The Neighborhood White Elephant

For many years before we moved to this neighborhood - the people that live here have gathered together for the annual Christmas neighborhood party/white elephant exchange. We attended our first party last year only to find out that the white elephant gifts didn't end with the exchange. The tradition was for the guests to hide their unwanted tacky items somewhere in the hostess' home for them to slowly discover throughout the year. Surprisingly the same woman and her husband have hosted this party several years in a row! Last year as we left the party, one guest placed a ceramic gnome in the birdbath (which we spied in their birdbath again this year!) and another guest added a new string of gaudy lights to the host's front porch (they remained there the rest of the holiday).

This year the party changed locations due to the fact that it was the night of the bowl game and several people wanted to watch it on a big screen. So a different neighbor volunteered to host (what were they thinking!?). During halftime - we had the traditional white elephant exchange. There were two gifts that really got some laughs. The first was a mannequin head - the type that beauty schools use to teach their students to cut hair. The hair was gone of course - it was a just a woman with a choppy buzz. The second gift was labeled - "Man magnet." For some strange reason - my husband chose this gift?! It turned out to be a yellow satin formal, some sparkly flip flops and a large pink bra. Not so surprising, he donned the yellow dress and got a few good laughs. After all the gifts were dispersed and people got tired of watching our football team lose, the party started to wind down. It was then that the real excitement began. As the guests started to mill about the house - the host was pacing back and forth, looking under tables and inside cupboards - trying to intercept any hidden knick-knackery. The "man magnet"? The dress was hung in the host's bedroom closet and the bra was stuffed behind some couch cushions. I don't know where the mannequin head ended up but I know the guest who received it didn't leave with it!

Anyway the next morning we woke up and looked out the window to see this in our neighbor's yard across the street.


When we went outside to take a closer look we found this on our front door:


Later the same day another neighbor took the dress from our front door and hung it on the lamppost under the head. A few hours later we found this on our front step. (This was another white elephant gift -although it was just a blank frame without the pictures.)

Will it ever end?


As for the pink bra? I am sure it will turn up one of these days and I would hate to see the look on the face of the person who discovers it!