Getting the perfect Secret Santa gift can be a real minefield, whether it’s at the office, for housemates or even well-known friends. Firstly you need to buy within the price cap, and you want to pick a gift that’s fun and special and which speaks directly to the recipient… but then you’re also working against the very high probability that you don’t actually know the person you’re buying for all that well. Quite simply, haalp!
Well fear not because we’ve gone some way to helping you out here with our ‘Top 10 Secret Santa Gift Ideas’. We’ve tried to cover most angles and have offered up what we think are some truly fun and unique options. In the incredibly unlikely event that you think these ideas are utter rubbish, firstly a) give us a break, but b) maybe check out some of these sites’ actual Secret Santa sections and filter by price and recipient for more options.
#1. The Self-Stirring Mug
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Safe One (Universal)
Secret Santa Recipient: Practically anyone. Either someone you don’t know that well or someone you do know well but can’t be bothered to think of something more tailored.
Will they like it? Everyone likes a new mug, especially if it’s a fun one like this. But let’s be honest here, you’re hardly setting the world alight.
For other safe (but very fun) mug options, check out our Top 10 Novelty Mugs list
Get the Lazy Man Self-Stirring Mug at..
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#2. Molton Brown Gift Sets
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Safe One (For Her)
Secret Santa Recipient: Your mum, your aunt, girl in the office etc.
Will they like it? Another safe bet, but guaranteed to be met with joy. You can replace this with pretty much any pampering set, but we like the Molton Brown ones in particular as they’re of a great quality and not necessarily something you would buy for yourself. Here are two Christmassy themed options, in both a bauble and Christmas cracker. Of course men can enjoy this too, but it’s always a good go-to option for the ladies.
Ps: We recommend the rhubarb one as it smells amaaaaazing.
Get both sets at…
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#3. The Beer Boot
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Safe One (For Him)
Secret Santa Recipient: Your dad, your uncle, bloke in the office etc.
Will they like it? Men like beer! “Phwoooar” they say, “I don’t half love me that beer. Pour me another, for I must be properly lubricated!” And so this carries across all men, with literally no exceptions. If you disagree I’m pretty sure you’re kicked out of the club. Therefore some kind of beer-related gift is usually met with appreciation, and the Beer Boot is a great, safe option. And hey, if for some crazy reason your recipient doesn’t like beer, they can either: a) show off to other men that they have it (and have necked pints from it many many times), b) gift it off to another man at some later date, or c) use it for drinking fizzy pop instead.
Other beer related gifts of note include:
And you can get the Beer Boot itself at..
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#4. Nothing
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Jokey One
Secret Santa Recipient: Anyone who can take a joke and won’t be too upset. The last thing you want is poor Mavis receiving this and crying because she bought something really sweet for her one and she’s literally got nothing back in return.
Will they like it? Probably not, let’s be honest. But there’s a good chance they’ll show it off to everyone else who will all have a good laugh at their expense. Of course this may also help them have a massive epiphany and realise that Christmas, ultimately, is not about the receiving of gifts, but about all-round general joy, togetherness and peace on earth. Either way it’s all good.
Get the incredible gift of Nothing at..
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#5. Light Up Unicorn Slippers
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Quirky One
Secret Santa Recipient: The girl in the office with the funky hair, multi-coloured stripey socks and a retro ‘my little pony’ backpack on.
Will they like it? This will speak to them so completely that you’ll need to make sure they absolutely can’t trace the gift back to you, for fear of them engaging you in conversation about how utterly magical unicorns really are. They’ll also like them on a purely functional level of course, for keeping their feet nice and warm and fuzzy.
Get the Light Up Unicorn Slippers at…
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#6. Desktop Arcade Machine
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Retro One
Secret Santa Recipient: Anyone with any kind of interest in gaming.
Will they like it? Sometimes the best Secret Santa gifts are those that you can pick up immediately and just have a bit of fun with. Something that can unite family and friends as they all huddle round to have a go – without being something too throwaway. The Desktop Arcade Machine is perfect in this case, playing well and being heaps of fun. It obviously needs to work for your main recipient, but there’s a good chance a lot of people at your Christmas bash will get a great kick out of this too.
Get the Desktop Arcade Machine at..
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#7. Melting Snowman
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Budget One
Secret Santa Recipient: This one’s kind of like a glorified Christmas cracker toy, so anyone really.
Will they like it? Yes, it’s just a bit of fun really isn’t it? With the glorious Melting Snowman Putty simply roll out your snowman, attach your googly eyes, selected accessories and stickers and watch as he slowly melts away in the heat of the room. Be aware though, his chances of survival severely diminish if Granny is over and the radiator is set to +10,000 on the thermostat.
This would also make a good stocking filler for little ones and makes an appearance in our Top 10 Stocking Fillers list.
Get the Melting Snowman at…
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#8. Batman Egg Cup
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Geek-Chic One
Secret Santa Recipient: That person whose ears prick up at the mention of Marvel, DC, or any other zeitgeisty topic of conversation.
Will they like it? Holy egg on toast Batman, of course they will! It’s a great little set, comes in a beautiful box and is well within most Secret Santa budgets.
The temptation will be to use it for breakfast, but we recommend it for dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner Batman! (We are so, so sorry, and we are getting our coats right now)
Get the Batman Egg Cup at…
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#9. (C)UNT Mug
Secret Santa Gift Type: The Wild Card
Secret Santa Recipient: The MD
Will they like it? Let’s be clear about this, you should only do this if you have either a) a proper lad of a boss who can take a joke, or b) you’re going rogue and are absolutely sure you won’t get caught. This is the real wild card in the pack here, deploy at your own risk!
Get the UNT Mug at…
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#10. Amazon Gift Voucher
Secret Santa Gift Type: The I Really Don’t Know What I’m Doing One
Secret Santa Recipient: Someone who you really, really can’t be bothered to get something good for, meeting the absolute minimum requirement for the Secret Santa budget.
Will they like it? Some people, believe it or not, aren’t actually into the whole Secret Santa thing and may actually like this. For the most part though we really do feel that to get into the spirit of Secret Santa you should buy a proper gift. If you really can’t be bothered though, or are completely out of ideas (despite our amazing suggestions here) at least go one better than sticking a tenner in a card and get some kind of gift voucher. Amazon is probably the most versatile. You can even put it in a Christmassy themed card, bringing some semblance of Christmas cheer to this otherwise utterly miserable effort.
Get an Amazon gift card at… *gasp*… you’ve guessed it…
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