On the First Day of Christmas My Company Gave To Me…

Yes, we’re taking a bit of liberty with that song. Quite a bit, actually … but it’s all in the name of fun seasonal cheer! Last year marked the first time Marketing Ideas For Printers employees experienced the company’s version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. It was so much fun we decided to make it a tradition!

Here’s how we do the Twelve Days of Christmas as Marketing Ideas For Printers: We start by counting backwards 12 working days from Christmas Eve. That’s December 9th this year, and we call that the First Day of Christmas. On that day, each employee gets a gift that ties in with the number one. It may be silly, serious, practical, whimsical … it really can be anything! The next day (the Second Day of Christmas) everyone gets a gift related to the number two. You see the pattern here…we keep going with each of the twelve days of Christmas. We’ve used 10-gallon storage containers, 5-dollar gift cards, an 8-pack of batteries … the possibilities really are endless.

Our team has a lot of fun with it, and the team’s families enjoy trying to guess what each day’s gift will be. Here’s a fun video one of our teams’ kids put together after the first eight days of the gifts last year:

You can be as creative as your Christmas budget allows! It can get kinda tricky finding some of the “number” gifts, but there’s always a creative way to pull it off. Here’s the complete list from last year:

Day 1: 1 bottle of sparkling cider
Day 2: 2 dish towels
Day 3: 3 rolls of Scotch tape
Day 4: 4 rolls of wrapping paper
Day 5: $5 gift card to Caribou Coffee
Day 6: 6 glass Coca-Cola bottles (filled with Coke!)
Day 7: 7 piece set of Tupperware containers
Day 8: 8 Duracell batteries
Day 9: 9-ounce container of chocolate covered pretzel rods
Day 10: 10-gallon storage container
Day 11: 11-ounce bag of Hershey kisses
Day 12: We saved the Big Finish for the Twelfth Day of Christmas and presented the team’s Christmas Bonus to them in the form of 12 pieces of paper currency.

The team enjoys it, and it’s a lot of fun for me as the owner too. The shopping trips are fun, and I never quite know where the next numbered gift will show up! Plus it makes for a fun story at the checkout line!

Question for you: What are the creative ways you have for presenting Christmas gifts to your employees? (Or…if you’re an employee, what are the creative ways Christmas gifts have been presented to you by your employer?) Tell us about your experience in the comments below.