#white elephant gift swap ideas

[magnoliaspringdesign]

(via "Pointless Meeting Survivor" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by magnoliaspring)

[humblemooncat]

Starlight Art Party Interest Check

I was going back through my art tag and was reminded of the art party we had hosted a while back. I was wondering if perhaps anyone would be interested in having another in mid to late December.

Maybe it could even double as a gift exchange? We could have a White Elephant swap if everyone brings something.

I know the holidays are coming up though, so I'd be curious if anyone would even be available around then.

So, I figured I'd put out an interest check to see if this would be a good idea to throw together.

[vaaree]

12 Christmas Eve Party Ideas

Planning a Christmas Eve party can be a wonderful way to bring friends and family together to celebrate the holiday season. Here are some ideas to help you create a festive and memorable Christmas Eve party:

1. Decorations:

Deck the halls with Christmas decorations, including lights, ornaments, and festive centrepieces.

Create a cozy and warm atmosphere with candles, fairy lights, and a crackling fireplace (if possible).

2. Themed Invitations:

Send out invitations that set the tone for your Christmas Eve party. Consider a specific theme, such as a classic Christmas, winter wonderland, or even a Christmas pajama party.

3. Dress Code:

Encourage guests to wear festive attire, such as ugly Christmas sweaters, Santa hats, or holiday-themed outfits.

4. Holiday Playlist:

Create a playlist of holiday music to set the mood. Include classic Christmas carols and festive tunes that everyone can enjoy.

5. Food and Drinks:

Plan a menu with a mix of holiday favourites. Consider having a potluck-style dinner to share the cooking responsibilities.

Set up a hot chocolate bar with various toppings and add a festive touch with candy canes or whipped cream.

Create a signature holiday cocktail or mocktail for guests to enjoy.

6. Cookie Decorating Station:

Set up a cookie decorating station with sugar cookies, icing, and various toppings. It's a fun activity for guests of all ages.

7. Gift Exchange:

Organize a Secret Santa gift exchange or a White Elephant gift swap to add an element of surprise and fun to the party.

8. Games and Activities:

Plan festive games like Christmas charades, holiday trivia, or a Christmas scavenger hunt.

Consider a DIY ornament-making station where guests can create personalized ornaments to take home.

9. Photo Booth:

Set up a photo booth with Christmas-themed props and backdrops. This can be a great way to capture memories and add an extra element of fun to the party.

10. Candlelight or Tree-Lighting Ceremony:

If your party is on Christmas Eve, consider having a candlelight ceremony or a tree-lighting moment to mark the start of the holiday.

11. Christmas Movie Marathon:

Create a cozy movie-watching area and have a Christmas movie marathon with holiday classics.

12. Party Favours:

Send guests home with small party favours like holiday cookies, ornaments, or small gift bags filled with festive treats.

Remember to tailor these ideas based on your guest list, space, and personal preferences. The most important thing is to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere where everyone can enjoy the spirit of Christmas.

[giftsforus]

