“Everyone brings joy to the office; some when they enter and others when they leave.”
– Source Unknown
Photo Credit – Unsplash, Antenna
Office gift exchanges sure can a challenge……
- How much to spend?
- How many to buy for?
- Do you buy for your boss?
- What about homemade gifts?
It gets complicated and some offices get it WRONG. I once had an office do a white elephant where there were no rules (some brought garbage and some a very expensive gift ($50 item)…..awkward! The individuals with the throw away gifts were eyeing the ones with the really nice gifts. It was weird.
Another office I worked for, everyone exchanged $10 gift cards to the place the receiver wanted. Yeah, that’s an errand I didn’t need during the holidays.
Let’s get it right with this …..
OFFICE GIFT GUIDE, Gifts $10 and Under
Photo credit- Unsplash, rawpixel
Plus, tips on creating a great office gift exchange experience.
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TIPS
- Take a Vote – If you can, take a vote, each year to see what people want to do. Employees come and go and it’s nice for people to get a choice.
- Set a Budget – Keeping it low allows most everyone to participate
- Exchange – One present is much easier to get than a gift for everyone.
- Homemade???– Decide if homemade goods are accepted. And don’t bring homemade goods unless people rave about it, like willing to pay you for it. WHY? Because a lot of the work will go to waste if people aren’t into homemade goods, have food allergies, or are super picky.
- Go beyond the gift card – Like really, what is the point of everyone exchanging different cards?
- Themed Exchanges – You can do an ornament, food, socks, etc theme.
CO-WORKER / OFFICE GIFT IDEAS
- Bottle of Wine
- Scratcher/Lotto Tickets
- Good Pen(s), like these!
- Head Messager, believe it or not..people love these things!
- Sugar Scrub, you can make your own here or get one like this Whipped Sugar Scrub with Organic Coffee
- GOURMET Caramel Apples, the really deluxe ones make for a really sweet gift!!!
- Your Favorite Snack Item or local treat, This is mine (Cinnamon is AH-Mazing)
- Donation – You may want to keep it pretty general to fit anyone like a local food bank.
- Fun Socks (like these “If you can read this, bring me tacos” )
- Mug and some Chocolates, this meeting mug is classic for a work gift
- Fruit Infused Water Bottle, truth be told this might be a tiny bit over our price point but it’s a great gift and we won’t tell anyone!
- Custom Mouse Pad, How cute is this floral antler one?
- Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
- Flavored Salts
- Waterproof Notepad
- Local Salsa & Good Tortilla Chips (Note – Safeway has fresh tortilla chips in a bag, in the deli area.)
- Reusable To Go Box, A few pennies over the budget but worth including and helps reduce waste.
- QUALITY Chocolate
- Field Notes
- LCR Dice Game
- Reusable Sandwich Bags
- Your Favorite Book
- Coloring Book and don’t forget the crayons!
- Quality Tea, You can get several of these sample packs for a nice gift.
- Soup Mix, Did someone say quick and easy dinner?
- A Mug Warmer, Did you know these can keep your coffee/tea warm, but you can also use a candle and no flame!
- Lip Balm, Burt’s Bees is a great option.
- Credit Card Steel Identity Theft Blocking Holder
- Wood Bookmark
- Air Plant
- Cell Phone Holder
- Handcrafted Candle, Like Iced Tea Scented, Birthday Cake (with sprinkles), or an Aromatherapy Scent
We hope you enjoyed this office gift guide. Here are a few more gift guides you may enjoy:
*One final tip, some people will go to their local $1 store and purchase gifts. You can get a few things that are pretty fun, but there is a lot of cheap stuff that just ends up at the thrift stores. Believe me I see it all the time! Go for one quality item, and if you need to supplement it, add a little dollar store item to it.
Great idea, and I love the price point. As a single Mom the funds for the office party came directly from the budget for the gifts under our own tree. I loved participating with my friends from work, and having a specific theme and price point like this would make it both fun and doable.
Thanks. It is hard for many, and we don’t always realize where people are at financially.
Great ideas and post! Sharing! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
Thank you Kim and you’re welcome. I enjoyed participating.