my dd called it that. They did it at church with new gifts, and stole from each other. I'm going to print out Sandy's rules and give it to her.

[Kendra Long]

Thanks for posting this, Sandy! It gave me a lot of good ideas for our exchange. See you soon!! )

[K. McEuen]

Ditto, but you should see how hard they would try to get a nice gift if there was one in the pile! And get upset if they didn't get it.

The junk white elephant thing makes no sense to me as a family gift exchange. If it's done after, as a game, that might be ok, but why bother gifting junk if they can't be bothered to get something nice.

[Sandy Navas]

Ditto, y Ditto, y Ditto . . .

Although we have had a case within the family where some 'white elephant' was gifted back and forth for several years and that was truly fun. We didn't do the exchange where you actually had to beg for someone to steal something worthless, but the ugly costume piece of jewelry that went from house to house for many years was absolutely hilarious and enjoyed by all. We have never, though, been a family where we were close enough to all the relatives so that we got together and exchanged gifts. I quite often miss the thought of having those close family celebrations, but within our own immediate family we're busy establishing our own set of traditions.

[Lisapc]

My parents and siblings do a Yankee Swap on Christmas Eve. I have never heard it called a Chinese gift exchange before. Anyway it is ridiculous. Someone always brings gift cards or cash which are not allowed. The same sister throws a fit when anyone in her family doesn't get what they want and you can interchange my little brothers first wife with the second based on how they both couldn't wait to see who loved their gift the most and then take it just because they could. So not worth it to me. It should be fun and the adults should act like it. I started my daughter when she was 9 with her friends doing their own for a $5 limit and they never bickered. I think her little group of friends still do that.

Have fun shopping!

[easyquilts]

Claire...tell us more about the TV tray iron board!

I'm not Claire, but I took one of those things with a soft pad on one side, and a mat on the other...covered it with flannel, then attached it to one of those blond wooden TV tables.....everyone seems to have them.... The little table sits at my left, when I am sewing... I love it..... It's so easy to see and press....

[snippet]

....Or a bunch of cat quarters ...

ewww! quartered cats! Karen!

I don't like Chinese gift exchanges, but when there is one, I always buy lottery tickets.