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Oh you shouldnt have! No really you shouldn have!! - Page 3

post #41 of 84
12/28/07 at 12:33am
This thread has me cracking up!
I usually get pretty good gifts, but this year I got one of those "Wuh??" gifts.

The gift: a HUGE box of, umm - chickens. There was a small stuffed chicken that squawks when you press its belly, a big plastic chicken planter, a casserole dish thingy that looks like a nest - the lid, of course, is a hen - plus a chicken board book (the kind a baby would love), a farm pamphlet on chickens, 4 plastic eggs full of silly putty, and a big plaster rooster.

Your reaction: Uh - ok. Ha ha ha??? Uh - thanks???

You see, I have been thinking about getting a few chickens for fresh eggs. I mistakenly mentioned it to my family and they think it was a fanastic joke, thus the box of chicken stuff that my aunt, mother, and grandma put together for me. Yeah. Everyone thought it was hysterical. But me!

It will go great in the:
--in the good will pickup this Friday - well, except for the farm pamphlet because that may actually be useful!

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post #42 of 84
12/28/07 at 12:53am
Great idea, but I want to see pictures!
The gift: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...C/DSC04973.jpg A piece of wood shaped like a sled 1 foot by 1 foot with 2 rows of hooks on it. It came with a tag "For women who love Lia Sophia jewelry or other jewelry." It is supposed to hold necklaces but it looks like a key hook. Btw, his wife loves Lia Sophia and owns almost the enitre catalog. The jewelry is fairly expensive for being so poorly made. He stained them all the color that his wife likes and made one for her, each of his step-daughters and me. He told me I am supposed to hang it on the wall in my bedroom.

Your reaction fil. How clever! His wife must have felt the same way, because she hung hers in the closet.

It will go great in the:
Hallway to hang our keys.

The gift: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...C/DSC04975.jpg A doll bed I commissioned fil to make. I gave him a picture with the dimensions, thinking he couldn't screw it up. I was wrong. The bed was beautiful, just like the picture except that her woodburned dd's name and the word baby into it. Along with a garish heart. They also bought a hideous baby, that came with a polyester pillow, blanket, disposable diaper and bottle. As soon as dd opened the present, fil's wife took the doll out of the box so it couldn't be returned and we found out it smelled like baby powder. DD, not having used a bottle, said that it was baby medicine. I told fil's wife that we didn't want anymore babies, just the bed but she didn't listen.

Your reaction: Oh thank you (trying to cover up the fact that I was horrified) He smiled and said he has to make one for our other dd now, because he put dd1's name on it.

It will go great in the:
I wish I could sand out the uglies, but I will make a fluffy matress out of muslin and a pillow and hope that it covers it up. I am also going to make a quilt for it.
post #43 of 84
12/28/07 at 2:30am
My problem is the gifts my girls gave me. I'm horrible I know, but how many scarves can a mama own. There is one that is hand knit and I wonder if the person who knit it was color blind and had lost all sense of feeling in her hands. I don't wear decorative pins or use bath sponges. In the kids' defense though, they did give me some nice stuff too.

From my sort of MIL, I got a book that I'll never read. It's called "the Christmas Blessing"

There were a few toys we were given that didn't get put under the tree. I kept them out because we live in an 800 sq ft place and don't need oodles and oodles of toys. I plan on shipping them to a family on the Holiday Helper list.
post #44 of 84
12/28/07 at 5:08am
The gift: A George Foreman Rotisserie

Reaction to the IL's: Oh cool, we always wanted one!

The reality: We don't have room for it since it's huge, we won't use it as it's impractical and it will probably sit in the basement until one of us figures we should try it out!! Maybe I should justbox it up and attempt to regift it. I wonder if anyone is getting married this year....
post #45 of 84
12/28/07 at 10:54am
Too bad you guys aren't near by, we have a regifting party every year after christmas where people bring their unwanted gifts and exchange them. There have been some doozies people have gotten!
post #46 of 84
12/28/07 at 10:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cloudswinger View Post
Too bad you guys aren't near by, we have a regifting party every year after christmas where people bring their unwanted gifts and exchange them. There have been some doozies people have gotten!
Now that sounds like total fun!


Here is mine:

Very nice corkscrew and bottle opener.

