it would appear dear readers that i am not alone in the 'receiving gifts that miss the mark' issue...and as i got to reading a few of your comments, enlightening me of your own 'what were they thinking' gifts, a little thought struck me...
it has been such a long time since i did a 'give away'...so long in fact i can't even remember what it was (pause, while i recollect...ahhh, that's right it was this), that it's time to throw caution to the wind and give away a 'thing or two'...
it's so easy, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling all about your most 'horror of horror' gifts (if loved ones names have to be changed to avoid hurt feelings, i quite understand)...in return i will enter your name into a mitten...if i get too many and my mitten becomes bulgy (oooh, that would be something eh!) then i shall go onto my other mitten.
up for grabs, out of my little mittens are
(drum roll please...)
1st prize: a nora cushion cover
measuring 20" x 20"
(here's the back for your perusal)
2nd prize: a nellie book bag
12" x 15"
(close up of nellie bag for your perusal)
so there we have it, quite simple, nothing too stressful for the old brain cells on a monday morning (actually it's the afternoon, but i liked the sentence with 'morning' in it)...
i shall leave this little 'give away' open until Sunday 5th Oct and on Monday 6th, a lovely little assistant will pick the winners.
"what lovely little assistant would that be Tif?", well since you asked, i am very excited to say my besty oldest pal from way back when (okay from when we were 11, sometime in the nineteen hundreds) is coming to stay and bringing a 'wee child' with her...
in a few hours, i must summon up my courage and drive to the airport in rush hour...i have managed to avoid the 'airport pickup' for eight years (quite a feat i can tell you), but alas my man has put his foot down and told me now i am of a 'certain' age i need to branch out and over come my fears.
so there it is, i hope to enjoy a lovely week with my friend (that's if i don't end up in Oregon, never to be heard of again) and with a bit of luck will be back on Monday for the results of my
'dottie give away'
she's practising her deep breathing skills for freeway driving ~ Tif
50 comments:
My grandma bless her heart has given me the same cookbook the last three years. And I am a sucker because every year I open my Christmas gift with baited breath hoping for a new cookbook *smile*
oooh, arsty momma...consider yourself stuffed into my little mitten ;)
One year near Christmastime there were infomercials on 24-7 selling these hair towels called the Turbie Twist. So here we sit at the family Christmas, opening presents and making fun of the Turbie Twist. Imagine my horror when I opened my gift and someone had bought the damned Turbie Twist! (Which I never did use, onto freecycle it went.)
Oh the humiliation...
My ex-husband gave me a pair of earrings that said "No" on one and "Fear" on the other. I don't think he'd noticed that since high school I wear only a pair of hoops in my ears and never change out my earrings to anything else. And "No Fear"?! Psshaw!
My mom has taken to buying things at garage sales to give me. (Not the good things you can get either) For instance, she bought me a pair of shoes that she knew were not my style and then got upset with me when I told her I would probably never wear them. Then she bought me a handbag that I already have... I know she means well....
Does it count if you were hoping for a good gift and got something totally different instead? Because when my Hubby and I had been dating for a year (it was Christmas) he gave me a small box which I was hoping (and wishing) was an engagement ring - nope, it was a keychain pocket knife. I think I spent part of Christmas Day crying - I have rather high expectations :-)
I honestly can't remember anything off the top of my head that was awful...i am pretty easy to buy for I guess, I can never have too many new books or pj's....I CAN think of more than a few awful gifts that my son's dad (who comes around once or twice a year)has given him but I won't even go there-just picture the best gift from the dollar store and you get the picture (hmm...my pulse rate went up!) anyways, great giveaway!!
Hockey skates. My dear husband gave me ice hockey skates for our second Christmas. {I wore them once, and sold them at a garage sale. One of my younger sisters bought them. I hope she's getting more use than I did!}
Come to think of it...maybe it was my own fault. I believe I had said I thought it'd be fun to have a pair!
~ Jennifer
Would have to be a set of measuring spoons, plastic in a lurid pink, the handles were ducks heads . . . they came on a'nice' hanger so as to be displayed in the kitchen . . . it was a gift from an ex mother in law! Glad you are maturing and doing some big girl stuff like airport pickups! Rachaelxo
I have three.