All I Want For Christmas Is Hockey Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with a fun and festive gathering? If you're a hockey fan looking for a unique and exciting theme for your Christmas party, why not consider hosting an "All I Want For Christmas Is Hockey" ugly sweater party? This event is perfect for both men and women, making it an ideal gift for everyone who loves the sport. Ugly sweater parties have become increasingly popular in recent years, with people proudly donning their most outrageous and tacky holiday-themed garments. But why not add a twist to the traditional ugly sweater party by incorporating a beloved sport like hockey into the mix? The concept is simple – invite your friends, family, and fellow hockey enthusiasts to come dressed in their most outrageous hockey-themed ugly sweaters. Whether it's a sweater adorned with hockey sticks, pucks, snowflakes in the shape of a hockey puck, or even a sweater with a festive image of their favorite team mascot, the possibilities are endless. The more over-the-top, the better! To truly capture the spirit of the event, make sure to decorate your venue with hockey-inspired Christmas ornaments, banners, and even a small artificial ice rink if you have the space. You can also place hockey jerseys and memorabilia around the room to give it an authentic arena feel. As for the activities, there are numerous ways to incorporate hockey into the party. Consider setting up a mini-hockey tournament using tabletop hockey sets or even air hockey tables. You can also organize a "shootout" competition, where participants take turns shooting at a makeshift goalie target. Prizes can be awarded to the winners, such as hockey-themed ornaments or even tickets to a local hockey game. Food and drinks can also tie into the theme. Serve snacks in hockey helmets or in cups shaped like hockey pucks. Create a signature cocktail inspired by the sport, like a "Slapshot Sour" or a "Hat Trick Hot Toddy." Incorporating hockey-related names and terms into the menu will add an extra touch of fun to the festivities. To ensure all guests, regardless of their gender, feel included, encourage everyone to participate in the ugly sweater tradition. While men may have a wider selection of hockey-themed sweaters to choose from, women can get creative with accessories like hockey-themed scarves, hats, or even jewelry. The goal is to have everyone embrace the holiday spirit while showcasing their love for the sport. As for gifts, there are countless options that cater to hockey fans of all ages and genders. From team merchandise, signed memorabilia, and hockey-themed home decor, to personalized hockey sticks and jerseys, the choices are endless. Consider hosting a gift exchange game, like a white elephant or Yankee swap, to make the gift-giving experience even more exciting for everyone. In conclusion, an "All I Want For Christmas Is Hockey" ugly sweater party is a fantastic idea for a holiday gathering that is sure to bring joy to all hockey lovers. With a little imagination and creativity, you can transform your space into a winter wonderland that celebrates the sport and the holiday season simultaneously. So gather your friends, family, and hockey fans and get ready for a memorable and festive celebration that will have everyone saying, "Let's go, hockey!"

Get it here : All I Want For Christmas Is Hockey Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Home Page : tshirtslowprice.com

[thefoodiesfithome]

2022 White Elephant Gift Ideas

50+ White Elephant Gift Swap Ideas your friends & family will love

Are you stumped every year when your friend or office has a White Elephant gift exchange? Also known as Yankee Swap (any Office fans out there? Because this sign is also on my list), the concept is to bring in a gift under X dollars (usually $10, $15 or $20, something lower) that can be pretty universally enjoyed by whomever ends up with it. Shopping that broadly can actually be even more…

[ceilingfan5]

uhh no. 5 from the winter prompts with the ipre crew? thank you!

“Okay, one more swap to the left, everybody,” Barry announces. 

Magnus shakes his miserably. 

“But I wanna know what it is,” he whines. “It’s making a noise like a thing I think I’ll like.”

“Booo, present shaker!” Lup and Taako holler in unison, and then they point at each other and laugh, and then flip each other off. 

“What does that even mean, Magnus?” Davenport sighs. 

“It means it sounds cool and I want it!”

“You’re just guessing. Besides, we can always swap if you’re really disappointed.” Davenport sips his coffee, and then he passes his gift to the left. Magnus groans, but follows suit, and the others do too.

“This feels like some kind of goof,” Lucretia says, feeling the gift in her hands. “Why is it always goofs with you people?” 

“I definitely saw what you bought, and you have no room to talk, Creesh,” Lup laughs, and Taako’s eyes go wide. 

“Present peeker!”

“And what of it! Dav, can we open the fucking presents yet? I want to go get more of that incredibly strong cider.”

“Incredibly strong,” Merle agrees from his position on the floor in front of the fireplace. He raises his glass in toast and Lup laughs and raises hers right back. Both glasses are very empty. 

“Ready?” 

“Have been for three hours now.”

“Set-”

“Get on wi-”

“Go!”

It’s a feeding frenzy as the seven birds tear their packages open and inspect their gifts critically. It takes a moment, and then the complaining starts. 

“Why does Lup get the blanket that looks like a tortilla! I should get it!” 

Lup sticks her tongue out at Taako and wraps it around herself like some kind of delicious burrito queen. 

“Oh my god, I want the pooping dogs calendar!! Can we trade?” 

“Oh, I don’t know, Magnus,” Lucretia deadpans. “I really was looking forward to ogling those defecating doggies every time I wanted to schedule an appointment. I really was thinking, golly gee, I cannot wait to nail this baby up in my office, where I do business, not unlike these dogs, and witness every day the glorious canine caca-”

“You’ve got to be running out of poop synonyms, Luc, please, please please can I have it?” 

“You underestimate my power, firstly, and secondly, I’m not sure I want your, err, what, in heaven’s name, does that candle say?”

Magnus grins and holds it up. 

“It says ‘smell my nuts”, and it has a squirrel on it, and it smells like banana nut bread. On second thought, maybe I do want this.” 

