10 White Elephant Gifts That Make Everyone a Winner

By Rae Witte

’Tis certainly the season to be jolly, well-fed, and slightly-to-irresponsibly buzzed around friends, loved ones, and co-workers. But ’tis it not also the season for risking it all with one extra pass in the office or family’s White Elephant gift exchange? And ’tis there an occasion more fitting for a list and the gross over/misuse of “’Tis” than coming up with some easy, everybody-wins-no-matter-what-they-happen-be-holding options for your holiday shopping? (’Tis.)

Well, we thought so, and figured what better way to spotlight some of Brooklyn’s best makers, curators, designers, and shops (physical and/or web-based), then to comb their inventories for budget-friendly presents that’ll light up the stocking of any prospective recipient, secure your spot as office party MVP, and hopefully, keep you out of the tchotchke trenches this year or any subsequent one.

Here are 10 win/win White Elephant gifts from Brooklyn-based shops and brands, all below $35.

Courtesy of Marby

A pair of Love Socks from Marby

135 Wythe Avenue

Not at all like that one year your mom phoned it in and left Hanes t-shirts and socks under the tree, the Love Socks from Marby are a fun gift to get your recipient in the holiday spirit. Marby is a luxury activewear brand that just opened up their flagship shop in Williamsburg. The clothing may be a bit outside of the approved price point for this year’s run, but these ribboned socks are well within range and sure to be a hit.

The Noir Incense from Hy-ungi

26 Greenpoint Ave.

For the friend with a stunning apartment and who always smells incredible, show them that you truly get their aesthetic and the atmosphere they’re cultivating with these Noir Incense from Hy-ungi. Crafted by a design studio specializing in bookbinding, laser cutting, fabrication, and the olfactory, this Secret Santa gift will impress even those with the highest bars on your list. Give them the subtle flex (and yourself the quiet satisfaction) of having a namedrop ready for when guests comment on the sandalwood, leather, rum, and tobacco aroma filling the home.

A copy of Bigger Than Fashion: How “Streetwear” Conquered Culture from McNally Jackson

445 Albee Square

For the hype heads interested in the history of a seminal movement in fashion, you can hit the McNally Jackson outpost in Downtown Brooklyn and grab Bigger Than Fashion: How “Streetwear” Conquered Culture. Author Tyler Watamanuk has spent more than a decade covering streetwear, and his book traces the once small and fragmented scene’s rise to the mainstream. Whether your recipient reads it cover-to-cover (as they should), or simply displays it as coffee table decor (also perfectly acceptable), is up to them. Either way, this hardcover makes a great gift.

Courtesy of The Big Night

Nata’s Farfalle Candle at The Big Night

154 Franklin St.


If you’re going to give someone a candle this year, it can’t just be any old wax and wick. Luckily, Big Night, which describes itself as “a shop for dinner, parties, and dinner parties,” has just the thing: A burnable silhouette of bow tie—or “farfalle” for the noodle nerds— pasta, from Nata, a London-based homewears store. It’s so cute they might not dare bring a flame to it, but that’s on them.

Courtesy of The Travel Agency

The mini-stash case key chain from The Travel Agency

122 Flatbush Ave.

When your secret Santa’s little secret is pulling up to the party with enough Christmas spirit to pass around a few times, make sure they can do so discreetly with The Travel Agency’s miniature stash case key chain. It’s the perfect size to store flower (rolled or loose) or edibles, and priced so affordably you could very reasonably pick one up for each member of the rotation taking “the walk” with you at the office holiday party.

Courtesy of Little Shop of Soil

A succulent from Little Shop of Soil

279 Starr St.

Whether it’s for the office mom or the guy that coordinates all of the bro hangs, indulge the crew’s resident caretaker with something low-lift to look after this year. Little Shop of Soil in Bushwick carries tons of handmade ceramic planters in all different styles and a wild range of succulents (plants that require little else but sun and that you remember to water them every two-to-ten weeks). Stick a baby Jade in a 4-inch terracotta, throw a bow on it, and call it a day.

Courtesy of Blue-Sun

An acid-green and natural tote bag from Blue-Sun
400 S 2nd St.

There’s nothing performative or objectionably masculine about this tote from Blue-Sun, the tucked-away trove of tightly curated crates in Williamsburg. It’s made of a heavy 12 oz cotton canvas, comes in a blazing acid green and cool natural colorway, and features expandable gussets that can make the tote accommodate up to 40(!) records. Anyone in this year’s gift exchange should be so lucky as to wind up with one of these.

Courtesy of Lucia Pizza

The shop hat from Lucia Pizza
2201 Avenue X

This may not come as a surprise to some of you, but Lucia Pizza, the beloved and sacred slice supplier of Sheepshead Bay, has a merch game every bit as good as its pies. Their tees and hoodies fly from the moment they go live, but, call it a Christmas miracle, the Lucia shop hat, an adjustable and essential emerald green cap with their logo embroidered on the front and their credo across the side, is still available. And it makes for one of the easiest wins in the White Elephant shuffle.

Courtesy of Yafa Cafe

A bag of the Mokha beans from Yafa Cafe
4415 4th Ave.

Here’s a chance to put the caffeine snob in your life onto some game. The pound-for-pound best coffee in Brooklyn, dare we say the whole damn city (good enough to compel a certain BKMAG editor to take the train an extra stop most mornings just to start their day right), is getting served out of Yafa Cafe on 4th Avenue in Sunset Park. The shop, specializing in Yemen-grown beans, has a whole line for sale at their HQ, but Yafa’s single-origin Mokha beans are the prize of the program, a light-to-medium roast, grown in the Haraaz Mountains in Yemen, that will turn you into an instant evangelist off a single sip of its bright, chocolaty, berry-tinged brew.

Courtesy of LQQK Studio

A LQQK Studio air freshener from Tenant
599 Manhattan Ave.

These were originally released as part of a Summer 2024 collection of tees from the venerable Bushwick screenprinting operation, but it makes for a great scent, in either of its variants, and a solid garnish for cars, desks, closets, bathrooms, and any space that could use a new aura. Sadly, LQQK Studio is no longer selling them through their site or out of their McKibbin suite, but we’ve tracked them down at the Tenant skate shop, which has a few left online if you can’t find any at their brick-and-mortar in Williamsburg.