PTA CHRISTMAS PARTY - Finale

The White Elephant Christmas Exchange......tears of laughter are a certainty.

It seems the presents are actually getting more desirable this year......but what is one person's excess 'stuff' may be another person's jewel! Linda was the first to choose a wrapped gift. These beautiful glass balls (thought to be 'floaters' used in fishing nets) were a hot item......many of us wanted to take them home. Let the game begin.......

Yes, even practical gifts can be found....here Judy Simmons sports these colorful socks and hat.....
Janice decided to wear this Christmas theme silver plated candle holder. She didn't keep it long as the swapping has already started.....as further numbers are drawn from the basket.....that person can open a wrapped gift OR....take a gift from someone. If the later happens, the giftless person can take a wrapped gift or something from someone else. There are lots of versions of this game.....but we've now adopted a 2 'steal rule'. Meaning a gift can only be stolen twice in each round. Otherwise, we'd be there all night....which actually would be fun.

Somehow Janice snagged this.........I LOVED the bowl and had just commented that morning to 'the husband' that the next pottery show we attend....I wanted to find a large, low blue bowl! And here is was......in Janice's hand.....

We all cracked up as Linda (in another stealing frenzy that took place) ended up with an photo album of her own Boston Terriers. She dresses and stages them for pictures, which are a riot. Linda gifted the album last year and Kate kept it all year just to put it back in the mix again. Too funny.... Well....not too funny cause I ended up with it.......let's see how I can recycle it.

Linda loves sharing Boston Terrier 'stuff'........this year she's gifted a drawing......

Along with this ceramic Boston..... Mary Berry seems to be enjoying it....however, in a post game swap......which has become a tradition......it ended up going home with Connie who put it in her chicken coop to scare away hawks!

Kate's gift included a bottle of very nice wine......and the ugliest cork screw you'd ever seen. Doesn't this look like dog do?? Naturally, in the post game swap.......it found its way into Linda's stash.......she of the Boston Terrier addiction needed it.

And finally.......This Christmas necklace with tiny colored lights that blink was one of the items I put in my gift box. I purchased it at great expense (well relatively considering it probably cost $.59 to manufacture) last Christmas at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville where EVERY store featured them and about half the people in this very crowded hotel were wearing them. I saw it and thought 'Connie'!! I could even picture her wearing it and ta da........she indeed got my package and there was no stealing or swapping this one....it went home around Connie's neck!

So....we close out the adventures of the a typical PTA Christmas Party.........with one final addition......I tried to swap and then out right purchase the blue bowl from Janice....who wasn't budging during our post game negotiations....... But, girlfriend that she is......as we were departing....she presented me with the bowl....yeah!!! LOVE it...tx's Janice.....