With the holidays just around the corner, it’s time to head home and spend some time with family and friends, and what better way to laugh your arse off than by playing a good ol’ fashioned game of White Elephant?

The term “white elephant” is derived from the sacred white elephants in southeast Asia that are historically both a blessing from the monarch, but a curse to maintain. Now the term is used to describe a possession that is no longer wanted by the owner, but is quite difficult to get rid of.

Hence the game of White Elephant serves that purpose, proving to be a great way of getting rid of junk lying around the house. Here’s a list of white elephant gift ideas that will throw anybody for a spin:

1. Mr. Potato Head Santa

2. The origami boulder — origamiboulder.com ­— a delicately crafted wad of paper

3. Custom-decorated toilet seat

4. T-shirt with your face blown up on the front

5. Statue of a white elephant

6.

Chia Pet

7. The Annoy-a-tron (look it up at thinkgeek.com)

8. A seemingly worthless item that is actually full of money ... then we’ll see who gets the last laugh

9. Voodoo doll with the features of someone else in the room

10. Lottery tickets

11. Gift one of your friends’ belongings, but make sure they get it back ... and have a replacement gift ready. Chocolates usually do the trick.

12. CD of you singing or doing something totally ridiculous ... everyone will die for it. Use discretion, please.

13. Homemade peanut butter and jelly kit

14. Bunch of batteries with a tag that reads: “gift not included”

15. Squirrel underpants, among other useless gifts from mcphee.com

16. Bubble wrap ... because it’s just fun

17. Music by a popular artist ... on cassette

18. A Twinkie. Regift it every year, because it never gets moldy or stale ... weird

19. A neon bar sign

20. One of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles that takes forever

21. A random pack of Pokemon trading cards

22. Draw a weird piece of art (think Picasso), sign it and frame it

23. Any assortment of high-tech Nerf guns