“Well, now I have to have it. I can’t believe you’ve tricked me like this.” 

“Haha!!!” Magnus crows, and he trades their presents and opens the calendar and giggles quietly to himself. 

Lucretia smiles and rolls her eyes. 

Taako opens his box of Death’s Sweet Kiss hot sauce and tries to hide his smile. Lup curls up in her blanket. Merle scratches his head until he figures out that the box that proclaims to contain an ass vacuum is fake, and when he opens it and finds two enormous googly eyes, he laughs and runs off, muttering about a great idea he’s had. Barry’s gift turns out to be a tiny velvet couch that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever. 

“Dav, open yours,” Lup prompts. 

“Alright, alright,” he says, and puts down his coffee. He carefully unsticks the tape and unravels the gift, making almost everyone groan. “It’s nice wrapping paper,” he grumbles. “I’m not going to ruin it.”

“Get on with it!” Taako calls. 

The wrapping paper reveals a box of weed gummies shaped like dicks, nestled lovingly inside a coffee mug that says ‘I AM A GODDAMNED DELIGHT’. 

Everyone stares at the gift, and then at Davenport. Merle comes back in the room, giggling to himself, and looks around, confused. 

“What?” he asks. 

“Do you...” Barry looks uncomfortable. “Dav, do you do weed?” 

“Course he does,” Merle laughs. “We smoke together all the time. Not that you kids would know what a weed is.” 

Davenport laughs. 

“Thank you,” he says, not addressing the white elephant in the room at all. “Everyone, for coming, and giving. I’m glad we got to come together this year, after...everything it had in store for us. And-”

“Davenport, do you fucking skunk it with our fucking dad? Be honest.” Lup’s pupils are enormous. 

“They fucking-I can’t believe this-- I-” 

Davenport sighs, and he opens the box, and he puts three in his mouth. 

“Anyone else want one?” he asks, calmly, like the room hasn’t absolutely exploded into chaos. 

“I do,” Merle says cheerily. “I knew they’d get a kick out of that gift.” 

“I can’t believe a single one of you,” Taako declares. “This family is insane.” 

“It feels good to be a family again, though,” Lucretia whispers. Lup smiles softly at her. 

“Yeah,” she says. “It really does feel good.”

[winxlava]

Where Fate: the Winx saga fails

As a winx fan of 14 years (in and out), this fate thing is really scandolous. I’ve seen lots of ups and downs the winx fandom. As I’ve watched all of the development that fate had, I've had some thoughts, but I’ve waited until I watched everything.

This is going to be a reaction to all 6 episodes of Fate the Winx saga. This is coming from a fan of the og show so expect lots of comparisons.

If this bothers you, please don't keep reading. A lot of this is only my opinion. If you like it and think its great, that’s good! I’m not here to ruin it.

There is a list of what I liked most near the bottom of this post. Spoilers Ahead!!

Anyway, back to the post.

What made the Winx work

Lets start with the basic idea of Winx. Bloom, a normal girl, finds out that she has magic powers and is from another dimension. Seems like a simple concept? Well, Seasons 1-3 (and 4?) expanded this idea to the max.

Likeable characters galore and lots of fun, fashion, and magic.

For a lot of us that’s what sold the show. 

So lets talk about tone and why its so important 

The idea that teenage girls were exploring a world we could never see or experience. And the darkness that came with it.

Remember when Daphne, bloom’s dead sister, clung to life to help bloom figure her life out? When bloom became evil and nearly killed all of her friends? When Flora drowned to save her sister, only to get enchantix? (Actually all of enchantix was like this). When Musa gave up seeing her dead mom to save the world? When nabu died?

The show was full of these small, intense, dark moments. That’s what made winx special. The light came with dark.

By making the show dark and “eDgy” it takes away the impact of the dark moments. I’ve been saying this since the beginning. 

Point of view and how Stella is affected 

Stella was very misunderstood in the remake and it shows. The thing is, Stella was the first entry point into the magical world in the original show. She carried Bloom and her parents to Alfea. She was the transfer point to a whole world for the audience.

Her spunk and optimism and snark made her a fan favorite, but that’s not what made her character work.

She was Bloom’s first friend, and because of the that, we saw her in a good lens. She was reckless, but a pure heart nonetheless. She was confident, cunning, and powerful. 

