Secret Santa ideas

DWhite

Hi :wave:

I'm in need of inspiration for secret Santa please! :santa2: I have drawn the name of a lady, aged late 20's. I don't really know what sort of thing she likes, other than she likes to try to be healthy (drinks healthy teas at work and tried not to eat snacks etc...) she does wear make up but doesn't seem to be overly into it. We work in a restaurant where I'm an assistant manager and she's a waitress.
Also needed is some ideas for small gifts for the team - I'm looking to initiate a 'you've been socked' by giving a small gift to a co worker and tasking them with doing the same for someone else and so on. Spend £5-£10 (preferably closer to £5)

Thanks all!

room512

For my secret santa this yearI have bought a personalised mug featuring a character they love. Etsy has some nice presents. Last year OH bought a bracelet for his secret santa and I made a personalised calendar of the recipients cat by downloading pics off facebook! I then used a voucher code to bring the price to around £5.

VfM4meplse

Secret Santa...honestly such a waste of money! I'd rather assign the cash to charity and give the SS recipient a card saying "I've bought the gift of a hind quarter of a goat....".

PasturesNew

My honest opinion ... forget trying to get her "the perfect gift" as you'll burn up energy/time fretting about it.

Get her something generic that she can easily give away/share with others if it's not her thing .... tin of Christmas sweets like Celebrations, Quality Street, Heroes etc.

Nobody could complain about that as it'll never be unwanted/wasted as it can be shared/re-gifted if it's really not her thing.

And ... I bet she's secretly got some big pants waiting to be put on at Xmas for her secret scoffathon.

Pollycat

DWhite wrote: »

Also needed is some ideas for small gifts for the team - I'm looking to initiate a 'you've been socked' by giving a small gift to a co worker and tasking them with doing the same for someone else and so on. Spend £5-£10 (preferably closer to £5)

Thanks all!

Not wishing to sound too 'Bah! Humbug! but I tend to agree with vfm4meplse.

I hated Secret Santa when I was at work.
One year, I put 'no make-up' and got.......make-up 'cos it's easy to buy cheap crap make-up.

Re your idea above, I think this will just put more pressure on people to scurry round the shops trying to buy yet another present for someone they hardly know, spending money they could put to better use at this expensive time.

rach_k

I'd keep it simple with something you know she'll like, or go completely generic (but I prefer the first option!). If she likes healthy teas, maybe something like a pretty teacup/mug/travel mug and a packet of nice tea. Supermarkets do some decent cheaper versions of the fancy fruit/herbal teas. The Whittard website has some nice tea gift sets that are quite expensive but might give you ideas of how to put together your own.

Islandmaid

We must be a bit odd at work, as our secret Santa gifts are to put it politely tongue in cheek, we work in an environment where black humour is very much needed, so no one gets offended.

The lady I 'drew' this year is very petite and likes a good night out, so I bought her a tshirt with 'drinkabelle' and a picture of Tinkerbelle on it.

Hubby's friend recently lost a finger, so he has bought him a calculator with the number 9 removed (lost a digit) - we know he will see the funny side

Last year I got a plain white mug with a VERY rude word on the bottom - I thought is was brill....

It's difficult if you don't really know the recipient, I don't think I would get involved if it was too 'prissy'

Out,_Vile_Jelly

The Science Museum does some fun stuff for under a tenner: https://www.sciencemuseumshop.co.uk/ gender neutral, entertaining for kids or drunk adults.

A Secret Santa Pound Shop challenge could be a good one; most random gift you can find for a quid.

Lance_De_Boils

Catch Kidston ticket holders are around a fiver. The females in my family love them.
They hold train tickets, credit cards etc..

Slinky

Worst Secret Santa's I ever received were a 4-pack of Babycham, with one missing......... We're only talking 15 years ago, no idea why they thought I would like Babycham. Got the distinct feeling it was party leftovers.

A few years ago I got a hideous Christmas tree decoration, looked like a starling, went straight in the charity shop bag.

I'm fortunate to not be involved in SS anymore. I buy some people who do some work for me a box of chocs and 2 bottles of wine which they always seem to be happy with.

Nomoonatall

One place I worked, we were all strapped for cash. We said to spend £1 to £2 per person.

One girl gave us £1 worth of penny sweets each, she'd wrapped them up individually! Someone else bought cheap mugs and drew what she thought of us on them! It was funny, she left a really quiet chap's mug blank! I've since realised that she didn't like me. Oh.

I was boring and bought them cheap slouch socks...with hidden chocolates in the toe parts!