Does your office love their holiday parties – and especially their holiday white elephant gift exchanges? Or perhaps you have a group of quirky friends or family members who love getting each other gag gifts that make everyone laugh?
Whatever the occasion, if you’re having a hard time coming up with novelty gift ideas, we’re here to help! From funny mugs to quirky kitchen gadgets to socks and other items, there are plenty of options for gag gifts out there.
And rest assured – while novelty gifts can stray into the NSFW category, all the ideas on this list are safe to give in an office setting. Keep reading for a variety of novelty gift ideas to suit any occasion – you’re sure to find the perfect gag gift for your party!
44 Cool Novelty Gift Ideas
The best novelty gifts for office parties or family gatherings!
Raining Men Umbrella
Channel the popular disco song with this clever umbrella! The clear dome umbrella features prints of a variety of men decorating the umbrella. Your friend is sure to get plenty of smiles from people on the sidewalk when they get the joke.
Dinosaur Taco Holder
This is one of those novelty gifts no one realizes they need and then really appreciates! Of course, it’s also good for plenty of laughs as well. Take Taco Tuesday to the next level by getting these dinosaur taco holder novelty gifts for a friend.
The triceratops helpfully holds the taco on his back, keeping it upright, so all the delicious taco toppings stay inside until it’s eaten.
Shakespearean Insult Bandages
Cheer up someone who got a small cut or scrape by introducing them to insults used in Shakespeare’s classic works. They can cover a cut with a bandage that announces, “Thy breath stinks with toasted cheese,” or other putdowns. Each time they get hurt, they’ll expand their repertoire of burns to use on others in the future. So helpful.
Circular Saw Pizza Cutter
Make cutting a pizza the dramatic event it deserves to be with this pizza wheel that looks like a circular saw. Your friend can tear through even the toughest toppings with this over-the-top pizza cutter. This would be a fun gag gift for a housewarming, or for someone who loves home improvement projects.
Hell No Button
This would be a great novelty gift idea for a boss, office manager, or anyone who has to answer constant questions. They can place the “Hell No” button on their desk and hit it frequently and vigorously. Along with saying “Hell No” in large white letters, each time it’s hit the button says the phrase out loud.
Animal Paw Socks
These make an inexpensive novelty gift that would be perfect for a white elephant gift exchange or another fun occasion. The socks are very realistic imitations of cat, dog, dinosaur, tiger, and other animal feet or paws. They fit most feet up to a men’s size 11. Help him set off his suit with a very quirky set of socks!
Basketball Mug With Hoop
Hot chocolate gets a lot more fun when you try dunking each of your marshmallows! This basketball mug lets users put their beverage in the cup and shoot mini marshmallows through the tiny hoop on the side.
Flamingo Eyeglass Holder
This funny little stand is the perfect place to store glasses at night. It can perch on a nightstand next to the bed, and the glasses look amusing while they’re placed on the flamingo’s face. The only regret is that the person using it can’t properly appreciate the sight while the bird is wearing their glasses.
Flask Bracelet
This bracelet makes the perfect novelty gift idea for her. It would be great for a bachelorette party or birthday celebration! The chunky bracelet is hollow inside, so liquor or wine can be poured inside. When she needs a sip, she can simply unscrew the cap and drink up!
Whale Butter Dish
A cute butter dish makes a cheap, fun novelty gift that’s perfectly safe for a work or church party (as opposed to many novelty gift ideas for adults!) The stoneware dish is microwave and dishwasher safe and the stoneware means it will last a long time and look great.
Famous Painting Socks
She can spruce up any outfit with these socks which feature famous paintings like The Scream and The Mona Lisa. These make a great Christmas stocking stuffer or a fun white elephant present. It’s always amusing to see someone with a nice business suit or formal dress accompanied by a little touch of whimsy.
Beer Hip Holster
You never know when you might need an emergency beer! Help friends or co-workers keep that emergency drink handy with this drink holster. It can hold a single bottle or can of any favorite beverage, and it clips onto pants so it doesn’t require a belt. If you want to really make this a stellar gift, go ahead and wrap up a beer to go with it.
Tortilla Blanket
This realistic-looking tortilla blanket makes a great gag gift for a white elephant party or another occasion. Sure, it’s a little silly…but who doesn’t love burritos?
Give another person the feeling of being wrapped up like a tasty bit of carne asada in a massive tortilla blanket. It’s great for lounging on the couch watching TV or reading, and if someone wants to eat an actual burrito while doing so, chances are no one will notice if they spill a little.
