12 Christmas gift ideas (funny, practical and serious) under $20!

Dec 17, 2019 by

Matthew Kurtz

White elephant gift exchange
ideas under $20

We just wrapped up our 2019 eCatholic white elephant gift exchange. And with the launch of the Vlogcast earlier this year, we decided to take a break from the usual topics and have some fun with the latest episode.

Check out the video below to hear our hardly-professional advice on great Christmas gift ideas you can use for family, friends, and coworkers. :)

1

Company swag ideas (and where to get swag)

Here at eCatholic, we love swag (i.e., items custom printed with a company logo or message). Why not create some of your own company swag this Christmas?

Not only will your teammates enjoy sporting a cool t-shirt, coffee mug, or water bottle, but swag is a great way to generate excitement about your brand among your biggest fans. We can vouch for the following places as great options for your own Christmas company swag online:

• 4imprint - Great option for a variety of promotional merchandise; we love these insulated water bottles!
• eBags - Check out their high-quality backbacks you can customize with your own logo!
• Next Level Apparel - This is where we get our super-soft eCatholic t-shirts.
• Custom Ink - Great for smaller orders of custom company swag, especially wearable items.

Note: eCatholic does not officially endorse nor have an affiliation with any companies listed in this article.

2

Custom Christmas gifts

Beyond swag, your friends will love a one-of-a-kind Christmas gift, such as:

• Custom printed socks - We call these "Boss Socks" since one eCatholic employee created a pair of socks with the face of our Founder and CEO on them. (Check out the video at the top of this post for the full story!) Order your own custom socks at DivvyUpsocks.com.
• Homemade items - Get creative (and display your finest talents) with a hand-made item your coworkers will love. One of our web developers created (crocheted, rather) custom pillows shaped like the eCatholic logo. Simply. Brilliant.

3

Practical Christmas gifts

While custom pillows shaped like your company logo may be fairly useless, bringing a practical gift to your next white elephant gift exchange is always a safe bet. Here are some of our favorite practical Christmas gifts (under $20):

• $20 straight-up cash - Who wouldn't want to go home with a crisp $20 bill? 
• $20 of lottery tickets - Let's be honest: Bringing money can be kind of lame, so add some excitement with lottery tickets. (Hopefully the recipient will remember you if they win big.)
• 1/2 day paid vacation - Ok, so this is worth more than $20, but the half-day off has often been the most coveted gift at our company gift exchange multiple times. (Obviously granting this sort of gift without the proper authority could land you in some hot water, so proceed with caution.) ;)

4

Best Catholic Christmas gifts

As a team that serves the Catholic Church, unique Catholic gifts are always a hit at the eCatholic gift exchange. These Catholic Christmas gifts have been especially popular:

• Fun Catholic books - Drinking with the Saints: The Sinner's Guide to a Holy Happy Hour (#1 Bestseller on Amazon) contains cocktail recipes for every occasion on the Catholic liturgical calendar. Tastefully written with surprisingly helpful information on Catholic feasts, you can also consider the sequel: Drinking with St. Nick.
• Useful Catholic items - On a more serious note, consider supporting Catholic businesses with a beautiful item like this St. Therese of Lisieux holy water font from Society of the Little Flower.

5

Great board games / entertainment

Board games always make an appearance at any eCatholic Christmas gift exchange. Here are a few that have proven to be a hit:

• Bob Ross - The Art of Chill Board Game - As of this writing, we cannot verify whether this board game is actually any good, but bringing this game to your next exchange could never be a mistake, but just a happy little accident.
• Codenames - This game appeared at our latest gift exchange twice (!) and is easy to learn, clean, fun, and can be played in an airport. :)