Secret Santa Gifts

How a Secret Santa swap works

Secret Santa is a gift swap for a group. Names go into a hat, or a name generator online, and you buy for the one person you draw. The group agrees a spending limit and a day for the swap, and gifts are handed over wrapped and unsigned, so nobody knows who bought what until someone lets it slip.

The swap means one thoughtful present instead of a pile of token ones, and it spares an office, a club or a family the scramble of buying for a whole crowd. With one gift to get right, you have time to think about who will open it.

What makes good Secret Santa gifts

We would choose useful over funny. A joke present earns a laugh at the party and then lives in a drawer, while something the person reaches for in January is a quiet reminder that somebody thought of them. Their style matters too: tidy or cluttered, plain or playful, more often at a desk or in the kitchen.

Then think about size and where it will go. A gift that fits a worktop, a shelf or a bag is easy to place and easy to carry home after the party. A few of ours come as a set of two, a pair that reads as a proper present rather than a token.

Matching a gift to the name you drew

If the swap is in a staff room, a few of our gifts suit a teacher, and if children are in a family draw, a few are for kids. When the person is a near stranger, keep it simple: a gift for the home or the kitchen is hard to get wrong, whatever their taste.

Christmas is the occasion for this range, but some would also suit someone who has just moved house, and a few would make just as good a birthday present.

A few Secret Santa ideas for a keen cook

If the person you are buying for is happiest at the stove, you will also find a few kitchen accessories and a few storage tins among our gifts. A storage tin tends to be used rather than put away, because a kitchen usually has more odds and ends than places to keep them.

A few of ours are tinplate. That is sheet metal with a coating of tin, and it has been a traditional material for kitchen tins for well over a century. A storage tin also makes its own gift box, so a ribbon and a tag are often wrapping enough.

Wrapping it and keeping the secret

A few of our pieces are glass or ceramic, and these travel best in a box, cushioned with tissue or bubble wrap, since a parcel at a swap is passed from hand to hand. An awkward shape is easier in a gift bag than in paper, and a bag hides the outline, which keeps people guessing.

To keep the secret, print the tag or write it in capitals, put 'from your Secret Santa' in place of your name, and give the parcel to the organiser instead of adding it to the pile yourself. Wrap it in different paper from your other presents, too, because a matching roll gives the game away.

Looking after it once it is unwrapped

Pass on any care notes with the gift, because care depends on the material. Some of ours are metal: tinplate wants a damp cloth rather than a soak, with a dry tea towel straight after, and other metal is happier with a soft cloth than a scourer.

Ceramic and glass wash well by hand in warm soapy water, but whether a piece can go in the dishwasher depends on how it is made and decorated, so check first. Plastic, which you will also find among our gifts, is best washed in warm water rather than hot, since heat can warp some plastics. Dry any piece fully before it goes back on the shelf.