"Your Life and Times – a Real Woman’s Guide to Planning the Events of a Lifetime" will help women create memorable events for their families, their communities, their workplace and their world!
Share Your Wisdom
This blog is dedicated to acquiring tips and tricks from REAL WOMEN that have become experts in making the events of their lives extraordinary. This wisdom will be shared in the event-planning book I am writing called "Your Life and Times."
You're an event planner and probably don't even realize it! Did you ever direct your high school play or organize a school dance; plan a baby shower for your college roommate; volunteer to host the 3rd grade class Valentine's Day party; have a birthday party for your kids; organize a fundraiser for a sick friend; plan a company golf outing; serve as a scout leader or a Sunday School teacher; host a block party for the neighborhood; plan your parent's 50th wedding anniversary? If so, your experiences and your voice is what will make this book useful, unique and best of all fun to read.
Time-savers, planning tips, favorite websites, funny stories, or how you averted disaster on a special day - anything goes! But please only post what you are willing to share with the world - it could end up in the book!
Wednesday, January 6
Making a Holiday Gift Exchange More Fun
Seems that every holiday party includes some sort of gift exchange, whether it's for school, work, or family. What are some things you have seen to make gift exchanges more meaningful, fun, and/or inexpensive?
On one side of the family we do a gift exchange. At Thanksgiving we put all the kids' names in a hat (or bowl, etc.) and then each kid gets to pick one and that is the person you buy a present for. It makes it alot easier because there are so many kids.
My other side of the family does a white elephant gift exchange. There is a $25 limit. We all draw numbers and sit in a circle. Number one gets to go first and pick a present. THen number two goes, and they can either pick another present from the table or steal number one's present. If number two takes number one's present, then number one gets to pick another present. This is a fun way to get both the kids and adults involved in the gift exchange, and people always end up with funny gifts. My brother got Hulk boxing gloves and my dad got a compilations of Frank Sinatra's greatest hits last year.
We do pictures. Everyone wraps a picture in frame in newspaper and places them on the gift table. Then you go to the table a chose one-that is the picture you get. The pictures can be of anyone in the family at any point in time. Last year I gave the picture of my sister dressed up in a cowboy out fit from 25 years ago. My brother got it and he has it sitting on table at his house. The one I got was of my niece and my grandmother. It is great conversation for the year and it does bring a chuckle and / or a smile when you look at it throughout the year.
We did a gift card exchange a couple of years ago. Everyone was to come with a gift card from anywhere. Then we placed all of the cards in a basket and randomly drew out a card.
I really love and enjoy our family's stocking exchange every year. It has become a lot easier now that we write down some things we want on the papers, that are going to be exchanged.
Brittany Summers says:
ReplyDeleteOn one side of the family we do a gift exchange. At Thanksgiving we put all the kids' names in a hat (or bowl, etc.) and then each kid gets to pick one and that is the person you buy a present for. It makes it alot easier because there are so many kids.
My other side of the family does a white elephant gift exchange. There is a $25 limit. We all draw numbers and sit in a circle. Number one gets to go first and pick a present. THen number two goes, and they can either pick another present from the table or steal number one's present. If number two takes number one's present, then number one gets to pick another present. This is a fun way to get both the kids and adults involved in the gift exchange, and people always end up with funny gifts. My brother got Hulk boxing gloves and my dad got a compilations of Frank Sinatra's greatest hits last year.
Rhonda Inlow-Bernard says:
ReplyDeleteWe do pictures. Everyone wraps a picture in frame in newspaper and places them on the gift table. Then you go to the table a chose one-that is the picture you get.
The pictures can be of anyone in the family at any point in time. Last year I gave the picture of my sister dressed up in a cowboy out fit from 25 years ago. My brother got it and he has it sitting on table at his house. The one I got was of my niece and my grandmother.
It is great conversation for the year and it does bring a chuckle and / or a smile when you look at it throughout the year.
Diana Patterson says:
ReplyDeleteWe did a gift card exchange a couple of years ago. Everyone was to come with a gift card from anywhere. Then we placed all of the cards in a basket and randomly drew out a card.
Abby Hall says:
ReplyDeleteI really love and enjoy our family's stocking exchange every year. It has become a lot easier now that we write down some things we want on the papers, that are going to be exchanged.