It was because we saw the good in her first that made us like her. She was good before she was bad in our eyes.

The remake takes all of that away. She’s just a generic mean rich girl now. To be honest, Stella is accurate, but the way she was introduced put her in a whole new light. In this version, she is annoying and trifling, seemingly taking the place of Diaspro in her liking for sky.

Also she hates her mother? Stella would never! She loved both of her parents dearly and was mad simply because she felt they never loved her as a result of their divorce; they never talked to each other and she felt split between the two of them. (See Stella’s nightmares sequence season 1 :https://youtu.be/wuvyw0OHA6A?t=129). She was lonely and her father, though he loved her, spoiled her with gifts instead of the love she desired. 

You see this side of her when Chimera comes in and tries to take her place in season 3. Her worth is tied to what she has and looks like. Her title as a princess rules her.

Not only that, Stella learns about “commoners” through her friends. She was spoiled and never saw people who couldn’t afford things; it was new and she was a bit rude about it, but can you blame her, she was always put above everything else in her home country.

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgzCfOQ696rvwa51Z_J4AaABCQ?lc=UgzCDSxfcNaP9XogBSB4AaABAg

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgzCfOQ696rvwa51Z_J4AaABCQ?lc=Ugxl_sOsUSGBXEwagxJ4AaABAg

^^ These are comments of people saying similar things.

Stella also vents to Sky a lot in the remake. She seems like she is chasing him pitifully, something og Stella would never do.

Edit: Check the “liked” section; she has been upgraded to sort of like in episodes 5 and 6.

Aisha

They did Aisha dirty as well. (Just like Bonnie from Vampire Diaries, why am I surprised?) I would write a lot here, but someone else summarized it well:

https://rainbow-whitewashing-jar.tumblr.com/post/639787632624369664/its-just-there-is-so-much-background-on-aisha.

https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugx4WL5rIPTS1suGOed4AaABCQ

Tldr: Aisha was a very lonely princess of Andros. She only had one friend growing up but then they moved away and she was lonely all over again. She copes with her princess duties by being great at sports and even beating some of the men! She stood up to her parents when they wanted her to be arranged married, until she fell in love with Nabu HERSELF. She decided her own future from that point on.

Also, her relevance to the plot has been dwindled to being Bloom's right hand man; the black best friend sterotype! What a let down for one of the PRINCESSES of the original!

She had her own goals, drive, and motivations in the original! She did things for all of her friends; she definitely wasn't only driven by one person!

And she was closer to Musa than Bloom that's for sure!

Bloom

The fact that bloom transforms before everyone else gives bad vibes, considering that one of the reasons she was insecure about magic was because everyone of her friends was better than her and could transform. Why would she feel insecure when they are all around the same level?

The theme of sisterhood

Ever notice that none of the girls had the same taste in guys?

Bloom liked goody guys like Sky and Andy. Stella liked guys who were fun and flirty like Brandon.

In fact, none of the girls ever fought over a guy, they fought over things that actually mattered like someone being rude or a mission gone wrong.

That's what made them relatable. They weren't petty about guys and they mostly respected each other's relationships.

https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugz6TEOmGRV2Cfqy12F4AaABCQ?lc=UgwhLsToVbhLDYpFphB4AaABAg

^^ Look at highlighted comment

Not only that, but the winx represented a positive sisterhood. They stood by each other and respected each other; they never let men come between them and shared their power with each other.

Only the trix, the bad sisterhood, fought over men and power. The trix were foils to the winx and what they stood for! That's what made them some of the best villains in the series!

Instead of that, we get useless relationship drama! 😒

And that brings me to...

Stella/Sky/Bloom & Riven/Dane/Terra

What was the point of Dane? I'm still asking myself that question. He doesn't really do anything except act as relationship fuel for a love triangle.

Don't get me wrong, the representation is needed. But he adds nothing to the real plot at all except that Terra thinks he likes her, and he has a crush on Riven.

In terms of the Stella and Bloom love triangle with Sky, apparently she BLINDED someone because they flirted with sky. What?!? Stella isn't that cruel at all. The show clearly flanderized her to a cruel mean girl so....

Edit: Check the “liked” section; she has been upgraded to sort of like in episodes 5 and 6.

