Hotspur

Ok, here is a random idea that can really make people happy. I have done this in the past, and I am going to start again at the beginning of April, because that's when my birthday is, and I will give a gift to someone else.

So, I called it Matchstick Match-up. I went to the dollar store and bought ten really silly things (more than ten is good if you don't want to make weekly trips to the store). I numbered them 1-10. Then, I listed my friends and family who would enjoy randomness, and some who might not, just to see their reaction. I wrote their names on matchsticks, and wrote the numbers on matchsticks. Every Monday, I would pull a number and pull a name. That person won the gift with the corresponding number. I would mail it if they were out of town or arrange to meet for coffee or a hang out if they were in town. Why matchsticks? It was easier than little scraps of paper and it sounded good as the name for a gift game. After giving a gift, I would either fill that number slot with something new or take that number out of the running until I made another trip to the dollar store.

Everyone loved it and wanted updates about the winners and gifts, so I would post a picture of the gift and name the winner online, as well as changing my voicemail to announce the winner publicly. It helped me keep in touch with friends and gave me an excuse to see them. No matter how horrible the gift was, people were happy to get something unexpected for fun.

Here is one of the awful gifts my sister won. It's a doll in a bear suit with fake tears painted on as if it was unhappy to be dressed like a bear.