JFF - What's the Worst Gift You've Ever Gotten?

Bunny slippers, dirty, and facing backward so that you step into the bunnies' seemingly gutted carcasses. Oh yeah, they weren't my size either.

From a family member. Not telling who. Yes, I still speak to this person. I have to. He got married and is totally reformed now.

Oh wait, I forgot the kicker. I was born on Christmas Day. So this was his birthday-Christmas gift.

Do I win? Do I win???

I have a sister who is adamant that people remember her special days, and although she is barely maintaining a livable wage, she never forgets to send gifts on other people's special days. The gifts she gives are rarely useable, used books on some topic that is of no interest to the recipient, or faded t-shirts with bizarre cartoons that I wouldn't even wear to bed. But the worst ever was a pair of cotton-knit lounging pants with slightly mismatched colors on each side, and one leg about 5 inches longer than the other.

Nevertheless, I know my sister is doing her best. I know that for her, making the effort, buying, wrapping and mailing the gift IS her actual gift. She's remembering me. The item doesn't much matter.

No gift! The first year my husband I were married, but MIL completely forgot to give me a gift for Christmas. She had been to Mexico, where she proceeded to buy the entire family, including my BIL's wife, gifts. As we sat down at Christmas, everyone was ripping open their gifts, while I just sat there with my hands in my lap. My husband looked right at her and said "Aren't you missing something?". I was mortified! When she realize what she had done, she went into her bedroom, and came out with a man's silver necklace (which she had actually bought for her husband) balled up in her hand. She just handed it to me and proceeded to apologize profusely in front of the entire family. You could hear a pin drop. I didn't mind so much, and I wish she had of just kept the necklace because it was hideous. But I was so embarrassed by the whole thing I just took it with a smile. My MIL and I have always had a good relationship. I don't know what happened to her that year!
Oh and then there were the basket of cookies my SIL gave me with DOG HAIR all over them. That is a close second runner up.

My wonderful MIL gave me a carousel type thing that turned when you lit candles and the hot air rose to move the rotator blades. It looked like something that a 1st grader would make out of Popsicle sticks at summer camp. I was so happy when it broke in the trunk on the way home so I could throw it away.

The second worst was a pull-over sweater my mom bought me--two sizes too small and a color I hated--because she wanted me to lose weight and like "girlish" colors.

Great question!

L. I think you are going straight to heaven for wearing that to church...seriously, you could be an awful person to everyone for the rest of your life and you're still good to go. How wonderful of you...

OK, my ex-husband, who is a great guy in many ways, was married before me to a woman whose tastes ran more to the dress you described; kind of peasant-y, Stevie Nicks type stuff. For almost our entire marriage he bought me that type of stuff too: huge dangly earrings, funky shirts, a jacket that looked like it was left over from Prince's "Purple Rain" tour...

This was extremely odd because I am more the Jackie-O, Audrey Hepburn type dresser (when I do dress up, that is). Very low key, small jewelry, etc. It got so bad that every Christmas my side of the family would gather so they could see what he got me as well as the exact look on my face when I opened it. Poor guy! But it still makes me smile...

My hubby's aunt gave me (as well as my husband's 2 very stylish & thin cousins) a size 3XL white hooded sweatshirt with a giant unicorn & rainbow on it. I am still scratching my head on that one.

ETA: I forgot to talk about my hubby's worst gift. Last Christmas one of his patients handed him a book entitled, "The Best of American Erotica, 2009." What? Who gives pornographic literature for a Christmas gift? And to their doctor? Yeah, she's kinda a creepy patient.

For Christmas one year my grandma gave me a polyester red and tan plaid pant suit that she made herself. I was in MIDDLE school!!! That was in the early 80s when everyone was wearing Calvin Klein and Jordache. Can you imagine if I had worn my polyester suit to school????

I forgot to add that years later she made a quilt for me using scraps of fabric that she had. She put squares of that plaid fabric in the quilt. It is the one we use for picnics and every time we use it I am reminded of my red and tan pant suit. :)

That is so sweet that you wore the dress and shoes to church. I would've done the same, but I wouldn't have liked it, lol!

My husband gave me Sham-wow for Christmas 2 years ago - you know those super absorbent towels? Yep. That's right. He still hears about it.

