Christmas is the one time of year the whole family is stuck in one house for days on end. Same couch, same remote controller, same jokes & stories told by your uncle. This is not a problem. That is an OPPORTUNITY.
But there is a right way and a wrong way to prank at Christmas. The wrong way ends with a broken ornament, a crying kid, or a fight at dinner. The right way ends with the whole room laughing, including the person you got.
If you are here for the office gift swap instead, we already wrote the list: our white elephant gag gifts guide covers that one.
1. The Endless Box
This one is SIMPLE. Below are their steps:
- Take their real present and wrap it, like you normally would. The smaller the better.
- Then put that in a bigger box (only slightly bigger), and wrap it again.
- Then again.
- Go at least six layers deep, that is the sweet spot.
Pro tip: Add a little sticky note within each layer. Pen written, “Almost.” “Nope.” “Getting warmer.” “Seriously, almost.”
Then the reveal: the real gift. We’d recommend something small, usually Cash in an envelope or giftcard.
Just make sure you are in the room filming when they hit layer four and start to lose their patience.
2. Gift Wrap Their Stuff
While they are out, wrap their favorite things. The TV remote. Their slippers. Their phone charger. If you are feeling ambitious, their whole recliner, top to bottom, with a bow on the seat.
Put a tag on each one: “To: You. From: Santa. Do not open until Christmas.”
Everything is still theirs, it is just inside paper now. Tape the paper to itself, never to the furniture, and it all comes off in one rip.
3. The Wrapping Paper Doorway
Tape a full sheet of wrapping paper across the outside of their bedroom doorway, like a finish line. Use painter’s tape on the frame so nothing peels the paint.
In the morning they open the door, and there is a wall of paper. They have to burst through it like a football team running onto the field. Have someone on the other side ready to cheer.
4. The Jingle Bell Chair
Tie a short string of jingle bells under the seat of their favorite chair, out of sight. Every time they sit down, shift, or reach for something: jingle.
They will check their pockets. They will check the ornaments. They will blame the tree. The reveal comes when you finally flip the chair over together.
5. The Singing Closet
Get a cheap motion activated Christmas decoration, the kind that bursts into a carol when something moves near it. Now hide it on the top shelf of your housemate’s closet.
The next time they reach for a sweater, the closet sings “Jingle Bells” at them. Grown ups only for this one. Keep it out of little kids’ rooms.
6. The Snow Day Bedroom
Fill their bedroom, floor to knee height, with white balloons. As many as your lungs (and a couple of helpers) can manage. Stick a sign on the door: “Snow day. Shovel at your own risk.”
When they open it, the reveal is the best part: a pile of crumpled white paper “snowballs” waiting by the door, and you, ready for an indoor snowball fight. Help pop the balloons after.
7. Santa’s Naughty List Report
Write them an official letter from Santa, on fancy paper, reviewing their year. Keep it petty and keep it true.
“Left one square of toilet paper on the roll: 14 times.”
“Said ‘five more minutes’ and meant forty: 31 times.”
“Status: under review.”
Sign it “S. Claus, North Pole Compliance Department” and leave it on their pillow. The last line should give it away: “Still getting a present. Barely.”
8. The Photobomb Card Display
Every family has the wall or mantel of holiday cards from friends. Print a few photos of your own face, grinning way too hard, and tuck them into the display. One peeking out of a card. One taped over a cousin’s head. One in a tiny Santa hat.
Nobody notices for a day or two, and then somebody does. It spreads from there. Every photo comes right off when the cards come down.
9. The Elf Who Moved In
The elf on the shelf is for the kids. This one is for the grown ups.
Every morning, leave a little elf figure somewhere in your roommate’s space, doing something a little too comfortable. Tucked into their bed with their sunglasses on. Sitting in their spot on the couch, holding the remote. Reading a book on their pillow, with a bookmark.
Keep it up for a week. The reveal is the day you leave a second elf and a note: “He invited a friend.”
10. Prank Mail for a Friend
Want the joke to land after everyone has gone home? A piece of prank mail shows up a few days later, when they have stopped watching their back. GlitterBombTrap.com is our prank mail shop, from the same people who run this site, and you can see it on our prank shopping list along with the other harmless classics we keep coming back to.
One rule matters here: friends and family only. Send it to someone you know will laugh, never to a stranger, an ex, or anyone who would not find it funny.
What Never to Do
A few things are off the list, every year, no matter how funny they look online:
- Nothing in or near food or drink. No swapped cookies, no “surprise” eggnog.
- No fake emergencies or fake injuries, and no scary notes.
- No fake presents that cost them money, and never hold back a real gift.
- Nothing on cars, mailboxes, lawns, roofs or the lights.
- Leave the pets out of it, and never scare the little kids.
- Nothing on a coworker’s computer.
If you are not sure, skip it. There are nine other pranks on this page.
Prank Responsibly
Christmas should be about family, fun and maybe one great story to tell next year. Not a broken tree, not hurt feelings. Get your laugh, do the reveal, and help clean up the wrapping paper. Liked our Halloween pranks? Same rules, more tinsel. And let us know if you think otherwise!