*I told my mother in law that I loved vintage cocktail dresses and she asked me my size so I told her that in vintage sizes, its a lot bigger than what I wear in new clothes. She bought me this huge 80's monstrosity and watched with glee as I opened it. And I guess my face gives away everything, because my husband gives me the hardest time about not being able to hide how much I hated it. Even worse, she had showed him, he knew I would hate it and didn't even warn me! And this thing was huge. One look at it, and one look at me and she would have known it would never ever fit me!!!
*My husband gave me a box of chocolates while I was on a diet. "Well, once you said you really love chocolate..."
*(This one is touchy since its a handmade gift I speak of but...) My dad's girlfriend gave us a flyswatter covered in lace and stuffed with potpourri. Now, I don't care if you cover a flyswatter in gold and dip it in diamonds, it's still an effin flyswatter and it will NEVER hang in my house!
i'm convinced my mother-in-law gave me (in the early years of my marriage) whatever her 'secret santa' at work gave her for xmas. i receieved:
year 2 - a chia pet
year 3 - a pen/pencil set
year 4 - a glass xmas tree, filled with green candy.
she didn't give me anything the first year.
Yea! Such beautiful things. My gift is along the lines of yours. My hubby got me attachment for my Kitchen Aid one year for Christmas. Yes, I wanted them, but not as my "big gift" from him, you know? A pasta maker/meat grinder?
Haha! What about when I was given a range of BodyShop products from my then boyfriends mother. Not so bad you may think but she didn't like me...and all the bottles were half used Tester/Sample ones! She denied all knowledge despite there being ruddy great stickers with TESTER written on them! (Xmas rush = can't blame sales people!)
My then boyfriend is my now husband and..the mother in law...well, i'm still not liked...so presents are still a source of much amusement.
My husband once gave me a wooden wine rack for my birthday. Just a stock standard wine rack, for no particular reason . . .
My mother-in-law had wrapped and given me two plastic cups.
Another time it was paper napkins. I've stopped trying to understand. :)
I got given a doormat for a significant birthday from my mother, and to add insult to injury I already had a doormat! I don't think she really meant anything by it but I don't think there is any good way to be given a doormat on your birthday is there?
me and my pal have tears rolling down our cheeks...thanks for starting our morning off on a high note :)
I have already told of the FOSSIL book which my husband once bought me, well it gets worse and I shall send you a picture of this monstrosity which I still have in my possession! he once bought me a granny tray - one of those trays with a bag underneath filled with polystyrene pellets! That was my 26th birthday present - I took it to school to show my students as I couldn't believe the ugliness o it - on another occasion he bought me a box of Thornton's toffee when I had just had my wisdom teeth out and had a face reminiscent of a hamster with its pouches full !! Twenty years later I either get a cheque or I chose a present buy it and then I get the cheque! And they say romance is dead!
i came back for a read and emily's comment "My mother-in-law had wrapped and given me two plastic cups." had me laughing SO hard i fear as i freewheel to 40 i may have developed continence issues!
Could it be the m-in-law thing? I've already told my son that i will try hard with his wife. (He's 9!)
I once had a boyfriend who bought me a wooden money box with goat hair riveted onto it. On the same occasion he gave me a china pierot dolls bust thingy complete with net ruff and a real pink feather on its bald head. He got the 'it's not you, it's me' talk. 'Yes, I have taste'.
About 3 years ago, I told a friend about my newest hobby of photography and my new digital SLR camera. She got me a late 1980's film point and shoot camera with a broken battery door. She told me that, even though the battery door is broken, I could tape the battery in and it would work great. ???
Ooh, and my grandma buys me petite clothes because she thinks they will fit me better, but I'm not short, I'm just thin. She also buys my husband XL when he is really a large. And she buys them at stores we don't have here, so we can't even exchange them for the right size.
Oh dear, oh dear! I am loving the mother-in-law gifts. ;) Glad to know I'm not the only one so disliked by mine. (No entry here, I already entered.)
