13 Best White Elephant Gifts (2025): Coffee Pot Mug, Legos, Sushi Magnets, and More

Everyone hydrates, so a drinking vessel is a safe gift all around. And most people drink some kind of caffeinated drink, whether it's coffee or tea or perhaps an energy drink. This fun mug looks like a miniature coffee pot and can handle hot drinks. It even comes with a plastic lid so you can take it on the go. I like how comfortable the handle is to hold, and it's just so funny to look at while still doing a great job holding my morning tea.

If your friend group is the type to have disposable cameras at weddings or dreams of being film camera gearheads, bring this fun little Kodak camera to your white elephant for them to fight over. It comes in a handful of fun colors like mint green and cerulean blue (sadly, the dark green color I have is discontinued, but there are plenty of others to choose from!) and looks like the classic disposable-style camera but better. It's easy to use, with the same satisfying spinning mechanic to load up your next photo. I did have a little trouble opening the hood to place my film, and found following a video helpful to know every step and to be certain I wasn't breaking the camera. Make sure to include a roll of film and a AAA battery so whoever wins can start snapping photos right away. Or if you're really nice, load all these things up for them and stick a little note on the front that this camera is ready to start snapping photos.

Legos are fun for all ages, and Lego has a ton of cool sets we’d all be proud to display around our homes. Architectural sets! Floral sets! Massive Star Wars sets! Most of these, of course, won’t fit into the white elephant budget. But one set gets pretty close: the Dried Flower Centerpiece Set. It’s usually around $40, which might not work for some lower-entry white elephants, but is a perfect choice for the $40 to $50 ones. It’s a fun set that someone can build alone or in a duo—I built mine with my husband for Valentine’s Day a couple years ago, and now it’s a permanent fixture on our bookshelves. It even survived a move!

I'm over gifting puzzles, and instead I'm gifting stylish paint-by-number kits this year. I've started on this pretty one from Galison—I'm two hours in and have likely two more hours to go, which surprised me. It comes with 12 paint colors and three brushes, and while I'd maybe include a few more brushes or some other painting accessory if the spending threshold is above $30, it makes for a great gift for your hobby-loving friend group.

Jazz up someone’s fridge with adorable sushi magnets. They almost look a little too real—the salmon nigiri looks ready to eat—but are still fun to look at on a fridge. While the magnets on the plastic rolls are small, they’re still plenty strong enough to hold up papers and children’s artwork on someone’s fridge without slipping or falling. I’m craving ikura just looking at them, and the foodies at your white elephant can battle it out for who gets to take these home and deal with the same cravings. Plus, every single visitor I have comments on how cute these magnets are. After a year of rocking these on my fridge, they're all holding up strong.

I’ll tell you right now: The Big Enter Supersized Key enter key is a little too much fun to have on my desk, and a great thing to bring for a white elephant with your coworkers, fellow work-from-home folks, or friends who are allowed to really decorate their cubicle. The punchable enter key’s function is simple: You punch it to hit enter. It connects to a computer via a USB cord, and is nice and responsive so you don’t have to punch it super hard. It’s a fun addition to lively Slack chats, or a secret way to be passive-aggressive without anyone knowing. Unless the winner of this supersized key has a cubicle partner. But that’s their problem—if they can manage to win in the first place during the game.

A good white elephant gift is one anyone can use, and these adorable sauce dishes are begging to be used anywhere in your home. Obviously, you can use them for sauces like soy sauce, but they're also large and flat enough to use as jewelry catchers or even a small set of keys. I've got one at my desk holding a couple hair clips and a hair tie for quick sprucing before a meeting, and the rest are downstairs in my kitchen waiting for sushi night. Plus, how cute are the different cats on each plate?

Finding a good group game is hard, especially one that can accommodate both small and large groups. The best one I’ve tried is Listography, which is designed for three to six players but I’ve seen it successfully accommodate up to 10 people. To play, one person will pull a card with a prompt—things like “states that border Canada”—and everyone needs to make a list of answers. How many things you write down and how obscure you want to get varies, since there are three different card styles and requirements for that round. There’s a board your group will move around, so if you bring more than six players, you’ll need to bring your own extra tokens or miniatures to move around the board.

Look, I’m probably biased in thinking everyone’s home could be improved by smart lights. I test smart bulbs all the time, and love adding panels like the LIFX Beam (read our full review here) to spots in my home. But one of my favorite ways to add a ton of ambiance is with the help of an LED light strip. WIRED reviewer Simon Hill has tested a ton of light strips, and the Govee RGBIC is his favorite budget strip that should be within the range of most white elephants. Even with such a budget price, this light strip can still display a variety of colors, let you choose or create your own effects, and is easy to install.

Planning to wrap your white elephant in gift wrap? WIRED Reviews editor Kat Merck recommends stepping up your game and putting your gift of choice in a Prank-O-Box to really confuse and amuse your fellow white elephant attendees. They’re also a hit with kids, as her son loves wrapping his friends' birthday gifts in these boxes. From the cat hat ($10) to the squirrel hot tub ($10) to the 12,000-piece puzzle box ($10), there’s a Prank-O-Box for everyone.