Back by popular demand is the Mudcat Secret Santa event. If you are interested in exchanging a modest gift with someone from your same continent or from halfway around the world, this is the game for you!

Here are a couple of the previous year threads to give you an idea of how the exchange worked in the past, and you can go back probably 8 - 10 years if you search the forum database and find old threads:

Old Secret Santa Wish List

Secret Santee teasers 2012


We need to know who wants to join, so you'll have to indicate here and/or in a PM to me that you'd like to participate. Tell me where you would like to send to. If you have cost restraints then sending to your own country and in time to get the lowest postage rates is the way to go. Often the cost of postage is as much or more than the gift in the container.

T-shirrs, homemade items of various sorts, commercial or home-made CDs of your music, all of these are typical of past year gifts. Others purchase an item targeted at specific interests of the recipient (we do sometimes have people ask for a certain Santee (Secret Santa recipient) because they know exactly what the right gift will be for that person.

Small packages can contain great gifts, and none of these are supposed to cost more than $10 to $20 (US) in total. Most Santees are pleased if you send things the show your local community and cultural and music activities, and even the newspaper you use to wrap a gift can be a huge treat.

Sometimes teaser messages and postcards are part of the game, and on occasion gifts have been transported by one Mudcat member for another across vast oceans, partly to save money and partly to make the gift all the more surprising. We try to keep the name of the Santas secret so your Santees have to do some guessing, so you will need to log out to post any teasing messages for your recipient. Don't forget to log back in when you finish, and try to remember not to sign your name in your "GUEST,Santee of Severn" (for example) post. :)

Here are the questions we ask you to fill out and post in the thread so your Secret Santa has some clues to go by when making a gift selection.

1. What is your age range?
2. Gender?
3. Do you have a favorite color?
4. Favorite authors/type of book?
5. What books have you really been wanting?
6. What type of music do you like?
7. What CDs have you really been wanting?
8. What movies have you been wanting? (We are assuming you all have DVD players.)
9. What is your t-shirt size?
10. Do you collect anything? if so, what?
11. What are some of your other hobbies?
12. Do you prefer gold-tone or silver-tone jewelry?
13. Please include anything else you feel is important that would help your Secret Santa know what you would like.
14. Remember that "negative hints" such as allergies might also be helpful.

Post your interest in participating and your answers in THIS THREAD so all players can find the basics for gift giving. You may want to search the forum for threads where your Santee has posted to also get ideas.

We know the last couple of years' recipients and will make every effort to come up with a fresh name for you, but sometimes duplications happen, in which case you may have to work a little harder to surprise your Santee. Please invite other mudcatters to join this game if you think they'd enjoy it. The more players the better.

DEADLINES: Some people need at least a month to ship parcels if they go through International shippers. I'd like to have the names of all participants by October 31 so I can send the names out in the week after November 1. This gives time to plan, shop, and ship in time for the holidays.

We always seems to have a few parcels straggle and not arrive. If you would like to be a backup Santa, also let me know about that and it will keep the sparkle in the holiday for all of the players.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

SRS