The snow is falling and mulled wine is flowing; yet the shoppers’ elbows are out and the stress levels are growing. Nothing can quite spoil your Christmas cheer more than trying to think of creative Secret Santa gift ideas for co-workers and distant relations you barely know. There’s probably a good chance you’ve spoken to Mr. Bashful in Accounts only once - and even then it was to ask for a cheque to be raised. So we completely understand why you’re stumped when trying to buy him a gift for the office Secret Santa. Just what on earth do you buy?
Well, in our opinion, you have two choices… Firstly, you could deduce from this brief encounter that because Mr. Bashful wrote a cheque with a pen, that means he likes stationery - and you can promptly go buy him a ‘I heart counting’ correspondence kit.
Or, you could let go of this tenuous straw, step away from the Lynx Africa gift set and let us help you pick a gift he’ll really like. And we can also help you with the Snow Whites and Prince Charmings of your family and office too.
Here are our handy Secret Santa gift ideas to suit our seven favourite fairytale personalities. We hope you’ll soon be hi-ho-ho-ho-ing your way through your Christmas shopping (it’s Christmas, surely we’re allowed one bad pun…?).
Secret Santa gifts for the Snow Whites in your office or family
According to legend, our Snowy was a bit of a baker, so if you’ve got a flour fairy in your place of work, then this Cupcake Kit is going to go down a treat. It has everything you need to make beautiful, tasty, scrummy cupcakes. Just think how much better Cake Friday is going to get (and if you don’t have a Cake Friday yet, get on it! It’s the only way).
The princess of the office also needs jewellery. These fantabulous boho Wooden Bangles are only £2.45 each.
Secret Santa gifts for the Prince Charmings in your office or family
You know the office Prince Charming; always out and about galavanting on his horse/ company car. We think he should keep track of all the places he’s visited with this Scratch Map (£11.95).
It’s got a gold top foil layer that you scratch off to reveal your very own personalised travel wall map so he can boast about (and bore everyone with) all the places he’s visited…On the plus side, it will keep him quiet for a while. It’s like his own giant global scratchcard (without the cash prize, obviously. Sorry. Still fun though. Especially if you scratch off a place he’s never been to before. How annoying...).
Secret Santa gifts for Bashful
Banana Stress Reliever (£4.99)
Poor Bashful (you know the type, they always look a bit startled when you say hello to them in the corridor, and jump like you’ve just asked if they snore in their sleep). Skulking about in lonely corners and getting all stressy over whether the printer’s paper jam can be fixed before close of business just isn’t good chicken soup for the soul, so we say help calm them down with this handy banana-shaped stress reliever. As soon as you let it go, it reverts back to its original shape. And it’s so realistic, Bashful won’t even have to worry that people will guess what it is. Just don’t let Dopey eat it…
What better way to get shy people involved in 1-2-1 dialogue than by giving them a box of sharing chocolates? The chocolatiers at Choc on Choc have created these scrumptious Belgian chocolates with step by step directions on how to share chocolate, Mine, Mine, Mine….Yours! Sounds like the perfect way of sharing chocolate to us!
Secret Santa gifts for the Doc
Docs are the intelligent type – they always have the serious face on in meetings and definitely won’t laugh at your best Chicken Tonight dance - so no Secret Santa Whoopee Cushions or Grow Your Own Girlfriend novelty items for them. What they need is something clever; something that will ignite their gadgety passions and inner desire for items that have multiple uses. For them, we’ve picked the Undercover Laptop which is a laptop cover disguised as an envelope. It even comes complete with mailing labels and stamps, which means no-one will know the valuable possession our Doc is carrying. (Just don’t leave it near the mail tray…)
Secret Santa gifts for Dopey
If you’ve got a Dopey office friend then you’ll know they’re the type everyone loves to love. They blunder their way through the office like Mr. Bean at a political conference but we heart them any way. It doesn’t matter that they accidentally told your Chief Executive you went home early to feed your dog; buy them this cute Heart of Gold Bracelet any way.
And, to save them wandering into the wrong organisation again and typing up the competitor’s minutes for the best part of the morning, we’ll maybe even get them this Penguin Classics Lost Girl Luggage Tag as a thoughtful extra.
Secret Santa gifts for Grumpy
There’s always a Grumpy wee soul in the office. Let’s take their mind off the fact that someone’s used their milk from the communal fridge by showing them ‘365 ways to a better you’. It contains practical tips on exercise, diet, sleep and relaxation, and some choice words from ‘the gurus of happiness’. POSITIVE-ly awesome.
Or, if you prefer to be a bit blunter about their mental state, why not tell them to chew on these…
Secret Santa gifts for Happy
The Happy person in the office is the one who keeps us all in good spirits, and with a smile to rival Mr. Ed they must have a happy snap or two that needs framed. We say encourage their creative side with this Doodlebook Photo Frame which comes with an 80-page sketching pad.
Or let them play a wee ditty in the city with this retro looking harmonica (£5.95).
Who knows, maybe they’ll even beat the pay freeze by earning a bob or two on their lunch break. Worst case scenario is they make enough cashola to boost the biscuit fund…
Secret Santa gifts for Sleepy
If you’ve got a colleague who gets the 3pm slump then encourage their caffeine intake with this kitsch mug which has an oriental floral rose design on the interior and exterior. Although, on the down side, it could potentially spoil your afternoon of guffawing at their ‘nodding dog in a dull meeting’ routine. However, Christmas is all about self-sacrifice, my friend.
Or, you could banish the desk dozes by giving them an almighty sugar high from this jolly mixture of all your favourite sweets from years gone by, including parma violets, fizz whiz, rainbow drops and flying saucers.
Secret Santa gifts for Sneezy
Sneezy really needs to get that immune system up and running. You can help them get their feel-good factor back after a hard day at the office by surprising them with this Dr. Rose Milk Bath which promises to soothe away your troubles and make you feel like Cleopatra. We think this could be an interesting experiment if you’re a boy, so please keep us updated…
We hope we’ve helped you choose presents that won’t end up re-wrapped and passed to someone’s great Aunt Bertha or wicked stepmother next year but if you’re looking for even more ideas for Secret Santa, visit our Secret Santa gift pages.