Thor Hammer Water Bottle
Sure this water bottle may be a little over the top, but now your friend can feel like a god while working out. The bottle is shaped like the hammer of Thor, so they’ll get a little ego boost every time they heft the mighty hammer to take a swig.
This is one of the best novelty gifts for empowering everyday people and turning a mundane workout session into an impressive feat of strength!
Bed Kitchen Sponge Holder
This may seem like a bizarre invention, but we all need a spot for the kitchen sponge! Why not make that spot a tiny bed with a tiny pillow? Lay the sponge on top of the mattress, and you have a perfect little vignette next to the sink. We guarantee no one will forget where it goes ever again.
LED Flashlight Gloves
This makes the perfect novelty gift for him! Get the guy in your life a pair of flashlight gloves to illuminate his space while he’s working on a car or in other small, dark spaces. The gloves free up his hands from holding a flashlight, so he can use them to hold the tools he needs instead.
Cereal Killer Spoon
A funny little spoon for eating breakfast each morning, this Cereal Killer spoon makes a great gag gift! The spoon is stainless steel, and the engraving will hold up even after lots of washes. Get it for anyone who believes breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Shot Glass Roulette Party Game
Liven up any party with the suspense of a roulette game, but without any money on the line! Instead, watch to see who ends up taking a drink each time the wheel spins. This would be a fun novelty gift to bring along to a New Year’s Eve or birthday party to play.
Cactus Coasters
This clever set of coasters turns into a cactus creation when they’re not being used! Connect the coasters together to make a cactus plant, or take them apart to use as individual coasters. The coasters can withstand high temperatures and prevent liquids from staining a table or nightstand. They’re a funny, quirky novelty gift for any friend or coworker!
Lightsaber Chopsticks
It’s a whole lot more fun to eat with lightsaber chopsticks than plain old chopsticks! These sticks mimic Star Wars lightsabers and even light up while they’re being used. Sushi, noodles, and other delicious food can all be wrangled easily with lightsaber chopsticks…and you’ll likely find that this crazy gift is one of the most popular at your Christmas or white elephant party!
Golden Girls Wine Glasses
Golden Girls gifts make great novelty gifts for any good friend! These wine glasses feature the etchings of each of the four beloved women, along with a line they said on the show. This would be the perfect gift for a birthday or bachelorette party, along with a nice bottle of wine to pour into the glasses!
Beer Can Cufflinks
These classy-looking cufflinks feature aluminum beer cans, all dressed up and ready for a night on the town or a day in a boardroom. The cufflinks are in shades of elegant green or blue and look great with a dress shirt and suit. And while they look elegant and ready for work, they’re quirky enough to make a great novelty gift!
Bacon Air Freshener
If you know anyone obsessed with bacon – who loves the smell and taste of it and would be thrilled if only more things smelled like bacon – this gag gift is for them! It’s a bacon air freshener that promises to fill their car with a “sizzling bacon aroma.” Give this strange present at an office party, or as a very unique housewarming present.
Yoda Force Metal Bookend
This funny little bookend looks like Yoda is holding up a stack of books by using the force. Slip a holder into the first book so that it’s not visible, and it will look like Yoda is pushing the books up with the force. It’s sure to be a focal point and talking piece on any bookshelf and makes a fun novelty gift for a friend!
Magnetic Wristband
While this is a mildly weird present, it’s also a very useful one! A metallic wristband can help anyone who loves working on cars or doing DIY projects to keep track of nails or screws while they work. The recipient of this novelty gift will likely be grateful to get an actual, usable gag gift!
Penguin-Shaped Boiled Egg Cooker
This has to be the most adorable boiled egg cooker out there! The penguins each hold an egg in place of their tummies, and they get dipped into boiling water to make either hard- or soft-boiled eggs. The handle on top of the cooker stays cool, so the egg cooker can easily be removed from heat.
All About Cats Trivia
Give a great novelty gift to someone who absolutely loves cats…or absolutely hates them! This set of cards will test anyone’s feline knowledge with questions about which country first put a car into space, or whether humans or cats have more bones. Make no bones about it, this unisex white elephant gift guarantees a fun, silly evening.
Nessie Ladle
Pardon me, but there’s a Loch Ness monster lurking in the soup! This cool, quirky soup ladle will be a hit as a housewarming novelty gift or quirky Christmas party present. The handle of the ladle features a tiny Loch Ness monster head, and the feet on the bottom of the ladle make a convenient stand when it needs to rest somewhere.
