Have you thought of potholders?
One thing my family did was wrap up lots of diff types of stuff in gift wrap. Then they had a skill type game that everyone did to earn pts. The wrapped items were dumped in the middle of the room and each member got to pick a present in order of pts. I was amazed at how well it worked. After everyone picked then they swapped with each other. The whole process ended up being huge fun. The kids are asking if the game will be at the next gathering. Game was a ring toss an aunt came up with. Even 2 yr old remembers it.