Gift Guide: 21 Gifts Perfect for Gift Exchanges

Happy Wednesday, guys! Have you had a good week so far? I’m excited to be revealing another gift guide today! Back when I did my holiday survey, almost 90% (NINETY!) of you guys said that help with “gifty” items for exchanges, secret santas, and white elephants! So, it felt only fitting that this be one of my first gift guides!

Scroll down to shop the guide and see 21 of my favorite affordable gifts! EVERY gift (other than one, which I’ll explain in a minute) is around or under $30.

You can click ANY item to shop it in the collage below! (No having to find the pesky number down at the bottom!) I’m also highlighting a couple of my favorites below the collage as well–so make sure not to miss those 😘

21 Perfect Gifts For Gift Exchanges:

Best hilarious gifts:

Celebrity coloring books: You guys THESE COLORING BOOKS! The Taylor Swift one and Ryan Gosling one are too good to pass up! And $13 each? For real?

Fair Isle Onesie: Fun fact–my best friend Kate’s mom got all our roommates hilarious zoo animal onesies one year for Christmas, and it was SO WARM that I would legitimately wear it for years. These one is both hilarious but actually cute and not embarrassing 😂 Even better: it’s from ABERCROMBIE. YAS.

Prosecco Pong: What woman (no matter what age) wouldn’t crack up opening this gift? Even better if you gift it alongside your favorite Prosecco!

Best crowd-pleasing gifts:

(For when you want to actually bring something nice!)

Candle set: Voluspa candles smell SO good. I’ve never smelled one I wasn’t in love with! This little set is super affordable so you can use it as one gift or split them up into little mini gifts to accompany a nice holiday card! (Great idea for coworkers!) Candles are usually my go-to for gift exchanges because everyone loves a great smelling candle.

Champagne gummy bears: These sugarfina gummies are SO good. They make the most delicious candy that is also stunningly beautiful, with the cutest packaging! Anyone would love to receive these!

Reversible scarf: This scarf is SO cute (you can see it styled in this outfit post!) and would make a great affordable gift for any lady!

Gold rim coupe glasses: For anyone who loves cocktails or entertaining! These glasses are so pretty!

Serving boards: These wood serving boards come in a set and are so pretty with leather accents! (And seem so much more expensive than they are!) This set would be awesome especially for a family gift exchange because both men and women of different ages would like these.

Best gifts for beauty junkies:

Ouai hair products set: I’ve been hearing so much about this brand, and this little set is so affordable!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette: I love Urban Decay’s eyeshadow! I got one of their palettes years ago and it lasted FOREVER. It’s hard to find a palette that has ONLY colors you’ll use (not weird sparkly purple or blue eyeshadow) and these are all really pretty neutrals. The best part is that its only $25!

Kiehls dry skin best sellers: I’ve never met anyone who didnt’ love Keihls products (fun fact: even guys LOVE Kiehls!) This includes two of their best-sellers for just $13!

Best coworker gifts:

“Pumps” iPhone stand: the perfect desk accessory for that fashionista coworker who is always glued to Snapchat–they’re stilettos that hold your phone up! 😂

Merry Everything mug: Just about anyone would love this mug, but your coworker especially will love sipping her morning coffee out of it while stalking her favorite fashion blogs. (Because isn’t that what we all do when we get to work in the morning??)

And for that one guy on your team at work:

The carry on cocktail kit: This one is ALWAYS a crowd-pleaser, especially for guys! (I got this for Neal one year and he loved it!) They come in different cocktails–just order the booze on the plane and you’ve got everything you need to make an excellent craft cocktail at 30,000 feet.

Best gifts for girlfriends:

Urban Botanics coffee table book: We all have that plant obsessed friend who manages to kill all of them, all the time. (😳 I might be that friend of yours.) Essentially it’s a beautiful guide to how to grow pretty plants and not kill them even when you have a crazy schedule. (If you’re reading this Santa, I would really like this for Christmas!!!)

Cableknit pom pom beanie: “I have too many adorable pom pom beanies” said no girl ever.

Festive earrings: I own these Baublebar earrings in several colors and I absolutely love them! You can never have too many colors!

Cinema light box message board: These are SO fun! It’s a message board, so you can change it up as often as you’d like!

Cableknit slipper socks: will be the hit of your besties “steal the present” party for sure.

The best higher-end gift:

Okay, so this gift is the ONE exception to my “around $30” limit: The Cuyana travel bag set. I know some people have nicer gift exchanges with nicer buy-ins, so I thought I’d include one super chic, more high-end gift! (But it’s still only $110! You could easily split them into two gifts as well!) I absolutely adore these bags that are so nice for travel. The best part is that you can customize their monogram in gold. They are so, so pretty. They zip all the way down the sides, too, so you can always find everything you need easily.