Received by dh, who has been sober for about half a year now.

Checking into ebay.
post #47 of 84
12/28/07 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gridley13 View Post
Now that sounds like total fun!


Here is mine:

Very nice corkscrew and bottle opener.

Received by dh, who has been sober for about half a year now.

Checking into ebay.
Oh no! He surely didn't need to be given that. I can't even imagine how that made him feel. Give him a hug for me and tell him congrats on his recovery time!
post #48 of 84
12/28/07 at 6:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamaveggie View Post
The gift: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...C/DSC04975.jpg A doll bed I commissioned fil to make. I gave him a picture with the dimensions, thinking he couldn't screw it up. I was wrong. The bed was beautiful, just like the picture except that her woodburned dd's name and the word baby into it. Along with a garish heart. They also bought a hideous baby, that came with a polyester pillow, blanket, disposable diaper and bottle. As soon as dd opened the present, fil's wife took the doll out of the box so it couldn't be returned and we found out it smelled like baby powder. DD, not having used a bottle, said that it was baby medicine. I told fil's wife that we didn't want anymore babies, just the bed but she didn't listen.

Your reaction: Oh thank you (trying to cover up the fact that I was horrified) He smiled and said he has to make one for our other dd now, because he put dd1's name on it.
t.
That's a lovely doll bed! I'm not sure what the problem is with including your DD's name...that seems like a nice, thoughtful touch. The plastic baby was probably bought by his wife to enhance the gift. Hard to say no thanks without seeming really ungracious.
post #49 of 84
12/29/07 at 4:29am

The Classic. . .

These have all been too funny!

This year, we got the classic gift. . .a fruitcake! My aunt and uncle sent it, and they sent the same thing a few years back. Ugh.

Even better was the HUGE box of various sausages and cheeses from Fijis. OMG, I had to hide the box before my 4 y.o. saw it. She'd surely want to sample it. :

One day when DD was at preschool, I took the food items and gave them to a needy man that I've often seen in a nearby city. After giving them away, I felt guilty for giving someone else this horrible, processed food.

Now, I'm just trying to figure out a way to end the exchange. Actually, we did not send said aunt and uncle a gift this year. DH thinks this will "cure" our exchange problem.
post #50 of 84
12/29/07 at 8:04am
mamaveggie, that doll bed is sooo nice! I don't think the heart is garish at all.
post #51 of 84
12/29/07 at 10:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaRabbit View Post
mamaveggie, that doll bed is sooo nice! I don't think the heart is garish at all.
I agree. It is really adorable, and the personalization makes it even more special.
post #52 of 84
12/29/07 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mamaveggie View Post

The gift: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f8...C/DSC04975.jpg A doll bed I commissioned fil to make. I gave him a picture with the dimensions, thinking he couldn't screw it up. I was wrong. The bed was beautiful, just like the picture except that her woodburned dd's name and the word baby into it. Along with a garish heart. They also bought a hideous baby, that came with a polyester pillow, blanket, disposable diaper and bottle. As soon as dd opened the present, fil's wife took the doll out of the box so it couldn't be returned and we found out it smelled like baby powder. DD, not having used a bottle, said that it was baby medicine. I told fil's wife that we didn't want anymore babies, just the bed but she didn't listen.

Your reaction: Oh thank you (trying to cover up the fact that I was horrified) He smiled and said he has to make one for our other dd now, because he put dd1's name on it.

It will go great in the:
I wish I could sand out the uglies, but I will make a fluffy matress out of muslin and a pillow and hope that it covers it up. I am also going to make a quilt for it.
I can see what you mean about the name. For one your other daughter can't use it (or can but it has her sisters name on it) so now you have to have TWO and it can't be passed on to anyone else since it has a name on it. Well, unless you find another Lucy. Anyway, I still think its a very nice gift, much better than many.
post #53 of 84
12/29/07 at 10:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwylde View Post
The gift: A George Foreman Rotisserie

Reaction to the IL's: Oh cool, we always wanted one!