When I was a kid my Grandmother gave my sister and I each a bottle of perfume from God-knows-where, and the bottles had art on them. My sister's had pretty flowers and designs, and mine had ancient pornography art - threesomes to be exact. (She didn't realize it.) It was so funny - I still have it! :-)

My MIL one year bought her, her 2 daughters and me the same dress to wear xmas day for there entire family: Aunts, Uncles and cousins. It was purplish pink, long jumper with this horrible off white shirt. It was super big.

The worst gifts in my experience are those that have NO thought behind them. The obligatory 'gotta get her something, oh look, that will do'...or.... the gift a person gives so they can have it themselves. I LOVE powertools (bwahaha), but unfortunately my husband has been "saved" from that particular faux pas by listening to coworkers intent on him not screwing up so I end up with something THEIR wives would like instead of my drill or power washer!! My husband meanwhile, bless his heart, can't use a manual screw driver much less a powered one!

But the 2 "best" thoughtless gifts?

- Plastic frog from the gas station gotten on the way home
- LATEX condoms. Well, for one I'm married. And for two, I'm allergic to latex!!! Which they knew. (ahh... the gift that keeps giving... the BURNING! In a place where burning should never happen. Ever. Period.)

When I was 13 I was gifted a sweatshirt from a craft fair that was grey with an iron-on cat on the front and pink ruffles sewn around the wrists and neck. It's like b/c we had a cat I got only cat gifts for several years. Also when I was like 11 I got a rectangular (not kidney shaped as is traditional) canvas fanny-pack with that's right...a cat on it!! true story. hideous.

A piss-yellow t-shirt (with a droopy pocket) that was 3 times too big for me. I think I ended up using it to clean up a wine spill. Still grateful for the gift, even though it was re-purposed.

This wasn't a terrible present, just not very thought out for a family with a child. One year for Christmas, my brother sent us a string of lights and a power strip with a remote control. We took the lights back to the store, and we told our son that the power strip was for him.

I love taz so my in laws gave me a t shirt for xmas. Too bad it was used cause there was a big yellow stain on the side. Once again my in laws gave me a tin of brownies for my BD. They were so nasty from being in their freezer for God knows how long that I ended up throwing them out. I know that its the thought but come on!
For our 1 yr anniversary my in laws (once again) didn't get us anything right away cause they wanted to find the right gift. About a month later they gave us a water filter for our faucet. It was big and bulky and we ended up taking it off cause it got in the way of doing the dishes. My in laws can't pick out gifts to save their life. They always get us things that we will NEVER use.

Great question! The worst gifts definetly came from my MIL and SIL. My SIL just goes to the dollar store and gets something really generic. The worst one from my SIL is a tie between a Yankee Candle that I had given her the year before that she regifted to me and a floral stationary set. My MIL would get me size large when I wear a small (and I hate loose baggy clothes) and she once got me a coach keychain that was a mini coach purse. I was in my late 20's at the time and it was a present for a pre-teen. My husband got me a snuggie, leopard print...I returned it.

When I was in my early 20s I had been dating a guy for several months. It was my first significant relationship so I was looking forward to the birthday gift he gave me. He gave me a board game. A really stupid unknown board game. To this day, I've never seen or heard of it since. We never even played it. We were in law school and it was about lawyers negotiating and scamming each other. I was speechless when I opened it. Believe it or not, we dated for a few more years. The gifts ultimately got better, but it took awhile.

I recieved a wrapped empty box. It was Christmas and I bought the guy I was seeing a Victorias Secret mens kit with aftershave, soap and cologne. He gave me a wrapped box. I opened it and it was empty. He said, the gift must've been stolen by the gift wrap people. It was clearly not wrapped by professional gift wrappers, it was just his excuse to not buy me a gift! So, I was embarssed and red faced and basically got an IOU that he never made up to me.

Thought of another. I wanted a carousel theme for my oldest daughters room and nursery. Every gift I recieved from anyone for the next couple years was Carousels. SHirts, earrings, chirstmad ornaments, music boxes. That's what I wanted for the baby, but suddenly I was a carousel collector.

My mother is so selfish she'd buy my sweaters for christmas that were closer to her size, and in the colors that she liked/looked good on her. Sigh.

pink fuzzy boxing gloves from the MIL... what am I going to do with one pair of pink fuzzy boxing gloves?