Lets not forget about “diversity”

Male fairies did exist before Fate:

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgziTWMf44kv0fkDt8x4AaABCQ

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgxWAFZRmqt_k3iBMhZ4AaABCQ

Flora/Terra, Musa, and Whitewashing

Terra and Musa are wonderful! Their actress' do a great job; their personalities are so similar to the original (except for musa's mind abilities and Terra's talkative personality)! Whenever one of them interacts with the other main cast, you feel actual friendship chemistry between them!!

But there is an elephant in the room: the whitewashing. If these characters were the correct race, they wouldn't be in this critical review.

Terra isn't flora, but her character was clearly based on her! Also, she has a cousin named Flora, so Flora is clearly in this universe.

??

Why change her race and swap her out! The personalities are spot on, which makes it even more disheartening to know that they would rather replace two POC characters with white characters who essentially are the same people and have the same plot importance.

What a shame and low blow that is! Especially since I am a black woman myself!

Sky and Riven

Them being bros make no sense really. Before they were more like enemies who were forced to work together.

Why are they friends?? What's the backstory?

Other than that, sky is pretty spot on. He's the pretty boy with good intentions. Not interesting but not very boring either.

Riven is cringy like I feared. He was also sort of cringe in the og but because of the darker setting in the remake he just feels even more so.

Other Criticisms:

- we gets some pretty cringy dialogue (mostly from riven). Some of the clingy dialogue (not from riven) ironically could have worked in a lighter setting and become "campy".

- The fact that there are no wings for 5 whole episodes, just makes the entire thing feel like Witches or something...

- why does everyone have the dead parent trope??

- no tecna

Things I do like:

- bloom missing her parents and feeling left out

- Musa and Sam before Musa and Riven (hopefully)

- Terra in general

- Terra’s dad and brother

- Musa in general

- Stella funny quips

- the scenery is gorgeous

- Stella's clothes are so fashionable! She has great outfits!

- Sky and Bloom taking during the party and/or being friendly with each other

- the magic cgi looks good 👍

- the rooms of the girls dorms and the castle looks great on the inside

- Aisha's personality

- Farrah Dowling is good as well

- Bloom is pretty spot on

- Stella's mom's powers are awesome

- imagine the genocide plot but with the happy fun show vibe and with the trix. The trix want to get revenge on faragonda for killing their cult, who wanted to revive the ancestral witches or something💥💥💥

- Stella in episodes 5 and 6 is cool

- the inclusion of the witches of aster dell (Beatrix said she was born there = witch)

- the inclusion of musa’s mother’s death

-Her transformation was lackluster to me, but I appreciated the effort to include it.

Conclusion

The pacing was all over the place to me; it felt like some episodes lasted forever and all of them seemed to have the vague theme of : be careful who you trust.

By trying to separate the winx from the og and have them have "their own lives" (which they already had), they ruined the intriguing backstories the characters already had in the og. Some were somewhat kept, but others were kind of left in the dust *cough*Aisha*cough*.

They took away with made them special: the teamwork, love, and friendship that brought them together and made them stronger. *They try it in episodes 5 and 6, but to me it just falls sort of flat.*

That said it isn't completely bad, it's mediocre at best, but it isn't Winx and that's that.

Edit: I know that it’s not supposed to be winx per say, but it has characters from the og and even the “winx” name in the title!

Credits: WCD channel on youtube, rainbow whitewashing jar on tumblr, and Youtube videos by the official winx club youtube channel.

[magnoliaspringdesign]

(via "Beagle" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by magnoliaspring)

[demigodsanswer]

Percy and Clarisse as friends for the Christmas ask?

I love this. I imagine they’d be coworkers as teachers at Gode High in the future so that’s when this is set 

What did they get each other for Christmas?: as teachers are notoriously underfunded, each gets the other a 12 pack of expo markers and a bottle of wine. This was not an arranged gift, they just each had the same idea, proving they aren’t that different after all. Their families also do a white elephant party with Will and Nico, and Pollux every season. They always walk away from that with something weird. 

Christmas morning as a couple?: Their families don’t spend Christmas morning together, but later in the day they get together and swap gifts and eat dinner together. It’s a big camp half blood holiday reunion. 

Where did they celebrate? (Whose family were they with/did their families come over to their place?): They usually make Percy and Annabeth come to Brooklyn because they live in the same building as Nico and Will, so Clarisse and co outnumber Percy and co. 

