Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of Christmas morning traditions. Mostly because, as the daughter of divorced parents, some years I’d travel to spend it with my dad and some at home in Florida. There wasn’t really a consistent routine. Not that it was a bad thing, multiple Christmases meant more presents and as a kid, that’s nothing to frown about. We certainly had family traditions but an annual Christmas morning routine was not a part of our holiday.
So when we started celebrating Christmas here in Louisville every year, I knew I wanted to have something that was uniquely ours. It took some brainstorming but at some point, I came up with this gift card exchange that’s scavenger hunt meets Supermarket Sweep with a touch of White Elephant party. It’s a great way to spice things up if you normally exchange gift cards with your family or regularly use them as stocking stuffers.
We spend Christmas morning with my mom who comes in from Miami, my mother-in-law and my brother and sister-in-law along with an ever growing crew of kids. It’s evolved over the years but when we started, it was just for the big kids. This year will be our 7th or 8th year playing and it’s now one of my favorite parts of the holiday. Lots of laughs, lots of competition and every ends up with some spending money.
The Giftcard Dash
Number of Players: 4+
Goal:
For everyone to end up with 3 – 5 gift cards (you can do more or less based on how much you want to spend).
Set-Up: If you’re feeling super generous, you can purchase all the giftcards and/or lottery tickets (we have added in scratch-offs to our game). Otherwise, ask everyone who is playing to bring 2 – 4 gift cards from a variety of retailers and a variety of denominations. We usually spend between $50 – $75 per person since that’s how much you’d probably spend on a gift.
For example: $15 Chick-Fil-A, $10 Taco Bell, $10 Starbucks, $40 Amazon
Rules:
- Have someone who is not playing hide all the gift cards and lottery tickets in your basement or in another room like a playroom or den. Or you can play like we do where we pick two people to hide everything.
- Draw to see who goes first.
- The first player will have 1 minute to run to the basement and hunt for gift cards. You can find as many as you want (and potentially re-hide them) but you can only bring one gift card or lottery ticket up. So choose wisely.
- The second player now has the option to steal a gift card or go hunt for their own. If they choose to steal, that person now has the chance to go back and hunt for a new gift card.
- This continues until all cards/tickets are claimed.
We like to play where there is one big ticket gift card – like $100 to Nordstrom or Target or Dick’s Sporting Goods – along with lots of smaller ones for retailers we know people will really want. My sister-in-law usually goes hard for the Chick-Fil-A ones. I usually fight for all the scratch-offs and D3 hunts until he finds one from GameStop.
Everyone usually ends up with what they wanted plus it’s a fun way to get your competitive juices going and your legs moving on Christmas morning. It’s kind of the adult-alternative to the mad rush to see what Santa left under the tree.
We usually play while cinnamon rolls or a breakfast casserole cook in the oven – the baking time the perfect amount of time needed to complete a few rounds.
If you decide to play, let me know. Would love how it goes down in your house!
And speaking of gift cards, I’ve teamed up with a fun group of bloggers to give away a $500 one to Nordstrom. So make sure to scroll down and enter. It’s crazy easy – if you’re already following me on Instagram you’ve already got an entry covered. You just need to claim it. 🙂
Photos by Tabitha Booth
I can’t believe the holidays are already here! To celebrate, I decided to team up with a group of bloggers I love, to bring you some holiday cheer. We are giving away a $500 Nordstrom E-Gift card to one lucky winner!
You can see the hosts + how to enter below! Good luck, and happy holidays!
Hearts of Gold Blog | Pretty In Pink Megan | Sunflowers and Stilettos | The Style Sauce
Tanya Foster | The Lush List | Olive & Ivy | Street Style Squad | Dawn P Darnell
The Middle Page | So Heather | Glitter & Spice | Sincerely Katerina | LegalLee Blonde
From the Family | Uptown Fashion By Jess | RD’s Obsessions | Lou What Wear | Haute Sweat
The Confused Millennial | How 2 Wear It | Lovely Silvia | L. Avenue | Cup of Charisma
Josephina Collection | SheSheShow | Happily Inspired | Lifestyles by Lauren
Hey Kaily Mae | Glamorous Versatility | Tayler Malott | I’m Fixin’ To
One lucky winner will get a $500 Nordstrom E-Gift Card. This giveaway is brought to you by the wonderful influencers above, be sure to check out their websites for gift guide suggestions! Enter by performing the actions listed in the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!
Make sure to do the actions in the Rafflecopter before marking they are done! Marking done doesn’t automatically perform the action. Good luck! Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter on this blog post.
One winner, giveaway runs from December 5, 2018 to December 19, 2018 (concludes at 11:59 PM on the last day). Open to the U.S. and Canada only. Void where prohibited. By entering you are agreeing that you are performing the actions in the Rafflecopter that you have marked as done. By entering you acknowledge that you are agreeing to the newsletter subscriptions and all other terms & conditions of the giveaway. More giveaway details can be read in the terms & conditions here. Winner will be announced within 14 days of the conclusion of the giveaway and entries will be verified by the hosts. Thanks for participating, I can’t wait for you to check out these amazing bloggers!
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