One of my favorite Christmas traditions at parties is to play Dirty Santa. Dirty Santa is a festive game where everyone brings a gift (not a gag gift) at a predetermined price point and you can steal each other’s gifts. It is always fun for Christmas parties and I prefer it to White Elephant where you have silly or gag gifts at a cheap price point because everyone gets to go home with something somewhat nice. Personally I like a $30 budget for this game so that people can get creative without feeling too restricted.
Here are some of my recommended Dirty Santa gift ideas:
- Anthropologie Candle– I can guarantee every girl in the room would steal this gift because they are simply the best candles, especially for the holidays (personally I love the Fir & Firewood candle for Christmas). These are under $30 on Black Friday.
- Cocktail Glasses & Big Ice Cube Trays– We have used our silicon large cube trays more times than I can count. Pair with a set of cocktail glasses that can be used for any occasion.
- Your Favorite Board Game(s)- who doesn’t love playing games with their friends or families around the holidays? If one game doesn’t quite fill the budget, add some cards & dice for a family game night theme.
- Coffee Basket- Get a bag of coffee from a local coffee shop with some cute mugs in a basket. If there is room in the budget, add some syrup or some biscotti cookies.
- Yeti Tumbler– We use our Yeti tumbler’s every single day. They are the best for keeping water cold all day long.
- Christmas Movie Night Basket- Go to your local Walmart or Target and sort through the Christmas DVD bin and get a few of your favorites. Pair with some popcorn & your favorite movie candies in a cute basket. Everyone will love it.
- Cookbook or Grill Book- Cookbooks are great for fun kitchen recipes or ideas for the grill. Pair with a cute dish towel, oven mitts, or utensils if there is room in your budget. I really like Cravings & Half Baked Harvest.
- Cocktail Kit- I’ve done both a margarita kit and a dirty martini kit with glasses I found from HomeGoods and they were a huge hit. For the martini I found some mini martini glasses, a jar of olives, and some cocktail skewers. For the margaritas I found some blue rimmed marg glasses on sale, margarita salt and a mini tequila & mix. You can even write a drink recipe on a card to go with for a little extra touch.
- Something local- Go to a local gift shop and support them. I recently found the cutest South Carolina hand towel that I gifted with come cocktail napkins for a friend. Local businesses need you support.
- Mini Waffle Maker with waffle mix- These are just so cute! I’ve also seen people make jumbo cinnamon rolls in them and that just sounds delicious.
When all else fails, gift cards are always a hit, but make them local to restaurants or coffee shops in your area. This is a last resort because how boring would the game be if everyone brought a gift card?
How to play Dirty Santa here are the game rules:
- Everyone brings a gift at a certain price point.
- Everyone playing will draw a number from 1- however many players there are.
- #1 goes first AND last
- #1 will start by opening one of the gifts. #2 will then have the opportunity to open a new gift or steal the gift that #1 opened. This continues as the game goes on. If your gift is stolen, you get to then choose to steal or open a new gift before the next #’s turn.
- Gifts can only be stolen three times. When a gift is stolen it’s third time, it is frozen and that person’s gift to take home.
- When the last unopened gift is opened, the game has ended unless #1 wishes to steal one last time.
I’d love to hear some of your Dirty Santa gift ideas or favorite party games below if you have some to share. Thanks for checking out the blog today and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas season.
