Secret Santa Gifts for A Colleague Who Can Take A Joke: Ideas Under £15

Secret Santa gifts for a colleague who can take a joke

You have drawn the person who will hold the gift up to the room and read it out. Go funny, but make it funny about a shared thing — the kettle, the commute, the meeting that should have been an email — rather than about them.

Everything below sits inside a normal UK Secret Santa budget of £10 to £15, so nothing here makes anyone else's gift look small. The ideas are grouped by what usually works, what to steer clear of and how to handle the opening itself.

If you are still setting the draw up, the Secret Santa rules guide covers budgets, deadlines and drawing names, and our free name picker does the draw for you.

Secret Santa gifts under £15

Pin badges, candles, coasters and prints designed in house and posted from the UK — all comfortably inside a Secret Santa budget.

A typographic music print featuring Taylor Swift Bejewelled lyrics on high-quality paper, unframed. Best Believe I'm Still Bejewelled By Taylor Swift Music Lyrics Print £8.00 Unframed wall art print featuring the text 'In A World Of Grey, Be A Flamingo' in colourful, vibrant lettering. In A World Of Grey, Be A Flamingo Print (A4 & A3) £8.00 A colourful typographic wall art print with the quote 'I work hard so that my dog can live a better life' in A4 or A3. I Work Hard So That My Dog Can Live A Better Life Print (A4 & A3) £8.00 A colourful fitness wall print illustrating the HYROX competition race format with running and functional workout steps. Hyrox Competition Race Format Print (A4 & A3) £8.00 Enamel pin badge shaped like a red cowboy boot with the text What Would Dolly Do. What Would Dolly Do? Pin Badge £4.49 Small enamel pin badge with a funny "Chicken Nugget Club" design, perfect as a humorous novelty gift. Chicken Nugget Club Pin Badge (Small) £4.00

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Secret Santa gift ideas for a colleague who can take a joke

  1. A rude-ish pin badge. Wearable, cheap, and it survives being read aloud.
  2. A coaster with a line about meetings or Mondays. The joke is on the job, not on a person.
  3. A candle with a label that gets the laugh before it is lit.
  4. A funny card with a blank inside so you can add the real punchline yourself.
  5. A postcard set with one deliberately absurd card on top.
  6. A print for the desk with a line that makes visitors ask about it.
  7. A joke keyring or bottle stopper — small, daft, genuinely used.
  8. A badge plus a sincere card. The combination is why people remember a tenner gift.

What to avoid

  • Jokes about their body, age, love life, drinking or family. Never these, even with this person.
  • Anything that would embarrass them if a client walked past their desk.
  • Humour that punches at a quieter colleague in the room.
  • Anything you would not want read out on the day, because it will be.

Budget and etiquette

  • Read the joke back imagining HR is in the room, because HR is in the room.
  • Funny about work is safe; funny about a person is not.
  • Keep it to budget — the laugh does not cost extra.
  • Have a sincere line in the card so it is not only a joke.

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How to write it so it lands

  • Joke about the job, never about the person.
  • Funny and useful beats funny and disposable.
  • Write something sincere inside the card.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What is a good funny Secret Santa gift for work?

Something wearable or desk-based with a joke about shared work life: a pin badge, a coaster, a candle label or a card. Aim at the job, never the person.

How rude is too rude for office Secret Santa?

If it would embarrass the recipient in front of a client or a quieter colleague, it is too rude. Shared complaints are safe; anything personal is not.

Should funny gifts still be useful?

Ideally yes. A funny thing that is also a coaster, badge or candle stays on the desk instead of going in the bin in January.

How much should you spend on Secret Santa in the UK?

£10 to £15 at work and £15 to £20 in families. Agree one number rather than a range, and say up front whether the card and postage count towards it.

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