Den Mother Daner,
Im going to a christmas party tonite where they are having a White Elephant gift exchange. What the fuck is a White Elephant gift exchange?
because its tonight and dana isnt online..
here:
white elephant
Gifts are wrapped, but are not labeled to reflect a specific sender or recipient. Gifts are typically inexpensive, humorous, cool, or useful items; people spend usually around $15 to $25.
All participants draw a number (from a hat, perhaps) to determine their order.
The participant with #1 unwraps any gift from the pile and then shows it to everyone. Each successive participant, in the order determined from the drawing, can either 1) "steal" an already opened gift (if there's one they really like) or 2) be adventurous and go for a wrapped gift from the pile. If the participant chooses to steal, the person whose gift is stolen now repeats their turn and either 1) steals another person's gift (they cannot immediately steal back the gift that was just stolen from them) or 2) unwraps a new gift.
This cycle of stealing can sometimes continue for a long time, until a new gift is chosen, at which point the turn is passed to the participant with the next number from the drawing. (An alternative to the drawing is to sit in a circle and take turns in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.)
Since items can be stolen, the item in your possession is not yours until the game is over. However, this is often amended with a rule declaring a gift "dead" or "safe" after it has been stolen three times. The game is over once all names have been withdrawn from the hat and everyone has a gift.
i would check with the person throwing the party to get any variations in the rules.
have fun tonight.
~k.