Farm Animal Butt Magnets
These funny magnets are bizarrely useful on a fridge or other surface! The set contains a horse, a rooster, a pig, a bull, a cow, and a sheep – but only their back halves. The magnets make a great, quirky gift for someone with an offbeat sense of humor.
Chia Pet Bob Ross
Your quirky friend or coworker will love the kitsch of Bob Ross combined with the kitsch of a chia pet! This kit comes with a pottery planter, a drip tray, and seed packets to grow Bob an appropriately luscious head of hair. The planter can also be washed out and used repeatedly, so they’ll have many years of Bob growing hair ahead of them!
Bear Hands Oven Mitts
These oven mitts make hilarious novelty gifts and lend themselves to plenty of hilarious puns about picking up hot dishes with your “bear” hands. The paw pads on the mitts feature heat-resistant silicone, so not only is this gag gift funny, it’s very useful as well!
Rose Apothecary Candle
Fans of the TV show Schitt’s Creek will get the reference to Rose Apothecary immediately, and be thrilled to have a candle inspired by the show! The candle itself is elegant – just as David Rose would insist it be.
It features a lavender scent and comes in a classic white container with black print. It’s a funny gag gift to open, but will probably end up becoming a favorite for anyone who needs a little pampering!
Cupcake Beanie
This cupcake beanie is a tasty topper and makes a fun novelty gift idea, especially around the chilly holiday season! The red pom pom looks like a delectable cherry on top of this charming cap. This hat is a great gift for a female coworker or good friend who likes to add some whimsy to her winter gear.
Green Army Man Bottle Opener
Your coworkers or friends can open a beer like a boss with this army man bottle opener! The bottle opener is fashioned after the green army men lots of us played with as a kid, and who were brought back to fame thanks to the Toy Story movies.
Bullet Whiskey Stones
These whiskey stones make a fun and oddly practical novelty gift! Help a friend serve up cold but undiluted whiskey, gin, or other spirits with these whiskey stones. They would make a great stocking stuffer or white elephant novelty gift for a loved one.
Spaghetti Monster Strainer
This amusing little spaghetti strainer guarantees dinnertime will never be boring! The handles of the strainer feature monster eyeballs on either side, making sure whoever is draining their pasta or other foods gets a little laugh each time they do so.
Funny Kitchen Towels
Funny kitchen towels featuring food puns are a great, safe choice for gag gifts for coworkers or others you don’t know well (or if you’re a PG-rated person yourself!). These towels feature black and white illustrations with jokes like “Kale No!” and “Let That Shiitake Go!”
Exceptionally Bad Dad Jokes Book
Any chance to get more awful dad jokes out into the world ought to be seized! This book is full of them and you can be sure of an office or home filled with groans and eye rolls after handing this book over to your lucky coworker and loved one. Lucky you!
Grammar Mug
This would be the perfect gift for the person at work who proofreads everyone’s emails or otherwise helps make sure people communicate properly. It would be great at home for the parent who’s always correcting kids or others on how to write or speak or for the kid who has a knack for knowing when to say “accept” vs “except.”
Now the world can know how helpful they are.
Yoga Cat Paper Towel Holder
If you know a cat lover, this paper towel holder makes a great novelty gift! The stretching cat is the perfect perch for a roll of paper towels. The holder is made of antiqued cast iron and looks elegant enough to display on top of a counter or elsewhere in the kitchen.
Golf-Club Style BBQ Tools
This BBQ set makes a great novelty gift for a dad, boss, or anyone who loves both golfing and grilling! The handles of these tools are shaped like club handles, and some of the tools like the spatula are as well. Just watch out for them to yell “Fore!” every time they flip the food.
The Book of Unusual Knowledge
Know someone who loves interesting, unusual facts? This book is chock full of those and will leave the reader full of fascinating tidbits of knowledge they can share with others. It features charming illustrations, along with lists, games, and articles that will expand readers’ information on a variety of topics – some of them useful, some of them…not so much.
Light Up Word Clock
This unique clock is an interesting way to tell time, although it takes a little longer to discern what it’s saying at first! The word clock features letters in a grid, like a word search puzzle. Words light up as the time changes, so you have to read the clock carefully to actually tell the time.
It looks super cool, however, and would be one of the best novelty gifts for someone who’s interested in design and home decor.
Thor Drinking Horn Mug
Let’s face it – we’re all feeling ready to take on the day when we drink our morning coffee out of what appears to be Thor’s drinking horn! Help someone feel like a Norse god with this horn-shaped drinking mug. It’s great for anyone obsessed with Norse mythology or Marvel superheroes, or for anyone who has a tough time with mornings.