Who decorated? And how much?: Percy decorates way more than Clarisse. He never got to decorate much as a kid, but his mother always tried. Clarisse never liked Christmas much as a kid, because for the first six years her mother was busy being the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Paris Opera Ballet Nutcracker. But she makes an effort for her kids. 

Who cooked dinner?: Percy and Chris are the cooks. Annabeth is good at baking, because, like architecture, it’s all about precision. Clarisse is good at entertaining the kids by teaching them the best ways to kill monsters while everyone else does the hard work. 

Who baked the cookies?: Annabeth, but they’re Sally’s recipe. 

What was their favorite part of the day?: Percy love Christmas morning with all of the gifts. Clarisse loves the end of the day when the kids fall asleep overwhelmed with happiness. 

[robinrunsfiction]

Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge Day 9 - Ryan Seaman

Pairing: Ryan Seaman x Female Reader Rating: General Requested By: None Word Count: 1,250 Author’s Note: Other than the creepy santa music box I got at my work white elephant last week, I’ve never gotten a good white elephant/secret santa gift and so I channeled my frustrations into this story 😅 shout out to @mariawritesfanfic for finding the gift described in the story and pictured in the mood board.

You smiled as you hurried through the snow up to your friend Jennifer’s door, brightly wrapped gift in hand. Your group of friends had decided to do a secret santa gift exchange this year, and you luckily had drawn Ryan’s name. You and Ryan had been going out for a while, and you really liked him, but you hadn’t ever discussed if you were officially in a relationship. Regardless, you had found the perfect gift for Ryan and you were excited to give it to him. When you got inside you put the present under the tree and  found Dallon, Breezy and Ryan were already there. After greeting them and grabbing some refreshments, the hostess announced it was time to get started with the gift opening.

“Ok! So let’s get started with,” Jennifer paused and made a face of concern, “this one which is… uniquely wrapped and appears to be for (YN)!”

You got up and took the present from her. She was right when she said it was uniquely wrapped, as it was a bright blue reusable shopping bag with the handles tied together with your name scrawled in sharpie in the corner. You hummed, taking a moment to examine the bag, noticing how light it felt. You untied the handles and inside was more tote bags and reusable shopping bags.

“Oh, it’s reusable shopping bags, thanks. I don’t have a dozen of these in my car already,” you said dryly. You dug around inside thinking it might be a joke and there was something better at the bottom. A gift card for Target or Starbucks or a $20 bill to hit the dollar limit that was set for the game, but there was nothing. 

“You’re welcome,” your friend Dave said from the corner, stifling his laughter.

“Do you need this Trader Joe’s receipt?” you asked, holding up the slip of paper you found between two of the bags.

“Yea, actually I do, my roommate owes me money for groceries,” he said, taking it from you.

You sighed and sunk into the couch between Breezy and Ryan. Ryan glanced over and put his arm around your shoulders comfortingly.

You tried not to pout too obviously as you watched your friends open their presents such as bottles of wine, records, candles, and goodies from Bath and Body Works. It really bothered you that Dave had either forgotten to get you anything and gathered the bags he had in his car, or he just didn’t give enough of a damn about you to pick up a real present, and you weren’t sure which made you more disappointed. But finally it was Ryan’s turn and you watched as the package you so carefully wrapped was handed to him.

He began inspecting it carefully before tearing into the paper. “Oh sweet,” he said turning over the book in his hands.

“What book is it?” Dallon asked from his spot on the floor by Breezy’s feet.

“It’s about the history of punk rock, it just came out like last week but I hadn’t gotten a chance to pick it up yet.” Then he paused, eyebrows knit together in thought before looking over at you. “Wait, did you get me this?”

You grinned and nodded. “I preordered it after you were talking about it that one time. The fact that I then drew your name for secret santa was just a bonus!”

Ryan grinned and pulled you into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispered as he pulled back. “I feel bad you got such a bad gift.”

You shrugged. “I’ve never taken part in a secret santa, white elephant, or yankee swap where I came away with anything half as good as what I brought. Actually I don’t know why I still agree to be a part of them,” you laughed darkly.

Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but Jennifer called attention back to the game and the last few presents to be handed out. You watched with jealousy as everyone admired their presents until the game was over and everyone went back to socializing, drinking and eating appetizers.

