So, we've had a few secret Santa's that have come by our house over the last little while. One just brought one thing but another is doing a 12 days of Christmas theme and we have gotten 4 things so far.

I've also done Secret Santa things at work before where we all got a random person in the office (along with a list of gift ideas and a $ limit) and we all get something.

I'm not too fond of Secret Santa (when you don't get to suggest the gift idea) because I tend to get some crappy stuff but it can be fun when people get creative.

Anyway, anyone else done one of these and actually have good gift ideas (either given or received)....

We did this at school last year. I had to get something for my friend and I honestly had no clue what he would want / need. 

In the end I got him new (and cheap) water shoes because I remembered him saying that his previous ones were getting too small like 10 days before we got the assignment. The guy who had to get me something just gave me some chocolate bars and I was happy with that.

While we didn't call this Secret Santa nor did it around Christmas time, we did it in school several times in the past, calling it simply Invisible Friend. I got some interesting stuff, but other times it was very crappy.

We also did it once with the family, and it was absolutely crazy, as some gifts weren't PG. I think it was this crazy because there's a higher level of trust between family members than workmates, and because it was mostly for the fun of it than to actually think of a useful present.

It's been a while since I made any of the above, so I haven't got any ideas. My best choice would be something funny, like a cup with a gasoline tank meter to measure the heat of whatever liquid you pour into it. Gifts like this are always a good laugh, can be cheap and sometimes, like the one I've mentioned, are actually useful in real life.

The last time I remember doing a Secret Santa was in middle school (8th grade I believe). Its been so long since I've done it, but I believe I got my Secret Santa a book or something (I can't quite remember what the book was or what it was about). 

In High School the teachers participate in giving Secret Santa gifts for other teachers, but the students don't for some reason. In my entire life, I've done maybe three Secret Santas, most of which were in elementary and middle school. Maybe that will change in the future. 

I was at a Christmas party and the theme was ugly sweaters and dirty Santa. It was a pretty laid back dirty Santa but I have a friend that's the kind of guy to sacrifice his feelings for others so when he could choose to keep his gift or steal someone's he kept his crappy happy meal watch. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my USA flag bandana I ended up with. The best dirty Santa gift I've seen was a exploding ( all it really does it pop ) golf ball that our friend who loves to golf was dead set on keeping instead of stealing and it "explodes"" when you shake it and we don't know how it happened but for some reason he shook his hand and all we heard was boom.

I participated in one with my family five years ago. My secret Santa was with my brother. I gave him a couple video games on Play station 3, and he gave me three seasons of the anime series, Case Closed. That's the only time I did any secret Santa.

I've done secret santa several times. I do one for my GF's family, just because there are just too many to buy for.

I've also done them for work. They are ok, but I would rather just have someone not buy me anything at all, then feel forced into buying some strange present for a complete stranger. The only way it works is if the person has some sort of "wish list" that you can go off of.

Honestly though, I would rather just have people buy stuff for people they actually like, rather than force a gift to someone you don't know that well.

I've done Secret Santa, but I was really lousy at being the Santa because I don't know what gifts to get. I was good at getting gifts though. My friend got me this cool snowman necklace and also candy.

I have done this a few times in the past with one of my classes in High School, but we had a $10 limit for what could be bought so nobody got anything super exciting but it was fun, it wasn't just the idea of getting stuff but the whole mystery of it was fun.

I don't think I have before. But I've heard what it is about . Its like you get some peoples names down on a ripped paper. Its tossed into a hat you have to close your eyes grab one. And who's name you got is the present you have to give too without telling who you are. My cousin told me that they do that in their church and stuff. It seems he doesn't like it lol. It will be something some people like and some people won't like sadly.

So, now that it is Christmas Eve we've had 11 days of the 12 days of Christmas thing, and also another 4 or 5 random secret Santa visits. It's been pretty amazing to see how much people care about us, even if we don't know exactly who they are.

I have never done secret Santa, but something similar. It was a (from what I hear) Chinese gift exchange. I ended up getting perfume...

We had Secret Santa for the first time last year at work. As you said, we had a price limit which I think was twenty dollars and we each drew a name out of a hat. I like what I received which was a few scarves along with the hanger which came in very handy. I gave away a gift basket full of assorted chocolates and miscellaneous. I think it was fun. We did not do that this year as things got too hectic. I like the idea of Secret Santa it is fun.

I used to do it with my cousins back before college. It was fun; we would pick someone's name and a theme. Of course, most of you could easily guess at least *one* of the themes... I missed those fun, care-free days.

I've done it at work a few years back. It didn't stay very secret though cuz we didn't wanna get each other bad gifts or something the recipient hated. :p

I have done Secret Santa a few times in my life, mostly when I was younger. But the most recent Secret Santa I did was during my Senior year in High School in Christmas 2011, with that, I wasn't too surprised. I remember that I got a drawing set (Monochrome pencil kit, and a few other art materials) and I don't exactly sure on what I gave out, been a little while.

So yeah, I have done Secret Santa.

I've done a Secret Santa several times at work before. We always have a price limit around $10. I'm not sure if we're going to do it anymore though. People weren't as enthusiastic about it as they were in the past.