PTA WHITE ELEPHANT CHRISTMAS EXCHANGE

Each year our exchange gets sillier and sillier.....this isn't just an ordinary pull a number and take your gift exchange....oh no, not us.  Each of us brings a wrapped gift.  It can be a true 'white elephant' or something a bit more appealing if desired...that's what makes it fun....we all want to avoid taking the true 'white elephant' home!

Slips of paper with numbers equal to the attendees are put in a bag....we each draw one.  The person with the number 1 picks a gift from the stack....opens it and we all ouuuu and ahhhh.

Then it's number 2's turn.....she can either pick from the pile OR steal the open gift from #1.  So, let's say she decides to open another gift.  Then #3 can open a gift or steal the opened gift from # 1 or # 2.  So...if she decides to take #2's gift...then #2 can take #1's gift or open another from the pile.  Are you still following??  As more gifts get opened.....the higher numbers have the advantage of knowing what they might want to take home....so stealing becomes a frenzy.  To keep this little game from lasting 2 days...there are some rules.  No gift can be stolen more than 2 times in any round.  By 'round' I mean during a specific number's turn.  This of course means someone is supposed to be paying attention to how many times an item is moved from the start of one number to the start of the next.....it's hilarious.

I know there are probably many other versions of this game.  I first learned about it 30 years ago.  The gifts were to have a monetary limit of $20 but most were more better than that.  We played it not with numbers, but with playing cards.....and each participant got 2 cards....so it went on for a long time with lots of exchanging and laughter.   

 Here's part of our group....ready for the game to begin!

 Barbara was first....and surprisingly she chose a large package...usually we avoid the big ones....no one wants to end up with a silly BIG item.

 We all loved this one though....despite its size.  Georgia made this fabulous star using her Bonesteel hardware store wooden rulers.  (Georgia and her husband owned the Bonesteel Hardware store in Hendersonville, NC....the home of Georgia's quilt shop made famous via her PBS TV show, "Lap Quilting".

 Speaking of Georgia....she opened this hot ticket item...everyone wanted it.  It was a working (supposedly) vintage looking phone made using a wine bottle and metal wine glass handset.  

 When it was my turn, I stole this carafe with a glass....but it didn't stay with me for more than the next number.  A trick we often use is to kinda hide the item we want to keep under our feet so people forget about it.  This wasn't hidden....no point in that since it moved from person to person quickly.  See this is why nice items are important to have besides silly useless ones!

 Connie and Janice are laughing.....even though a 'steal' is in the works!

 Cathy finds a chicken calendar each year that our chicken raisers in the group can fight over!

Linda Cantrell is passionate about her 5 Boston Terriers (or is it 6 or 7...she owns now and fosters as well).  When this package was opened...there was no doubt Linda would be doing her best to take it home.

So, if you got this far in the post...you may be interested to know I'll have part two of our exchange tomorrow.......Sometimes though...these things are only interesting to those who were there......so hang with me.....I'll be back to sewing posts soon.