Somewhere near you this week, somebody has made a spreadsheet, found a woolly hat to pull names out of and sent an email with far too many exclamation marks in the subject line. You've drawn a name. Now you're pretending you haven't.
If your Secret Santa swap is on Friday 11 December, along with what feels like every Christmas do in the country, you've got a month. That sounds like loads of time. It isn't.
We'll say it: a mug is about the safest Secret Santa there is. Everyone drinks something, and a good mug says "I thought about you" without being weird about it. Here's how we'd pick one, depending on who you've drawn.
If you're short on time, start here
We have a whole Secret Santa collection for this exact moment. If you've got five minutes and a cold cuppa, have a scroll through that first. You might be done before the kettle's boiled again.
For the colleague you actually get on with
This is the easy one. You know their brew order, their views on the office thermostat and which biscuits they hide in their desk drawer. Have a look at our colleague mugs, then try funny and comical mugs if you two share a sense of humour.
Doing the staffroom draw? Our teachers mugs are worth a look. Anyone who has done a wet-play lunchtime in December deserves a decent mug.
For the one you've spoken to twice
This is the one everyone dreads, and here's our trick: put their name on it. You don't need to know their hobbies, their star sign or whether they take sugar. You only need to know how they spell their name.
Do check that bit, though. There's a difference between Steven and Stephen, and they WILL notice. Our name mugs are sorted by first letter, all the way from Names A-C to Names V-Z, and there are more in our personalised mugs.
I'd also say a name mug is the best way to stop people stealing your mug in a shared kitchen. Nobody wanders off with a mug that has somebody else's name on it. Well, hardly anybody.
For the one who never stops talking about their hobby
You know who they are. You've heard all about Saturday's match, their personal best or the woodpecker in their garden, whether you asked or not. Fair enough. Pick the mug to match:
- The football fan: our football mugs. Have a quick look at their lanyard or screensaver before you choose a team. Get it wrong and it'll come up at every meeting until March.
- The runner: running slogan mugs, for the person who's already been out in the dark and the drizzle before you've found your keys.
- The birdwatcher: birdwatching slogan mugs. These are quietly one of our favourites.
- The music fan: our music mugs for the person who has the office radio on.
- The film buff: film mugs for anyone who says "the book was better" a lot.
For the quiet one with good taste
Some people don't want a joke on their mug, and that's fine. They might like something nice to look at with their tea. Our Vincent Van Gogh mugs are a lovely choice for them, and artsy mugs are worth a look too.
If you've caught them reading their horoscope over lunch, try our zodiac constellation mugs. You'll need to know their birthday, so start asking in a casual, not-at-all-suspicious way.
For the family Secret Santa
More and more families do a draw now instead of everyone buying for everyone, which is good for your bank balance and your sanity. If you've pulled out a relative's name, you've got options: auntie mugs, uncle mugs, cousin mugs, sister mugs, brother mugs and grandparents mugs.
Just don't let your face give it away over the sprouts.
A word about the cheeky ones
We do sell swearing mugs and some adult humour mugs. They're very funny for the right person. For the office draw, though, we'd skip them. Unwrapping one in front of the finance team and someone's visiting relative is a memory nobody needs.
If you know the person well, they've got a sense of humour and it's a draw among friends, go for it. If you're not sure, choose something else. That's our rule.
Our advice: sort it this month
The best Secret Santa gifts are almost never bought on the morning of the do, in a garage, with a bag of mints thrown in. Pick a mug while it's still November and the shop's own pages will tell you everything you need to know about getting it to you.
Then you can sit back, sip your tea and act completely clueless when someone asks who drew them. You'll need to practise the poker face, though.
