Box, Shopping Bag, Stocking, Oh My!

With the seniors’ Christmas Party coming up in nine days, thought I’d better make wrapping my Secret Santa/White Elephant Gift, a priority.

For the last two years, instead of shopping, picking up some item the recipient may or may not enjoy, I’ve been making it easy on myself by taping dollar bills together in a row, rolling that up, putting in a box, cutting a hole in the top of the box, adding a tab indicating "Pull" for the recipient to slowly pull dollars out, decorated the box in plain butcher paper, added colorful Christmasy ribbon, i.e., a money box.

That first year (2023), because those of us a little better off than others always bring an extra gift, so no one is left out because they didn’t purchase a gift to swap, I did a money box and, as the extra gift, a seasonal coffee mug stuffed inside a Christmas stocking.

The coffee mug went over okay, but the money box really livened the party up; except, because the gift was so plainly wrapped in butcher paper, amongst the colorful/fancy wrapped gifts, it was overlooked again and again and again, ended up being the next to the last gift on the table to be picked.

Believe you me, there were a lot of I shoulda moans and groans when the others saw what came out of that plain wrapped box. It turned out to be a lesson in perception, an all that glitters is not gold moment that carried over to the second year I did a money box (last year), because the seniors went directly for the two plain butcher paper wrapped gifts.

I don’t think anyone knows who the Secret Santa is that leaves money boxes — and I strived to keep it that way last year, and plan to do so this year as well, by arriving super early to get the gifts to the table before there are eyes around to see who put what on the table.

I did learn that because of that first-year money box, some began to think there might be a money box in last year's offerings, actively looked for it by size of box, color of wrapping paper, so I decided to switch things up this year.

Instead of cutting holes in delivery boxes this year, I purchased a packet of cute little store-bought moneyboxes.

I hid the first box inside a delivery box, wrapped the delivery box in regular Christmas paper, to confuse those again looking for butcher paper wrapped gifts.

I had planned to stuff the extra gift (also a money box) inside a Christmas Stocking.

That didn’t work out — not enough space inside for the box, so I just stuffed the stocking with the roll of dollars and pull tab, without the box.

I've been saving dollar bills last few weeks, had plenty left, so I made a third extra gift.

That one I placed in a plain shopping bag, adorned the bag with Christmas ribbon.

Will be interesting to see if the shopping bag gets overlooked, judged as probably less than, like the first year I did plain wrapped money boxes OR if someone wisely thinks "plain, probably a trick, something good inside".

Secret Santa gifts taken care of, the only Christmas Shopping left to do is a Starbucks Gift Card (sorry, Bob) for the mail lady.