The reality: We don't have room for it since it's huge, we won't use it as it's impractical and it will probably sit in the basement until one of us figures we should try it out!! Maybe I should justbox it up and attempt to regift it. I wonder if anyone is getting married this year....
I decided to just tell the IL's (because DH is too much of a wimp) that although it's a great gift, we would like to exchange it for a rice/vegetable steamer, which is much more practical for us. DH is worried about hurt feelings but I think his mom would rather have something we would actually use.
post #54 of 84
12/29/07 at 11:08am
The Gifts- Power Rangers for the boys, to which Nana says " I know, I know, you guys hate plastic or what ever, but I just knew the boys would love them, I couldn't help myself.... Me- "Boys, if for any reason I lay eyes on those things out of your room, they are so gone!!! Remember the "turtle incident!" TMNT

Pink really fuzzy "ballet" slippers for me, "Well..." Already at St. Vinny's, thank you dh!

Mega hot drink pumper for a whole pot of tea from dh, He scored huge points for this, did him a little "favor" under the tree just to let him know how much I LOVE it

Mom knitted me a wrap/ shawl in my fav. color, SCORE! She also made 54 cloth napkins in red'ish patterns for meals, again SCORE!!! Why so many??? Love 'em!

GAVE me brother and SIL kids a big box from a Waldorfy store. They own mountains of C--P but wonderful niece says she loves my gifts best

Did pretty good this year!!!!! But the Playmobile is comming out our ears
post #55 of 84
12/29/07 at 1:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zersha View Post
I actually heard it's a good idea to do this so the poor kids don't have to be sitting there on Christmas while mom & dad spend hours trying to get the darn toy out of all the packaging & can just play with it right away. Maybe she heard this too and is just trying to help??? Not actually trying to force you to keep it.
I agree with zersha...IMO Fisher Price is the devil when it comes to packaging....we literally have a small pair of wire snips to open gifts...btw we returned over $125 of toys to walmart...I think dd will use it to get an mp3 player
Oh I have removed clothing tags before gifting if they are covered in clearance tags
post #56 of 84
12/29/07 at 2:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wife&mommy View Post
I can see what you mean about the name. For one your other daughter can't use it (or can but it has her sisters name on it) so now you have to have TWO and it can't be passed on to anyone else since it has a name on it. Well, unless you find another Lucy. Anyway, I still think its a very nice gift, much better than many.
You got it. I feel like my daughters will feel obligated to keep them, even if they don't like them when they are older because they are personalized. Initially I asked him to build it so we would have one and we could keep it with us if our daughter didn't want to take it with her years from now. Passing on the clutter you know.
post #57 of 84
12/29/07 at 2:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bwylde View Post
The gift: A George Foreman Rotisserie

Reaction to the IL's: Oh cool, we always wanted one!

The reality: We don't have room for it since it's huge, we won't use it as it's impractical and it will probably sit in the basement until one of us figures we should try it out!! Maybe I should justbox it up and attempt to regift it. I wonder if anyone is getting married this year....
Oooh, we have a rotisserie and we love it!! We use it weekly, I used to roast chicken but this gives it incredible tenderness and flavor.

The gift: My Mom sent me some utensils...and i'm not quite sure what they are. She said something about cheese knives? I didn't know cheese required it's own knives? She was really proud of the brand too, I assume I should know of it but I don't. I'm too embarrassed to regift it since I don't really know what it is so I might try ebay
post #58 of 84
12/29/07 at 2:47pm
Ok, love this thread!

post #59 of 84
12/29/07 at 10:48pm
The presents keep arriving. A friend in Germany sent our sons Christmas presents which arrived today. Wack-a-mole in german. It yells and sings in german. We are clueless at how you play, all instructions are in german. It lights up too. The kids like it but get frustrated because you cannot tell if someone wins or if you even hit a mole right. Then a horse that is standing on 2 legs. When you squeeze his hand he jiggles and plays this really long 2 minute instrumental song. Its kind of odd. I expected a child song or horsey song or even some german singing. The funny thing is my 2 yr old thinks its great and dances with it. When we first pressed play we were all kind of like : because it is so odd.
post #60 of 84
12/30/07 at 11:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lucyem View Post
T We are clueless at how you play, all instructions are in german. It lights up too. The kids like it but get frustrated because you cannot tell if someone wins or if you even hit a mole right.
I´m German- if you need a translation, let me know.

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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Decluttering, Organizing, & Simplifying › Oh you shouldnt have! No really you shouldn have!!