White Elephant Party.

Mermaids & Martinis planned  a White Elephant party for one of our favorite clients.  Hosted in a beautiful venue called the “White Room” at Soho House, NYC,  our client wanted festive but not over-the-top expensive.  We got creative and spray-painted hundreds of circus-style peanuts gold and filled large glass vases with them using bases of fake snow. We scattered more snow and gold peanuts along the bar and cocktail tables and brought in a beautiful white ceramic elephant to hold the presents.   A white and whimsical signature cocktail could be Eggnog themed and served on bamboo serving platters.  


The primary purpose of a White Elephant (otherwise known as Secret Santa, Yankee Swap) is a gift swap. Everyone brings a present (which can be a good present or a “‘gag”’ gift, depending on the host’s preference), and then everyone participates in a game of chance to determine what present they take home. Depending on their number, guests may either “steal” a gift from a person who has selected before them, or they may select and unwrap a new gift. The game ends when each person has had a turn.

I have two White Elephant parties coming up, one will be for all ladies and the price point is $30 or less.  The second one will be a gift of $100 or less and targeted to a mixture of kids and adults. 

Here are 5 gift picks for your Mermaids at $30 or less:

1.) This vase hurts my feelings. "Curvy Chrysanthemum Vase", $28.00.  anthropologie.com

2.) I love this!  You could even go one extra step and have it monogrammed.  "Boyfriend Signet Ring", J. Crew, $25.00.  jcrew.com

3.) You may actually wear all that great jewelry you own if it's organized and displayed in a place where you see it.  "Cast Metal Jewelry Tree", $29.00. westelm.com

4.) Why not really live the theme and bring this sweet porcelain teapot? $15.99. amazon.com

5.) For the girl forever attached to her laptop, dress up a dreary work station with this "Royal Owl Mousepad", $16.00.  alexapulitzer.com

I will post more gift ideas for $100 or less tomorrow.  And, thank you to Nina Choi (ninachoi.com) for shooting that gorgy photo of our White Elephant.

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