The naffest of Christmas gifts!

Casdon

My seriously wealthy sister (and I mean seriously wealthy - non-dom for 30+ years, multi six figure salary, no tax) but seriously mean sister (and I mean seriously mean!) has bought me many weird presents over the years. In saying that I should mention that she has always been a skinfint since her teens - money hasn't changed her!!

But last years beat them all ....

I received a half size loofah from her (the full size at Boots is only £4!!)
This was accompanied by ONE small tube of handcream that comes in a box of three!
Both were inside a well-worn glittery gift bag, that I suspect had originally contained something like a bottle of wine that she'd won in a raffle!!

We all laughed and laughed so much when it was opened. I shared photographs of it, to family and friends on WhatsApp and had some hysterical replies back as to what I should do with it!!

She knows most of them so I'm sure someone would have mentioned the WhatsApp pics to her.

What will this year bring me I wonder?!

P.S. It doesn't stop me giving her nice gifts, usually on the lines of L'Occitane or Molton Brown. Although a few years ago when I bought her a Molton Brown limited Special Edition body wash and body cream duo set, she told me later in the year that she hadn't liked the smell and so she'd thrown them away!!

Sisters eh?!
.

Worst Christmas gift I ever got was a snow shovel!!!! My neighbour borrowed it at the first snow to clear his drive and mine, first shovel full of snow and the handle snapped in half!

DD1’s mother in law in Oz gave me a hideous plaster of paris ornament of a cat ( the type you used to get at a fun fair). I passed it on to the 5 year old daughter of friends we were staying with. She loved it. Same MiL gave my daughter, her DiL, a satin evening bag which she had just used at a wedding, complete with grease stain. To her son, my SiL, she gave a return air fare from Sydney to Brisbane so he could visit her. He didn’t! This was 10 days before their wedding. Some welcome to a new DiL from the UK. The relationship continued in that vein for some years. DD, bless her heart, worked at the relationship until she was finally accepted. I think the 4 gc had something to do with it!

Bukkie

TwiceAsNice - My friend buys me an amaryllis every year too. I do like them but they only flower for a couple of weeks at most and then sit around as a bulb for the rest of the year. There is only only aq limited amount you can have too.

Do they come back then? My mum was given one as a gift last year but didn't want it so gave it to me. The green leaves have only just died back.

My then 5yo son was given school trousers by my MIL. She had seen him in ones with a patch on the knee which were his spares as he had muddied his ‘best’ ones. Needless to say he was not impressed!

My great aunt was very well off but bought gifts from jumble sales. I remember a fine bone china egg coddler given when I was a teenager! I wonder what became of it?

As a small filler gift,my husband gave me a electric potato peeler.Itwas to be used under water.Hi cousins were there when I opened it,and when they picked themselves off the floor with laughter, they asked if he had someone else in mind to take my place.

Last year, my husband of 42 years gave me what he called an investment piece he’d bought at the Royal Academy. It was a chunk pink glazed pottery stuck with pink ostrich feathers. I burst into tears, I hate pink and why had he given me something he liked . To say Christmas was frosty summed up the day. The gift now resides in the garage in its box. This year I have asked for and will get the most expensive iron I could choose.
Strangely I don’t ever iron anything! He has to use a laundry service.

Many years ago, I was going out with quite a nice young man ( I thought!) However his present of red scratchy lacy underwear was an immediate turn off. Firstly the fact that he actually thought I would wear such horrible things, as he already knew that I had sensitive skin, and was careful about what materials I wore, and secondly that he thought I was even remotely likely to let him see me dressed in the dratted things. I handed them back to him and suggested that he might like to go and find someone who would want them, but he obviously knew very little about me if he thought that it was me!

