Secret Santa Gifts for A Frenemy: Ideas Under £15

Secret Santa gifts for a frenemy

Drawing someone you have a complicated history with is a chance to be effortlessly gracious. Buy something genuinely nice, on budget, with no subtext at all — the absence of a dig is the whole message.

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 frenemy

  1. A candle in a classic scent. Generous, neutral, impossible to misread.
  2. Good chocolate or coffee. Consumable and entirely uncomplicated.
  3. A coaster set. Useful and free of any message.
  4. A print with a calm line rather than a joke.
  5. A notebook. Neutral to the point of being diplomatic.
  6. A small plant. Nobody has ever read anything into a plant.
  7. A plain, warm card with two sentences and no history in them.
  8. A voucher for somewhere they obviously like.

What to avoid

  • Anything pointed, ironic or "funny" about your history.
  • Deliberately cheap gifts. Everyone notices and it reflects on you.
  • Over-the-top generosity, which reads as smug.
  • Telling other people what you bought and why.

Budget and etiquette

  • Exactly on budget, neatly wrapped, no subtext.
  • Do not brief anyone else on your thinking.
  • If you are revealed, be warm for ten seconds and move on.
  • Ask the organiser for a quiet swap if you genuinely cannot be neutral.

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Pin badges under a tenner

Small enough to post, funny enough to survive being opened in front of everyone.

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 Small, cute enamel pin badge in the shape of a daisy flower. Cute Small Daisy Pin Badge £4.00 Cute Cat With Pearl Ball Pin Badge Cute Cat With Pearl Ball Pin Badge £4.00 All Panic, No Disco Pin Badge For Emos All Panic, No Disco Pin Badge For Emos £4.00 Small Heart Notification Pin Badge Small Heart Notification Pin Badge £4.00 What Would Dolly Do? Small Pin Badge What Would Dolly Do? Small Pin Badge £4.49 Cute Duck In Pink Cowboy Hat And Boots Pin Badge Cute Duck In Pink Cowboy Hat And Boots Pin Badge £4.00

Christmas cards to go with it

A card turns a small gift into a proper present. Printed and posted in the UK.

'tis the season to drink Guinness Christmas Card 'tis the season to drink Guinness Christmas Card £3.87 Let's drink (Guinness) and be Merry Christmas Card With Tree Let's drink (Guinness) and be Merry Christmas Card With Tree £3.87 Let's drink (Guinness) and be merry Christmas Card Let's drink (Guinness) and be merry Christmas Card £3.87 Wishing you an Electrifying Christmas Greeting Card Wishing you an Electrifying Christmas Greeting Card £3.87 Merry Christmas Nanny (Christmas Card For Nan) Merry Christmas Nanny (Christmas Card For Nan) £3.87 Merry Christmas Mummy (Christmas Card For Mum) Merry Christmas Mummy (Christmas Card For Mum) £3.87 Merry Christmas Brother (Christmas Card For Brothers) Merry Christmas Brother (Christmas Card For Brothers) £3.87 Merry Christmas Daddy (Christmas Card For Dad) Merry Christmas Daddy (Christmas Card For Dad) £3.87

How to write it so it lands

  • Gracious is the power move.
  • No subtext, no digs, no under-spending.
  • Let the organiser swap you out if needed.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What do you buy someone you do not really get on with?

Something genuinely nice and completely neutral: a candle, coasters, chocolate, coffee or a plant, at exactly the agreed budget.

Is a passive-aggressive gift ever funny?

Almost never. The room works out who bought it, and the giver comes off worse than the recipient every time.

Can you swap names?

Ask the organiser privately rather than arranging it yourself. Quiet swaps are normal and nobody else needs to know.

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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