Worst Christmas gifts

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Replies

  • klkarlen
    klkarlen Posts: 4,366 Member
    This is one time when I wish MFP had a dislike button!
    For a secret Santa last year at work, i got a paintbrush, limit was $25.00.

    I seem to have the knack of getting the worst gifts in our holiday grab bag myself. One year it was a pump lotion or soap dispenser made from a canning jar. Our limit at work is $15.00.
  • slessofme
    slessofme Posts: 7,740 Member
    The white elephant in my office is more a true white elephant - everyone brings the crap they absolutely don't want anymore. Two years ago I received "swag" from a previous iteration of the company. License plate wraps (that are illegal), some folding sunglasses, metals from a long past sponsored marathon. I'll be gifting the lot to someone else this year.

    My parents used to routinely buy me things I didn't want and weren't my taste. My mom thinks I should look "cute", when my goal is "covered". They have now asked for lists in this format (which I think is great):

    Something you want,
    Something you need,
    Something to wear,
    And something to read.
  • dc8066
    dc8066 Posts: 1,439 Member

    My mother is in the same category. She's known me my entire life, but refuses to put any actual thought into gifts she purchases for me, but puts somewhat reasonable thought into gifts for both my husband and my son, which leads me to believe (yet again) that she likes them more than me (which is par for course in regards to our relationship). She likes to buy a lot of "three wolf moon" *kitten* that she thinks I'll like.. or really terrible knick knacks like a flute that doesn't work, a fertility statue (when I don't want more children and don't particularly always like the one child I do have), weird key chains from places she visits or my favorite: An entire box of her old, slightly used lingerie.. none of which would have fit because I've always been "big" and she used to be quite petite when she was younger.

    I cannot describe just how "ick" that is. :s [/quote]

    Unless she was demented at the time you were given her used underwear as a Christmas gift, I'd assume that it was an intentional insult

  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    For a secret Santa last year at work, i got a paintbrush, limit was $25.00.

    My very first work Christmas as a brand new lowly grunt employee, never knew what a "Chinese gift exchange" (or whatever its called), was the very first number to draw, the very first person to pick a package under the tree, with a $20 limit which was expensive for me, and I picked...wait for it...

    A small bottle of mickey mouse bubblebath for kids.

    (Turns out it came from one of the senior executives.)
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,535 Member
    klkarlen wrote: »
    This is one time when I wish MFP had a dislike button!
    For a secret Santa last year at work, i got a paintbrush, limit was $25.00.

    I seem to have the knack of getting the worst gifts in our holiday grab bag myself. One year it was a pump lotion or soap dispenser made from a canning jar. Our limit at work is $15.00.

    I took to using my precious Gift Exchange money on something I needed that didn't have and then would picked my own gift. One year, I bought myself a hand saw. Which no one wanted of course and I still have it to this day. (Why, I used that just 2 days ago lol)
  • For a secret Santa last year at work, i got a paintbrush, limit was $25.00.

    My very first work Christmas as a brand new lowly grunt employee, never knew what a "Chinese gift exchange" (or whatever its called), was the very first number to draw, the very first person to pick a package under the tree, with a $20 limit which was expensive for me, and I picked...wait for it...

    A small bottle of mickey mouse bubblebath for kids.

    (Turns out it came from one of the senior executives.)


    Bubble bath ? WTF that’s cheap lol
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,979 Member
    A USED rice cooker that the plug kept falling out of. From my frugal aunt.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    edited November 2017
    dc8066 wrote: »

    Unless she was demented at the time you were given her used underwear as a Christmas gift, I'd assume that it was an intentional insult

    It quite possibly could be. She's always been pretty petty toward me ever since I was young. I mean, this is the woman who called me a "lazy fatass" who would never amount to anything because my chosen profession is art and I tend to like a lot of less feminine, more nerdy things.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    This year I have decided to skip family holidays. Thanksgiving was incredibly pleasant all by myself for the most part. I am looking forward to enjoying Christmas in my own way this year. No drama, no hurt feelings, no ungrateful and thoughtless people.

    My husband, daughter and myself stopped attending family holiday gatherings a number of years ago because people didn't reciprocate or appreciate our efforts. It was a big relief to just spend the holidays doing what we wanted.

  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    edited November 2017
    newmeadow wrote: »
    A coworker gave me and another coworker each a stale croissant for a Christmas gift last year. We thanked him profusely, bit into it unknowingly, threw it way in disgust and gossiped about him for a week in retribution.

    I see why you don't like to get gifts now lol
  • aplaw87
    aplaw87 Posts: 8 Member
    My mother in law always gets me used clothes. Not that that's terrible or anything, I'm not opposed to thrift shopping. But they are ALWAYS way too small. Not even close. Like I wear a 14 & she'll buy me a size 6 or XS. And on top of the stuff being way too small, it's usually really worn out (holes, sweaters that are all covered in fuzz balls from being worn and washed 800 times) Then I have to find a way to dispose of whatever she gets me, which usually means I take it right back to the thrift store as a donation lol.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    For the last 2 years straight I have received nothing. Not from my kids, not from my estranged husband, and not from my family. I wish I could say that it didn't bother me and that I was beyond too old to gleefully look forward to Christmas. I painstakingly plan my Christmas list each year, thoughtfully picking out the perfect gift for each person from my parents to my nieces and nephews. Wrapping each gift with incredible detail. And each of the last several years I have been so painfully disappointed that I didn't even get a card or a drawing by the kids. Last year was the worst as my mother and aunts all were laughing when my mother said, "OMG I forgot Kepple again this year" after they had gifted my cousin some of my grandmother's most treasured pieces of jewelry (nothing particularly valuable just things that she liked most.)

