office holiday presents

[maggieaxid]

Is anyone else having this dilemma.......

Apparently everyone in my office is buying small gifts. (ie. lotto tickets, godiva chocolates, ect.) and i have no idea what to get these people. I am somewhat poor right now and really don't feel like spending much money on people that i pretty much can't stand!

Any ideas?

[dzrose93]

Hi Maggie,

For how many people do you need to get gifts? If less than 15 or so, one inexpensive suggestion is to bake cookies and put them in a decorative container for each person. A woman in my office did that last year. She went to Olde Time Pottery and bought several of the small clay flowerpots -- you can get them for about 49 cents each. She painted each flowerpot and then stuck the cookies inside wrapped in colored saran wrap.

The cookies were a hit, the flowerpot could be used later, and the cost was really low.

Good luck!

[juniorgrrl]

Or even quicker than making cookies, you can do the "Jar of Coookie ingredients"

Basically, you take a mason jar, and layer the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies so it looks pretty, then tie a recipe printed on a pretty card to the top. Quick, easy, and pretty cheap

[Beef]

Originally posted by juniorgrrl
Or even quicker than making cookies, you can do the "Jar of Coookie ingredients"

Basically, you take a mason jar, and layer the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies so it looks pretty, then tie a recipe printed on a pretty card to the top. Quick, easy, and pretty cheap

That sounds cool, and then for the people you cant stand, just put in a layer of exlax.

[lionlove]

The office where I work over breaks is mostly women so things like pretty scented candles are a big hit. If you do a secret santa thing where you only buy one gift, a gift basket of candles would be nice.

[aephi alum]

Is this a "secret Santa" type of thing? My former company did that one year - scratch-off lottery tickets were very popular for some reason People also gave things like candles, a mini foot massager, etc. Price limit was $10 - I'd kill to know where whoever bought the massager got it

My office is medium sized (about 70 people) and we don't do a Secret Santa thing, so I usually get a box of chocolates and put it in the break room with a "Happy Holidays" note. Believe me, they're gone within the hour

[KappaStargirl]

Lots of people are allergic to bubble bath, chocolate, scented whatever, so I have come up with what I think is a pretty darn good solution. I get everyone stationery. No one is allergic to it, and good writing paper is always a classy gift. You can also go funky with this present and get a pad of black paper and some bright gel pens.

I also agree with the earlier post, the jar of cookie ingredients is a very cute idea...when I was student teaching one of my students gave me a "cookie jar"...too bad I'm the world's worst baker, heehee.

[volgirl2376]

Another cheap idea is Christmas ornaments...if you can find the right place. There is a cool store here in Knoxville, that has the cutest and coolest ornaments, for like 3 bucks a piece.
I have a similar dilemma...I have a ton of people to buy for at work, but I really do like them and hang out with most outside of work.
Cookies are a great idea, like in little pots or gift bags. Candles are kind of expensive, the ones that are worth buying. In expensive I mean over 7 bucks...lol...for people you dont even like...stationary is too...the stuff that looks cool.
If there were a few people you were close to, or even your boss, I would sugest buying something for them, within your budget. For everyone else I would go for something home-made like cookies. Oh yeah, I dont know if you have a Kohl's there...but they are having a 70% off all picture frames right now