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What do you NOT Want for Christmas?

Messages
13,468
Location
Orange County, CA
I hate to do this to my grandmother but....


no more "priceless collectibles," please. Just because it says collectible under it doesn't make it so.

Sounds like she got it on Home Shopping Network. My mom was addicted to HSN. She would order tons of clothes, jewelry, bags and other stuff that she never used. After she died I found much of it still in the original boxes along with the receipt or invoice.
 

Retro_GI_Jane

One of the Regulars
Messages
289
Location
Midwest US
Appliances. We have gotten toasters, waffle irons, and I think it was a burrito maker over the past few years. And they were all from Wal-Mart. People, use some imagination please. What will we get for next year, light bulbs and toilet paper?? :eusa_clap

At least you can use the bulbs and toilet paper on a regular basis? lol

My husband is a chef and loves his kitchen gadets...unfortunately they seem to be overtaking the cupboards...I mean honestly, how many ways can you use a grilled cheese maker? ;)
 

C-dot

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,908
Location
Toronto, Canada
Soap.

All my life, people have bought me scented, coloured, foamy, flower shaped, or otherwise whimsical soaps. Some of them I have enjoyed, many of them I have never opened and gave away. Still others I have tried and hated (though the thought was nice). As it stands, I have so many I couldn't possibly use them all. So please, if I am on your Christmas list and you are wondering what to give me, spare me the soap!
 
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Cricket

Practically Family
Messages
520
Location
Mississippi
Sounds like she got it on Home Shopping Network. My mom was addicted to HSN. She would order tons of clothes, jewelry, bags and other stuff that she never used. After she died I found much of it still in the original boxes along with the receipt or invoice.

My grandmother also keeps items in their boxes but leaves them out in the living room so that you can notice them. She doesn't think enough of them to remove them from their packaging and to display them proudly. But she still wants you to see what she has because she adjusts the box so that the picture shows to all who visit.

Priceless and another funny moment to share with others. :)
 

rue

Messages
13,319
Location
California native living in Arizona.
Soap.

All my life, people have bought me scented, coloured, foamy, flower shaped, or otherwise whimsical soaps. Some of them I have enjoyed, many of them I have never opened and gave away. Still others I have tried and hated (though the thought was nice). As it stands, I have so many I couldn't possibly use them all. So please, if I am on your Christmas list and you are wondering what to give me, spare me the soap!

No soap for you!

Says the soap nazi :p
 

Dubya

One of the Regulars
Messages
220
Location
Kent, England
I once got an empty Action Man (G.I. Joe) box for christmas.

My dad told me it was a deserter :rolleyes:



..................I'll get me coat!
 

Sam Diamond

Familiar Face
Messages
98
Location
N California
I'm right there with cheap art supplies and cheap tools. Especially those tools designed to have many purposes and don't do any of them well. I tend to get a lot of those for stocking stuffers. The family pretty much knows not to get me art supplies, I'd rather buy my own.
 
Messages
13,468
Location
Orange County, CA
That always baffles me how family members, of whom you would think would be intimately familiar with your tastes, likes & dislikes, and interests, always manage to muddle it when it comes to Christmas gifts.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,763
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
That's what happens when gifts are given purely out of obligation rather than out of a sincere sense of actually wanting to give a gift. That's my biggest gripe about the whole holiday season -- it's shoved down our gullets as something we HAVE to do instead of something we WANT to do. Bah humbug.

Oh, and if I'm given more As Seen On TV product bought from an endcap display at the discount drugstore on the morning of Christmas Eve, I shall surely scream. (If by some chance my sister ever sees this, yes I'm TALKING TO YOU.)
 
Messages
10,939
Location
My mother's basement
That's what happens when gifts are given purely out of obligation rather than out of a sincere sense of actually wanting to give a gift. That's my biggest gripe about the whole holiday season -- it's shoved down our gullets as something we HAVE to do instead of something we WANT to do. Bah humbug.

Oh, and if I'm given more As Seen On TV product bought from an endcap display at the discount drugstore on the morning of Christmas Eve, I shall surely scream. (If by some chance my sister ever sees this, yes I'm TALKING TO YOU.)

No foolin'. I did myself and my birth family a big favor many years ago when I said, essentially, "Enough with the obligatory gift-giving, please. We're spending money and time for which we all have much better uses than shopping for gifts for each other, gifts that will be forgotten before they find their way to our respective homes." I added something like, "Quick, tell me what I got for you last Christmas, and vice-versa. Can't say, right?"

As to the "As Seen on TV" stuff ...

As a gag I once bought for my brother (and another one for myself) a cheap Chinese-made wall clock with a cheesy rendition of the Last Supper on its face. It played a very tinny Hallelujah Chorus at the top of the hour. Icing on the cake was a graphic on the box, in the shape of an old-fashioned TV screen, reading "Similar to Items Seen on TV." (It just doesn't get much cheesier.) I had the folks in the art department at a newspaper I was editing at the time scan that graphic and use it as a bug for our police blotter column.
 
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rue

Messages
13,319
Location
California native living in Arizona.
We did the basically same thing in our family. No more presents for the adults. The kids get gifts and that's it. Well, except for my mom, but that's a silly contest between me and my brother to see who can get her to be sentimental over her present. I always win :D
 
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Gregg Axley

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,125
Location
Tennessee
That's funny because most of the "As Seen on TV" products I've NEVER seen on TV! lol
You don't watch enough of it...
I agree Lizzy, although some of them do work.
This just tells you that someone spent less than $20 dollars on you.
For me? A long day with the family.
In fact last year we had 75% of the day to ourselves (wife and I) so we made a nice lunch, watched a few Christmas movies, and just enjoyed the day.
 
Messages
10,883
Location
Portage, Wis.
That's what drives me nuts about this time of year. I've only got four people to buy for: my parents, and my brother, and sister. The four hardest people on earth to shop for. I've still got no clue what to get them.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,082
Location
London, UK
I usually don't have a problem, but this year I'm lost. I could happily go to sleep now and not wake up til January.
 

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