Secret Santa Holiday Party Tips

This post featuring secret Santa party tips is sponsored by Vanilla gift cards. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I may be the only child, but I have enough cousins to make it feel like I have 20 siblings! I love my big family, and needless to say, there’s never a dull moment during the holidays! 

If you have a large family like I do, then you know the struggle is real when it comes to buying gifts for everyone – there’s just too many people! Secret Santa gift exchanges are the way to go when you have a large family and want to exchange gifts without breaking the bank! I personally think Secret Santa is more fun too, since it’s anonymous and there’s always a good time to be had when it comes to guessing who gave what! 

Some of my favorite holiday childhood memories involve picking my secret Santa name from the hat. I always got excited to see whose name I would get! Plus, I’m always up for a challenge, and finding the perfect gift for the person on your list can be difficult.

Today I’m sharing a glimpse into our holiday gathering while featuring some of my favorite secret Santa holiday party tips I’ve learned over the years! These tips will ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible and everyone stays jolly! 

Secret Santa Party Tips

Tip #1 – Make Sure Everyone Understands the Rules!

First, you can’t play secret Santa unless everyone knows how to play, am I right!? I’m sure most of you have played before, but if you haven’t, here’s a quick rundown of the rules:

– Make a list of everyone who wants to participate, then put each name on a piece of paper to pull from a hat, bowl, etc.

– Each participant then draws a name, and whatever name they pull is who they will purchase a gift for.

– Everyone must remain anonymous through the entire process, so you shouldn’t say what name you pulled, nor should you know who gave you your gift! 

Tip #2 – Set a Budget

To keep things fair and simple, set a budget! Secret Santa gifts don’t have to be anything extravagant, unless of course your family chooses for it to be, but for the sake of the game, it’s best to keep gifts all within a similar price range to be fair. 

Tip #3 – Keep Gifts Simple

When it comes to giving a gift, don’t stress too hard! Now is not the time to worry about finding the most personal gift for that special someone. You may even give away your anonymity if you get too personal and it becomes obvious, so keep it simple! My personal choice is a gift card. These Vanilla Mastercard gift cards come in a variety of price ranges to fit all budgets and have a cute holiday design! I found these at Walgreens! You can’t go wrong with giving a Mastercard gift card since this allows your recipient to get exactly what they like! Ps – there’s an AWESOME sweepstakes going on too – check the bottom of this post! 

Tip #4 – Create a Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are a fun way to exchange gifts while still remaining anonymous! Each person can simply hide their gift around the home and when it’s time to open them up, each person gets to hunt for their gift! To make things more fun, everyone can create riddles to give the person a clue where to look! 

Secret Santa Scavenger Hunt Riddles:

– When you mail a letter to Santa, you have to use a stamp. Shine a light on this hunt and look by a ___. (lamp)

– “Jingle Bells” and “Frosty the Snowman” are a favorite holiday tunes. Your gift is hiding by the knives, forks, and ___. (spoons)

– Rudolph is the lead reindeer because his nose can be seen. Your gift is inside the washing ___. (machine)

– The stockings are hung somewhere with care. Where the ornaments hang, your gift is there! (the tree)

Tip #5 – Set a Theme

Themed gift exchanges and parties are always more fun! To change things up, families can pick a unique secret Santa theme to follow each year. Some of my favorite themes include: Disney, food, gift cards, and humor! 

Will you be participating in a secret Santa gift exchange this year? Share your best secret Santa party tips in the comments below! 

If you’ll be giving a gift card, be sure to enter the sweepstakes for your chance to win a Grand prize $10,000 shopping spree at Macy’s! For every Vanilla Gift Card Purchase, you will receive a chance to win one of over 100 prizes! The Grand prize drawing will be on 12/24/18, so don’t miss out! Visit this website to enter!