If you are looking for a fun idea for a Christmas gift exchange this is it! Yesterday my high schools friends and I met for our annual Christmas gathering and instead of exchanging gifts the traditional way we each brought a pair of Christmas socks filled with goodies! It was a really fun and creative way to exchange gifts. We all loved it so much we decided to make this our new annual tradition. It is a great alternative for the traditional white elephant gift exchange.
The holiday sock exchange is perfect for families and friends. It is a fun twist on the traditional Christmas Gift Exchange, or White Elephant Gift Exchange. We also liked it more than an ornament exchange too. It was fun to see what each other got and we each opened our socks one at time to see what was inside.
We each brought one pair of Christmas socks that we filled with goodies. There was a wide variety but some of the items included: a paperback book, chocolate, lip balm, bottle of wine, candle, nail polish, pin, key chain, necklace, earrings, adult coloring book, homemade string art ornament. The sky is really the limit! Wrap it with a cute tag and a bow and you have a gift that your girlfriends will love! This would also be a great idea for a work gift exchange. One tip that we thought of after the fact would be to set a limit on how much each person should spend. You could set it at whatever amount you feel comfortable with.
Here we are with our socks after the exchange. You could use a left right poem to pass the gifts or do like we did. We put numbers in a bag and we each drew one. Then #1 went first and selected a pair of socks. #2 could either “steal” or select a pair of socks and so forth. It was so much fun!
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Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 21 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
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Gwen H.
December 21, 2015 at 9:51 pmWhat a wonderful idea. I may “steal” that idea next Christmas for one of the holiday gatherings.
Brenda
December 21, 2015 at 11:40 pmThat looks like a lot of fun. I also have a friend as close as a sister. We’re both only children, so we are each other’s sister.
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
December 14, 2016 at 12:32 pmI love that!
Debbie holman
November 21, 2016 at 8:44 pmI love your idea and plan to do this for my Girlfriend party this year. I have a question, when you played dirty Santa part, did you open the stockings first? I can’t decide if it would be more fun to see what’s in it or to go by the cute socks. I’m giving them the socks as the invitation to the party. What did you think is a good limit? I think we usually say $15.00.
Thank you for the post,
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
November 22, 2016 at 2:27 pmWe did not open until the end. We allowed the person to “feel the socks” and based it on the appearance 🙂 I think we said $15 or $20. It is so much fun. We can’t wait to do it again this year!
Scentsy Katie
December 4, 2016 at 11:55 pmI like the idea of a sock exchange much better than an ornament exchange because they can be used and admired year round. Thanks for the ideas!
Patsy
December 19, 2016 at 11:04 pmA friend is having a Christmas sock exchange party and women are to take socks filled with women’s gifts and so forth with the men. There is $10. limit. My husband and I can’t think of things to put in his socks. Any ideas? TIA!
Melissa@StockpilingMoms
December 20, 2016 at 8:41 amMen’s Sock Ideas – Body Wash, Nail Clippers, Mustache Comb, Body Spray, Super Glue, Bungee Cords, Ice-Scraper, Goo-Gone. My suggestion is go to the dollar store 🙂
Marsha Adair
November 9, 2018 at 1:04 pma devotion book, lip balm, summer sausage, coffee, tea, gift card, writing pen, calendar, ear buds, insulated cup, coffee cup, ice scraper.
Pookie
November 2, 2017 at 3:39 pmi had 3 friends in high school that i was super close too. we graduated in 84. we went our seperate ways, but we still get together each year durring the Christmas season. We used to all exchange gifts. Last year we played dirty Santa. This year it has already been decided we are doing the sock exchange. I am so excited!
Gail
November 21, 2017 at 11:18 amYour sock exchange inspired me to do this at my ladies only Christmas get together. I’ve already sent out the invitations, wish I had put a $ limit on them but this will be so much fun. Thanks for sharing this great idea.
Devan
October 29, 2018 at 5:17 pmMy girlfriend and I are doing this at our book club Christmas party this year! Sounds like so much fun! Thanks!