i have a cousin that is known for bad gifts. and when i say bad gifts, i mean BAD (we're talking "pinto beans for birthdays").
well, she gave my aunt a spoon for CHRISTmas once, and a spatula to another aunt. not a spoon set or spatula set, but a spoon independent of a fork and knife, and
A spatula!
for a family gift, she gave us (we are a family of 5) a dish towel with "NOEL" knitted on it.
she has grandbabies, so we bought them a gift. when we brought it to her house, i guess she felt guilty and was compelled to give us something. she gave my mother a votive candle (just 1), and she gave me, my sister and my brother a game. now, number 1, i was 19, so my sister was 23 and my brother was 15. this game was a little mermaid board game designed for 3 year olds. the game had been opened and played. it had cut-out pieces, that had been, yep, cut out already. but, she did throw in a chuck-e-cheese's pen!
and, i know we are talking about CHRISTmas gifts, but i have to tell you what this same cousin bought another one of my cousins for graduation. graduations are a big thing in our family (maybe because so many people don't and didn't go to college), so we give good gifts. the cousin who was graduating was making an attempt at college (she did 1 year), so we were buying her things like luggage, a trunk, etc. well, when she came to ms. bad-gift's present, we all sat at attention, waiting for a new story to tell--we were not disappointed. she gave her a box of kleenex and a puff-paint shirt that she had on the day before and that she wore in her vacation pictures she showed us. she told my cousin, "you said you liked the shirt, so i decided to give it to you." by the by, she didn't like the shirt. she was just being nice.