    This year I have decided to skip family holidays. Thanksgiving was incredibly pleasant all by myself for the most part. I am looking forward to enjoying Christmas in my own way this year. No drama, no hurt feelings, no ungrateful and thoughtless people.

    Wow that really blows my mind, you are much nicer than I would have been about it. I straight up told my friends kid (smart, very artistic 12 year old) one year that she needed to step up her game and make her mom something nice so her feelings wouldn't be hurt, I don't think she realized how much a gift from her would mean to her mom. She thanked me later and mom loved it ;) Kids just don't think about that stuff sometimes. But adults........no excuse, and especially to laugh about it.
  • LifeIs420
    LifeIs420 Posts: 150 Member
    empty post cards or clothing
  • klkarlen
    klkarlen Posts: 4,366 Member
    For a secret Santa last year at work, i got a paintbrush, limit was $25.00.

    My very first work Christmas as a brand new lowly grunt employee, never knew what a "Chinese gift exchange" (or whatever its called), was the very first number to draw, the very first person to pick a package under the tree, with a $20 limit which was expensive for me, and I picked...wait for it...

    A small bottle of mickey mouse bubblebath for kids.

    (Turns out it came from one of the senior executives.)

    I'm guessing your gift exchange didn't have the rule that #1 gets to swap with anyone else at the end?
  • klkarlen
    klkarlen Posts: 4,366 Member
    My mother, bless her heart, tries to get me something equestrian related because I am that horse-crazed person. But this one is the worst, and almost every equestrian friend I know has received this scary gift (and they all hate it):

    7g1p9drmvb6j.jpg
  • elizarizo
    elizarizo Posts: 470 Member
    More of a gag gift but it was a lotto ticket that said I won like 10 million it was fake... *kitten*
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  • FAAB_too
    FAAB_too Posts: 67 Member
    My mother in law use to like to give me clothes in size 3X, I wear a Medium. Then she would say if they are too small she has the receipt. Lol. I would just smile and say they are perfect, thank you. I'd just donate them, bc they were really nice clothes. So I guess it wasn't all bad.
  • LittleLionHeart1
    LittleLionHeart1 Posts: 3,655 Member
    klkarlen wrote: »
    My mother, bless her heart, tries to get me something equestrian related because I am that horse-crazed person. But this one is the worst, and almost every equestrian friend I know has received this scary gift (and they all hate it):

    7g1p9drmvb6j.jpg

    Oooooh. I love this horse! When I was a little kid, I had some of those horses.
    I was trying to think of a bad Christmas present, and having a hard time. But one present sticks out. After stating absolutely NO food or candy presents, my mother in law regifted a box of chocolate to me. And she knew I was gaining weight, and having a hard time trying to lose weight. So I gave the box back to my father in law, and said I was really sorry. I can't take this present. Please give this chocolate to some worthy to eat it, & that I was having a hard time with my weight.
  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    I just remembered a good one, I bought my first boyfriend an xbox for xmas (we had been dating 3 years at this point) I told him all I wanted was a silver or white gold ring with sapphire like stones. Our limit was $200-300. So I give him this xbox with some games and he gives me a gray felt box, when I open it there is the ring but it's settled in this obviously cheap box, so as I am pulling the ring out, the insert comes with it and under is the price tag of a whopping $10. Needless to say my feelings where hurt and I was pretty pissed. Haha I told him I was gonna call his mother and tell her what he did and how cheap he was. He was pretty embarrassed.
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  • A shoebox full of if you_ ___, you are going to "h-e-double hockey sticks" pamphlets from my aunt and her then husband at the time. The got them free from there church, and my aunt's husband decided my brother and I needed religion in our lives. This box stayed in my closet until I moved out.
  • more_skal
    more_skal Posts: 400 Member
    Anything you make me open in front of you.
  • suzreen
    suzreen Posts: 2,455 Member
    At a gift exchange where we were supposed to spend $50, I got a re-gift of some chocolate orange perfume! YUK! Also, my mom used to give me bags from the thrift store -- things they couldn't sell, they bag up and it's a dollar a bag. She would bring them each time she came to visit and as soon as she left I'd have to dispose of them, cuz it was pure garbage. I am a thrift store shopper, but I would have rather had one good thing that she found than a $1 bag of garbage. That would have taken more time and effort, though, and she only wanted to bother a $1 worth. Weird...
  • Mandygring
    Mandygring Posts: 704 Member
    Root canal
  • more_skal
    more_skal Posts: 400 Member
    My dad was quite the lothario back when I was younger, always lots of women that he didn't really like but gave him attention. There was this one woman though who he really liked and I think he tried to be faithful and good to her but it obviously didn't last and she must have had enough of his *kitten*...
    He usually forgot to get gifts for his kids but on Christmas day one year he brought over a box and inside was this beautiful bangle braclet with loads of sparkly diamonds. I was really delighted with this gift until I realised next day that it was engraved on the other side with "To Sharon with love" ...my name is not Sharon.
    My dad was quite the lothario back when I was younger, always lots of women that he didn't really like but gave him attention. There was this one woman though who he really liked and I think he tried to be faithful and good to her but it obviously didn't last and she must have had enough of his *kitten*...
    He usually forgot to get gifts for his kids but on Christmas day one year he brought over a box and inside was this beautiful bangle braclet with loads of sparkly diamonds. I was really delighted with this gift until I realised next day that it was engraved on the other side with "To Sharon with love" ...my name is not Sharon.

    Names are not important ha ha
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