After a while of talking to Jennifer, you realized that Ryan was nowhere to be found. You had hoped to say goodbye to him before he left, maybe make plans to hang out soon, but you hadn’t gotten the chance so you decided that you may as well leave as well. You put on your coat and slipped out of the house without anyone noticing, but as you got to the end of the driveway you saw Ryan was coming back up the street from where he had parked.

“Leaving so soon?” He asked concerned, the cold air causing his breath to come out in clouds as he stopping under the streetlight.

“I thought you left so I figured why stick around? I’m not really in the mood to socialize anyway,” you shrugged.

Ryan chuckled. “I actually came out to get your present.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yea, I had it in my car. I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to give it to you tonight or not, but I felt bad that you got such a shitty gift, which I see you left behind,” he laughed when he saw you were empty handed.

“Oh, whoops,” you replied with a laugh, rolling your eyes.

“Well here,” he said holding out a small square package wrapped in red wrapping paper with snowflakes all over it and a red bow.

You grinned and pulled the bow off and stuck it to Ryan’s leather jacket, making him laugh lightly, but he seemed to be growing nervous. You pulled off the paper and stuffed it in your coat pocket and opened the small box. Inside was a gold necklace with a compass charm, then you noticed the writing below the necklace.

“I’d be lost without you,” you read aloud, before looking up at him.

“It's true. Even though things have been hectic lately, you’re always there to keep me going and centered,” Ryan replied softly. “(YN), I was hoping you would be my girlfriend?”

“Yes!” You grinned. Ryan returned the smile with one that reached all the way to his eyes. With your free hand, you reached up and let your fingers glance over his cheek before pulling him in to kiss you. All the frustration and disappointment you felt earlier in the night was washed away by Ryan’s thoughtful gesture. His hands found your waist, pulling you closer to him.

“Oh you crazy kids,” you heard Dallon say behind you, causing both you and Ryan to pull apart, startled, but Ryan kept his hands on your waist.. “I think you left your gift inside (YN). Dave clearly put a lot of thought into it, and you wouldn’t want to forget it and appear ungrateful,” Dallon said sarcastically.

“Hey, don’t call my girlfriend ungrateful,” Ryan said in a faux-serious tone that made you both laugh. 

“Oh, is that new?” Breezy asked from her spot tucked under Dallon’s arm.

“Yea, pretty new,” you grinned, glancing back at Ryan who was smiling down at you.

“You guys are so cute together,” Breezy commented as they made their way to their car. “Call us, we’ll go on a double date sometime soon!”

“Thanks, will do” you replied.

“Wanna go back to my place and watch a Christmas movie or something?” Ryan asked when the other couple was gone.

“That sounds like a great idea,” you replied with a smile as you turned to go.

[canisonicscrewyou]

This isn't really an ask but today is the holiday office party/white elephant event and I brought an ugly geology sweater to put on for the event and my white elephant gift is a really really pretty piece of chalcopyrite on quartz. Do you know the origin of White elephant/meaning?

I’m sure nobody is going to know who brought that piece but it sounds really pretty??? And I have no idea considering that my entire life I’ve only really known white elephants as yankee swaps which I think are the same thing??

[ruthjkoga]

White Elephant Gifts: 17 Steal-Worthy Can't Miss Gift Ideas

Having a white elephant gift exchange game is a hilarious way to bring people together and break the ice. If you want to make “Yankee Swap” or “Dirty Santa” even more memorable, don’t settle for the usual presents! These white elephant gift ideas are not only guaranteed to get some big laughs, but they are…

Read More

from Womenio https://www.womenio.com/36301/white-elephant-gifts from Womenio https://womenio.tumblr.com/post/691501669564940288

[reportwire]

48 Funny White Elephant Gift Ideas Under $30 for 2022

48 Funny White Elephant Gift Ideas Under $30 for 2022

Photos Courtesy of Retailers The holidays are a time when, for year-long gift shoppers, exchanging presents brings unalloyed joy. For the rest of us last-minute men, well, it tends to bring unending anxiety. But thankfully, there are occasions like the “White Elephant” gift exchange (also known as a “Yankee Swap,” “Dirty Santa,” or whatever other terms just mean “gifting your friends weird stuff…

[magnoliaspringdesign]

(via "Tis The Season" Classic T-Shirt for Sale by magnoliaspring)