My parents gave me life insurance for Christmas one year. At the time, I was an unmarried college student with no family and no debts. I'm not sure what they were thinking.
i must give off the vibe (boy toys) cause that is what i seem to get nearly every year..
one year i received not one but two cordless drills...yes my oldest and dearest child went out and bought one and so did my husband...i really don't know why i always seem to get power tools but the fact that i'm the only one that fixs anything around the house could be the reason?
My mum always put so much effort into her presents but there have been some serious mistakes over the years. I think the worst was a tooth polishing kit! Just perfect for an over self-conscious 17 year old.I still don't show my teeth when I smile for photos!
My mother is Queen of the "freebies." If there is a "buy one, get one free" offer, you know you'll get the free one. If there's a "free gift with purchase," the worthless gift is yours. She's given us free scissors that don't cut, free steak knives that don't cut, baby boom boxes that only picked up Spanish music stations, and free caps emblazoned with the logo of one dubious product or another. But the best (worst) were the shirts we each got one Christmas. They were huge, shapeless tees, "free" when she purchased a bottle of Jim Beam Bourbon. Considering the number of shirts doled out, she bought enough bourbon for quite a bender. I felt like a major enabler and could never bring myself to wear the shirt. It went straight to the rag bin!
When I was pregnant with my first child and still working - a fellow co-worker gave me "doll clothes" - for the baby to wear - they were like the Cabbage Patch sort, definitely not intended for a real baby to wear. She gave them to me at a shower at work, and even told me that she had found them at a garage sale. It was really wierd!
oooh, my mitten is bulgy :) i must move onto my other mitten...
Even as a 15 year old I had short fat legs; my worst present was from my Grandmother in 1984 when, inspired by Wimbledon, she gave me baggy nylon knickers with stripes of scratchy lace across the behind.
Shewas no doubt equally disappointed to have a grandaughter who was not leggy or tennis-sy enough to look good serving in frilly knickers.
J
x
Our first Christmas as a married couple my new Husband bought me a pair of blue and white stripy pajamas (the kind that old men wear in hospital!). Awful. I nearly cried, especially as I had been dropping hints about some beautiful underwear from Selfridges!! Oh, and the day after our wedding he bought me some oven dishes!!
Josephine
seasideparkys at tesco dot net
My parents one year gave me a ring holder that was an elephant. You put the rings on his trunk that stuck straight up...
When I was about 20 years old, my grandmother, rest her heart, gave me a light purple, polar fleece bucket hat, the same style that TV's "Blossom" used to wear about 10 years before.
The kicker? It had a machine embroidered hound dog holding a heart on the brim.
My best friend gave me a tongue scraper for my birthday one year! It is the more bizarre gift I have ever received xo
A few years ago I got a stuffed cat. Nothing wrong with that, you could think. But I have a very strong suspicion that the fur of the stuffed cat is actually from some other kind of animal.
And I'm very, very anti-fur and love animals. Needless to say, that stuffed cat has not seen the light of day at my house.
Love,
Anne from Finland
Tiff, I don't know thid woman personally, but think she deserves an entry for your give away. See why here:
http://blog.heidikaisand.com/2008/09/29/the-key-to-success.aspx
first mitten is too bulgy now, have moved on to second mitten...well done you lovely lot :)
diane, thanks for the link...have asked Heidi if she would like to have her name entered, she qualifies that's for sure :)
hope you are all having a lovely week, i am sharing lots of great moments with my pal and her lovely two year old...we are attempting 'anthropologie' this morning...
I have found friends!! I am loving all of these entries. Thank you Diane for telling Tif about me. And, thank you Tif for visiting me. I love your blog and will be back again.
And, yes, in addition to the 5-bottom plow that I just received for our 17th Wedding anniversary, I've also received tractors, cement, doors, windows, siding for gifts. Luckily my husband doesn't ever mind when I buy myself a gift!! And, Tif, I just turned 40 and got nothing, so I'm thinking the panini pan was a step up!
oh I can't even compete with some of these :) this has been a great read through! :)
My most recent was 2 years ago my husband bought me a toaster oven for my birthday. and then was shocked that I wasn't DELIGHTED. His thinking was that I'd said I wanted one. ...true. But "I'd like to get a toaster oven" is in the same category as "I'd like to paint the living room" or "we should organize the attic" :p
Well I bet the "gift makers" are not the problem i have to accept it is me. I am a picky dresser so when they usually give me clothes I dont ware them. Another, my aunt would give me jewelry, yes it was ugly and yes it was also obviously used. I knew it because it had missing stones or the golden part was a bit rusted or maybe they were vintage and i never realized it :)
In high school my aunt gave me a pair of earrings (yes, it was the mid-80's) that were probably about two inches long, molded leather, shaped like women's faces. I can't even accurately describe them except to say that I can't imagine whose aesthetic they were designed for. God-awful.