A small tool box with tools from a boyfriend for my BD. Too bad I didn't break up with him then.
Once my dad gave me a lug wrench for Xmas.
Of course they were useful and came in handy, but should have been given to me just because.

.

I can honestly say that I do not think of thoughtful and sweet gifts as bad, so they don't even come to mind right now. (I wish they did because I do remember laughing at them.) I think that my worst gift might be one that was given as a dig. My husband and I were newly engaged. I am 10 years younger than his ex-wife and looked 10 years younger than that, so she would go around and tell everybody that he decided that he needed a newer model. Anyway, for Christmas she--in all her magnanimousness--gave me a gaudy mirrored cross with a saying about wisdom coming with age. She is one of those who always claims a good heart behind her acts when she is really trying to just appear to be the nice one.

This past Christmas I was given a motion detected soap dispenser. That was my big gift from my family.
Or a bright pink table doily (sp?) or the blanket to match but with purple mixed in.
OH OH OH OH OH!!! How about for my birthday with my ex. He gave me a box on chocolate. . . That he ate while playing WOW. Yup he's a keeper.

something that has been regifted with the gift card inside it was written to the person who gave me the gift. in a thank you card i said tell julie i liked the gift a lot, every time i will use it i will think of her and her kindness LOL.

My husband gave me bullets for a gun one year for my birthday. That was it. I was sooooo angry. Really?

My FIL gave my husband & I matching toothbrushes for Christmas one year. Guess he thought we needed to brush our teeth more often since we both smoked at the time. Still, who gives a toothbrush for Christmas?
You are so stinkin' sweet to have worn that for her, it probably made her day!

A single embroidered bathroom hand towel for a wedding gift! I guess maybe they thought we weren't going to make it :)

This one I had to add even though it was a birthday gift but it was just so unbelievable, I had to add it. Before I got married to my wonderful hubby, I dated a guy, we'll call him dumbass. Well dumbass took it upon himself to buy me a skater Barbie for my birthday...I was 28. He kept telling me he was going to get one for me, I thought he was joking. On my birthday, we went to WalMart, he said he'd be in the toy section getting my present (again, I thought he was kidding) so I said 'okay'. I wait in the car, he comes back, literally tosses it at me & said "There, happy birthday, you better like it coz I spent $20 on it & don't think I'm gonna wrap it for ya!" Needless to say, I took it back, he got mad & said that he couldn't believe I did that since he took it upon himself to spend 'his' money on something for me that I could've been more grateful...mmmmKAAAYYY. Needless to say, we didn't date for very long! And before anyone says anything like why would I date sucha jerk...well he didn't start out being a jerk, only when we started dating did he start showing his true colors so like I said, needless to say, we didn't date very long.

On a better note though, when me & my husband (a much better guy, lol) were dating, the first year when we were dating, we went to the inlaws (father & step-mother). All the other DIL got really nicey nice gifts but I got a tall bottle of stinky perfume (I'm allergic) & a tiny, square thin notepad & tiny pencil wrapped up together in shrinkwrap. WoW what were they thinking? I was taken aback firstly b/c I bought them a rather expensive cookware set as they love to cook & secondly they're very well to do, meaning they have money so why is it that I get a cheapo gift. I thought that maybe it was b/c I was 'new' to the family & they didn't want to bother buying anything nice if it wasn't going to last but year after year, I got things like house slippers or a cheapy manicure set that cost less than $10 while the other DIL still get nice, more pricey things. I'm not petty or selfish, I just thought I should be thought of as equal too. My hubby & I think it's b/c he's the "step son" & not really blood kin that we're getting left out but I just politely thank them anyway.

On a quirky note, the second year we were dating, me & my hubby went to my parent's home for Christmas & my husband gave me a Plaque Removal system for my teeth, this was my Christmas gift...he gave this to me while visiting my parents, at their house, gave it to me in front of them...I was completely embarrassed. As meticulous as I am about oral hygine, I kept wondering WHAT was he thinking??? I was kinda taken aback on this b/c the year before (our first Christmas together) he bought me a really pretty peice of jewelry...I was thinking...ummmm Okaaaay??? A plaque removal system...geee...ummm...THANKS hon...Then I thought...wait...do I actually NEEEED this??? Are my teeth in THAT bad of shape, or my breath THAT gross??? I did take it back & got something else but as thoughtful as my hubby is, sometimes he just doesn't stop to think. lol.

