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College Life

This Gift Exchange Idea Is the New Secret Santa, and I Am So Here for It (Everyone Will Love Their Presents!)

Isabel Petrou
Isabel Petrou
Isabel is an incoming sophomore at the University of Vermont. She is studying public communication. She grew up in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where she frequented the beach often during the summer. Even though her heart belongs to the ocean, the mountains are becoming a close…read more
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published Nov 27, 2024
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Overhead shot of someone handing over a gift wrapped in silver and blue wrapping paper, and tied in a silver bow, over a light wood surface. On the light wood surface theres an assortment of other wrapped gifts and gift bags.
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe ; Prop Stylist: Tom Hoerup

’Tis the season for gift giving! Except I usually find myself struggling with what to give my friends. It feels like they either have everything or they want things that are way too specific (or, let’s face it, out of my budget).

Luckily, TikTok has given me the perfect solution: a Jellycat gift exchange! So many people are trying out this new take on a gift exchange game this year. 

Here’s how this works: Essentially, it’s just like Secret Santa — you use a random generator to assign who from your group of friends you will be getting a gift for. (You can have a pre-party for this if you want to!)

The best part is finding out who you have and then picking a Jellycat that matches their personality best. The options are endless on the Jellycat website — there are cats, dogs, bunnies, turtles, dragons, even coffee and sushi. (Hint to my friends: I love the Bashful Nutmeg Bunny.) You could either set a spending range or say all Jellycats are fair game. Then you get together to unwrap the Jellycats and share why you picked each one for each person. 

In one Jellycat gift exchange TikTok from @ morbster, for example, you can see everyone get so excited when opening their Jellycat. One friend even commented on the video, “best day of my life.”  In another, from @pudgytitan, the friends get downright emotional over their Jellycats. 

These stuffed animals are so cute and are the perfect centerpiece for a dorm bed — so you all can display them and then revisit the fun gift exchange experience all year long!

Isabel Petrou

Contributor

Isabel is an incoming sophomore at the University of Vermont. She is studying public communication. She grew up in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where she frequented the beach often during the summer. Even though her heart belongs to the ocean, the mountains are becoming a close contender. Her favorite part of living in Burlington, Vermont, for college is its unique coffee shops. Her perfect day would consist of going to a cute café in the morning, then spending the day at the beach swimming and reading, then ending the day by shopping and getting dressed up for a nice dinner downtown. Through Dorm Therapy, Isabel is excited to be a voice for young adults embarking on their college journeys and she hopes to make this big transition of life more comfortable for others in the same place as her.

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SchoolUniversity of Vermont '26
FavesShopping, the beach, TV/movies, walks, reading, Taylor Swift
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