One Christmas my poor little brother got three copies of The Guinness Book of Records from his unimaginative siblings... And a friend told me about his mum getting a ream of white typing paper from each of her three children one Christmas, after she'd got herself a new typewriter..!
hi there! joing the fun, here's my post again, it may not of gone thru a few days ago : 0
A couple of years ago, for xmas my best friend gave me several packages of black panty hose. i wanted to cringe, but since i didn't want to hurt her feelings, i said thank you with a smile on my face. i realized from the packaging that the pantyhose was from the sixtys and probably belonged to her mom who passed away that year. she kept telling me..."gosh my mom was a pack rat..never threw anything away...you should've seen the plastic bags, cans of ajax"...etc. the thing is that i don't usually wear any hose and go bare legged. was it a moment of grief? i don't know. she's still my best friend and we've know each other since first grade.
ryan's mom
hmm, I always come back to the "rotato" (think apple peeler, corer contraption but for a potato) that my dad gave me one year for Christmas. He is so dear, but I thought it was a gag gift and gave it back to him the next year.....BBBAAAAAAAAAADDDDDD idea! His feelings got hurt and I felt horrible!
Reading our blog and seeing the transformation of the mossy shed is very inspirational. Keep posting pictures.
I've come over from Heidi's blog to see the miracle gift, "the great Panini"! :-) I would have been happy with a Panini maker (althought they weren't making them when I got the gift of all loser gifts) the year that my husband bought me a garbage can. Yep, that's right - nice white can with a flip-top lid in a big box and wrapped up really pretty. I was sure it was the Dremo tablesaw that I had asked for so I could make miniature furniture. Whoa, imagine my not-so-pleasant look when I opened the box! He thought the whole thing was very funny and, granted he did give me a couple of other small gifts but what they were I don't remember. They were "eclipsed" by the thoughtfullness of the new garbage can. Guess what I got for Christmas the next year? That's right - the little table saw. :-) I've also received a TV for my birthday and a few other gems, but not all gifts were zingers - sometimes he really "hit the mark" so he gets an 8 out of 10 for gift-giving. And he will shop in foreign countries when he travels, although not here in the US. Go figure. Lovely blog you have!!!
One year, for my birthday I got a card with a $20 bill in it - from my husband. And then there was the Valentines Day's I got 2 new toilet seats. I know - I'm an ungrateful bitch. We are no longer married so now I get whatever I want. Spoiled brat that I am.
I have the ongoing mother in law presents. As a very old fashioned Greek lady I'm sure she had very different ideas of the sort of daughters in law she would get. She started giving us old bits and bobs from her linen stash and while some of it is beautiful Greek traditional embroidery that I love, some of it is quite hideous other stuff she has picked up over the years ready to give to her son's wives. My two favourite worst ones would be the massive heavy burgundy velvet table cloth with fringes around the edge that would fit no table I possess and the even more spectacular white satin lacey bedspread with the blow up lacey cushion to match! The cat had heaps of fun with that! And everything is lovingly stored in moth balls so it comes smelling extra nice too. Bless her!
I hate getting clothing gifts. They may not fit right or I just don't like them. Dad used to send me clothes, BLAH!!
My MIL too is a terrible gift giver. She only buys things on sale or at the dollar store. I am into scrapbooking, so for two years in a row she bought me photo boxes. Empty boxes, Merry Christmas. :( I've also received the rotating hair brush and a little pot thingy that heats water. (???) But the best (or would it be worst?) was at my wedding shower. I had registered and chosen at that time very neutral/light colors for our master bedroom. I had to open and pretend to enjoy a burgundy satin comforter set. Oh! And lest I forget - there was a bird t-shirt that was cut at the bottom into FRINGE. O_o
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