Hands down, worst gift ever: I spent the day cleaning our old apartment so we could be fully moved into our house. My husband arrived from work about two hours later than he said he would because he stopped to buy me a card and two packs of fruit flavored Tic Tacs. His thought was that I got a new house (and Tic Tacs!) for my birthday. Um, no.

My aunt (and godmother) has given some pretty bad gifts. Hair scrunchies from the dollar store (this was my entire christmas gift and no it wasn't all she could afford)that smelled like smoke. And when I was 12 she gave me a barbie and a coloring book lol I stopped playing with dolls when I was 9.

Haham the first Christmas my hubby and I were together I got my engagement ring. He told a friend of mine that it was my Christmas gift and she informed him that was not the same thing, so he obviously ran out last minute and got me some awful sweaters - lol. I still laugh at it. Poor guy knew I hated them and I didn't want him too...he has never gotten me anything I haven't loved since! Diamonds always go over well :).

A $500 pearl necklace when I don't even wear jewelry and am a single mom and would have much rather had the money.

I can't think of a really awful present that I have ever received but your post has made me crack up so much . I have to say that, that in itself is a gift I can truly appreciate. SALAMAT! (That is Filipino for thank you. Now I am off to read all other responses)

One year for Christmas, while all the other "in-law" children were opening their pajama's/money, I opened a box of After Eight Dinner mints. They were on sale for 2/$5. When we were leaving that night, my sister-in-law rushed toward me to give me the mints saying "don't forget your gift!" Gee, thanks!

The other WINNER of a Christmas gift was one year when I made for each of my SIL's a basket with popcorn, candy, crackers, homemade relish, cocoa, bottle of wine, and gift certificate to Blockbuster's for movies, I received a lip liner. Now...some of you might say, hmmmm....lip liner. Here's the deal...I don't wear lipstick (chapstick only) so why would I need lip liner? Yeah....I left that there, too!

Shortly after that, I decided that we were not going to be in on the gift giving anymore. It took the fun out of it for me. Now, we only give gifts to our parents, our kids and each other. I love it! We don't go into debt with Christmas and I am usually finished with Christmas shopping by the end of November.

Childhood: My grandmother got me shamrock dangle earrings and a Barbie workout video.......Great gifts for a little girl......BUT I was 16!

Adulthood:

From hubby: a candle for my birthday a few years ago.....Payback has been wonderful on that one....:P

From my aunt and uncle: a fire extinguisher and a "drinking bird" WTH? REALLY?!

From my in laws: An IOU for our wedding that we still haven't collected on (7 years later) and an IOU for this past Christmas.......AND I'm talking that we actually have paper that has been written on with the details about the IOU!!!!! Who does that?

I'm sure there is a ton more, but those were the ones that popped in my head. Fun topic and thanks for the laughs ladies!

my ex-MIL who was esentric to start with and she would say a spend thrift but I would say a MISER. Gave me a shirt from the good will about 3 sizes too small, a picture frame with someone else's name on it, and a German Chocolate scented candle that was in the shape of a piece of cake with a candle and a mouse sitting on top eating a piece of the cake. It was so old and oily the tag was unreadable. That was my first Christmas with my ex, and it only got more interesting as time went on.

oh and my ex-husband for our second Christmas since he didnt get anything for my first Christmas, gave me a vcr tape of My Fair Lady... I didnt have a vcr and a car car manual for my chevy s-10 that I was SELLING at the time. I thought well maybe I could change him... nope it got worse. The best gift he gave me was my divorce.

Anything from my ex husband. He would wrap gifts for me but they were really for him. He would buy mixed nuts, knowing I like mine seperate, and wrap them up for x-mas. Same with car models and other things.

My ex's grandma every single year bought me a new sweater....in size large...I'm plus size...ugh! So I couldn't even wear her gifts! And we would gently tell her that I'm much bigger than she thinks but she just kept thinking I needed large size sweaters I guess! =) Oh, and my mom would buy those "grab bags" where you didn't know what they heck you were buying but they were really cheap and she would wrap up stuff after she opened it and didn't like it. She did it all the time. One year I got some dumb lobster stuff, like a apron and some pot holders or something...uh thanks mom for the effort... =)