Oh, and I like amaryllis plants

I had the very opposite one birthday from an older, very American friend. It had been passed on to her and was given to me with the words: "it was too big for me so I thought it would fit you." Leaving aside the fact that it was grey, which gives me a somewhat unlovely corpselikè complexion, and of a style that has never been fashionable, it was probably size 26-28. This lady is a similar size to me around 14/16 but a different shape. We could have worn it at the same time and still had room for someone else. I was amazed that a charity shop accepted it.
Possibly the worst Christmas present l have had was from DH last Christmas. I had given him several suggestions as l have learnt from experience that "surprises" are not always welcome. It doesn't help that my birthday is just before Christmas. However, what l was actually given was a crystal figurine of a Disney princess - Cinderella. Now, I have a collection of vintage Royal Worcester figurines but this was nothing like any of them and I don't like Disney anyway. However, even this pales into insignificance when compared with a present my grandmother received from my grandfather many years ago. She was presented with the mesh inside of a chip pan for deep frying because he loved homemade chips. He was not popular with her that year.

When my children were students, we put a £5 limit on each present (except from DH and me of course).
One family I know gave a similar price limit but also had to be from a charity shop.

Grandma70s

Allira

Just wondering why everyone doesn't say "Let's not buy presents this year, except for the children. We could give the money to charity and/or buy a goat or a cow for a family in Africa and be labelled a White Saviour"!

My son said this, and we were all so grateful!

A SisIL did this many years ago and decided no more presents for children either. The problem was that hers were older teenagers by then and my youngest was two and I'd given presents to all the family as long as I can remember, spending my pocket money before I started earning!

Allira

Just wondering why everyone doesn't say "Let's not buy presents this year, except for the children. We could give the money to charity and/or buy a goat or a cow for a family in Africa and be labelled a White Saviour"!

My son said this, and we were all so grateful!

First Christmas after starting work in early 60s I was given a TweenyTwink home perm from the office manager. Seemed to be at least 65, hair all curled up round the edge, must have had her curlers in every night. My DM said I'd have to use it or the manager would be offended. Just waited until I woukd be on holiday, told her I was going to use the perm. Came back telling her hair had gone straight, must have been all the seawater with being at the beach so
often. I left before the next Christmas.

The last amaryllis I had grew very tall with several flower heads, and was so top-heavy that it fell over and scattered soil (or whatever it was growing in) all over everywhere. Big mess.

Just wondering why everyone doesn't say "Let's not buy presents this year, except for the children. We could give the money to charity and/or buy a goat or a cow for a family in Africa and be labelled a White Saviour"!

When I was about seven I yearned for some white fluffy ear muffs. My mother must have told her sister what I would like, but when I opened them they were the most horrible cheapest item you could imagine. A piece of wire covered in awful nylon material. I was so disappointed and although my mum didn’t say I could tell she was furious. My aunt was a very wealthy women but unbelievably mean when it came to presents, especially as we had so little by comparison. She never changed!

i dread my sil sending me either chocolates (expesive kind) or flowers, i have never liked flowers, would rather have a plant and prefer some milk tray or quality street. i have known her for 40 years and never once has she given me a gift that i like or could use.

This is absolutely true. Back in 1974 I had a black wrap round lurex top which I wore with a black maxi skirt. I wasn’t keen on the top so I put into the local jumble sale.
My Great Aunt was a regular at jumble sales ( don’t know why, she just loved them).
Forward to Christmas Day 1974. All the family gathered for Christmas dinner, including said Great Aunt. Presents handed out and suddenly my sister and me were in absolute fits of laughter. Her present from GA was the top I had put in the jumble sale weeks earlier…….you couldn’t make it up 😂

Jeez, get a grip.

I gave my sister in law an expensive necklace and matching earrings in a box with satin lining. The next Christmas she gave me the earrings as a present! Both she and my brother have very well paid jobs and live in a 5 bedroom house. They then gave me a tin of biscuits from all of them (brother, SIL, 2 children). They expected me to buy them a present each! So I gave them the same tin of biscuits the following Christmas and put a sticker on the best before date 😜

I think I am guilty of the naff homemade presents… scarves and necklaces I never saw people wear🤭!!
You’re right, RosieandherMaw🤣!

Must find a pattern for the loo roll cosies… or maybe not…

GrandmasueUK

I got the most beautifully boxed, and inside wrapped in fabulous tissue paper a gorgeous expensive silk scarf from SisIL2. How did I know it was expensive? Because we had bought it for her birthday present several months before! Thank goodness I love it, although I was tempted to send it back for her next birthday 🎊

😂what goes around comes around.