The thing I love most about redditgifts is seeing the connections people make all around the world. The world is a big place, and the internet is a big place. And sometimes it's really easy to feel really alone, even when you're surrounded by people. It's easy to get lost and disappear in the crowd. But what makes these gift exchanges awesome is that it combats that. You are no longer just one person in a crowd. Suddenly you are a person who matters to at least one other person out there. And you have the opportunity to do the same for someone else--to pull them out from the crowd and set them apart as someone who is important to you.

"The greatest part of redditgifts so far for me has been this amazing feeling of finding a friend," said /u/PaganPirate in her gift gallery post.

As /u/RogueRetlaw explained, "It’s about giving. I’ll be honest, I didn’t like my giftee. He sounded like a spoiled pot-head who plays FPS shooters and mooches off his parents. I wanted to send him a copy of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and some resume paper. This is someone who I would never, never want to give a gift to. Which is exactly why I needed to be matched with him. The world is full of people we don’t like, don’t agree with and don’t want to know. However, this is the season to put all of that aside and look for the good in others. If you can’t do that, then just try to make them smile. Be nice because it’s what you want the world to be."

But I think /u/thanks_for_breakfast said it best: "Redditgifts is a group of total strangers from all over the world who have managed to form a community held together by one thing--being thoughtful and generous to one another. It's amazing that a group of people who have never met each other, and probably never will, can come together to form such a strong, connected community. Being a part of redditgifts is being a part of something huge and magical. If Santa were real, he'd be jealous."

And that, guys, is absolutely true. This is something huge and magical, and I am so glad every day that I get to be a part of it. Thank you for making redditgifts awesome. Thanks for growing it into something that just a few thousand people participated in on a whim to something that connects over 117,958 people in 161 countries all around the world. And thanks for growing this into something that spreads so much joy.

So now, to the joy-spreading part! This blog is to celebrate all the ridiculously awesome gifts that were given this year--or, at least, some of them. Because there are A LOT of awesome gifts. Well done, you guys!

SS Participant Who Can't Go Outside Gets Taken on a Virtual Fieldtrip

This one will absolutely get you right in the feels. /u/mumzie has a condition that causes severe reactions to any sort of sunlight and hasn't been able to go outside for 7 months now. Her Santa took her on a virtual road trip to see Buffalo Bill's gravesite and sent back souvenirs from the adventure! (More background information here.)

Spoiler Alert: Bill Gates Did Not Get You, Because He Got Me

Well, I couldn't really not include this one, could I? It was awesome having Bill Gates participate this year, because he really does exemplify everything redditgifts is about--the joy of giving to others.

Social Scavenger Hunt to Help redditor Break Out of His Shell

This is such an amazing and thoughtful gift! One Santa's match talks about his social anxieties and desire to learn how to get more friends and overcome his awkwardness, so she puts together an intricate social scavenger hunt (complete with supplies, levels, instructions, and motivation!) to help him become more outgoing throughout the year.

redditor Suddenly Diagnosed with Cancer Gets Something to Help Her Through

One of our participants, /u/Bananahs, suddenly became very ill and found herself diagnosed with cancer and in the hospital, and her Santa's generous gift made all the difference. /u/Storybridge sent her a Kobo ereader to keep her entertained during such a difficult time. Per Bananahs's friend who posted to the gallery for her: "She is very sick and in a lot of pain, but she was SO EXCITED and SO MOVED by what her secret santa sent her. . . . she was so moved by her secret santa's generosity and kindness, and was touched by the beautiful card she had also been sent. . . . you have no idea how much your gift has touched your giftee during a very difficult time." Faith in humanity restored.

My Secret Santa Is a Painting God

Wow. Just--wow. That's really all I can say about this. The most amazing portrait of your pets you could ever hope for.

Amazing Handmade and Thoughtful Gift!

There are a lot of things I love about this. First, HOLY COW awesome skills at making gorgeous stuff. This is beautiful, and the amount of time it must have taken to put together something so intricate is a little mind-blowing. But it is also a great example of learning about your match and perfectly tailoring your gift to them--/u/keldos loves archery, so the quiver makes sense on that front, but it also has a stunning reproduction of his favorite painting decorating it. Well done, /u/BadW01fRose!

Governor Schwarzenegger Drew My Cat!

Umm, yup. That's pretty awesome. That drawing is going to be handed down to posterity forever.

Secret Santa Helps Match Become a Man

/u/TheHolyGoose wrote in his profile that his birthday was in January (today, actually!) and that he would be turning 18. So his Santa sent him a bunch of gifts to help him make the transition into manhood--a flask, English leather cologne, a knife, and more! This is great.

Solve Riddles to Get Presents!

What makes this present fun is the "packaging." Rather than just gifting some Steam games (which is already a great gift!), this Santa added Doctor Who riddles in order for /u/veritascitor to be able to get them and took this gift to a whole new level.

Band shirt delivered by singer of band!

How freaking cool is that? This is about the best delivery method I can think of.

An Awesome Themed Care Package for a Writer

There are a lot of things that are just great about this gift. It focused around something the giftee was passionate about and went really in depth on that one area to create a great gift and experience. Each item was individually wrapped, numbered, and tagged with a message about when it should be used. There are lots of gifts that are great like this, either with a whole bunch of items relating to all the giftee's interests or narrowing on one like this one did, doing a great job with wrapping and making everything an experience, and this is just one great example I enjoyed and wanted to share. (Also it's maybe my gift I received so I have a special prejudice as to why this one is way more awesome.)

Turning a Giftee's Work into a Masterpiece

How awesome is this? This Santa found all the photos their match had taken and picked the very best one to be printed on canvas. What a personal and considerate gift!

What Gift Do You Get for Someone Who Likes Biking, Dragons, and Red Things?

This is a perfect example of taking someone's interests and combining them all together into one perfect gift. Red, dragons, and biking? How about a red dragon biking shirt? Well done, /u/spennyjo!

And this is how to post about your gift like a boss.

These were just a few gifts that I thought were good this year, but they are just examples of the thousands of others that were just like them. There were SO many wonderful gifts. You guys did awesome. To see all of them, start browsing the gallery here.

Bonus round! Fun statistics from this year!

This year was apparently the year of music! I can't guarantee this is all the instruments that were gifted this year (I went through a lot of posts, guys, but I couldn't go through all of them. Here are the stats:

17 guitars

13 ukuleles

8 violins

2 mandolins

2 trumpets

1 banjo

1 didgeridoo (totally didn't even know this was a thing)

1 thumb piano (hadn't really heard of this one either)

1 set of bongos

1 ocarina from FannaWuck (probably others too)

P.S.! Matching for our next batch of exchanges happens Monday! Don't miss out on Harry Potter, DC Comics, aprons, dinosaurs, lunchboxes, and Studio Ghibli! Sign up now!