What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Received?

[iLander]

Another effort to cheer this board up! I am trying my darnest to be happy, and I am taking you all with me!

Oddest gift I ever got was a wedding present; it was a ginormous spoon. It stretched from my elbow to the tips of my fingers and it was silver plate. Years later, somebody said it must have been a "stuffing spoon". They make a spoon just for stuffing things?

We put it out in various yard sales over the years, and someone finally bought it for a quarter.

They said they were going to use it for a wedding gift . . .

 

[junebug17]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Let's see...the only thing I can think of right now are these Santa figures that my bil gave my husband. My husband collects Santas, so my bil gave him a "mooning" santa that spins around and well, moons you. And he says something stupid, I forget what. He also gave him a Santa on a motorcycle that sings some silly song. I don't even know if these count, they're sort of gag gifts I guess. They're both pretty tacky, but my family gets a kick out of them. Except my mother, she never appreciated the mooning Santa!

 

[Imdanny]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

No doubt it was the "Murky Dismal" doll. My first year in college I had a hard time adjusting and I guess when I talked to my mother she got a really negative vibe. So she sends me this doll, looked kind of like a Cabbage Patch kid, in a cardboard box with plastic in the front. It was named "Murky Dismal." I asked her why on earth she sent that to me (in so many words) and she said that seemed to be my mood. It was the oddest, strangest, and (I guess) funniest gift I've received. Luckily she hasn't send me anything like that since.

Edited to add: here's a picture of the Murky Dismal doll. It's ugly. You've been warned.

http://www.ioffer.com/i/Rainbow-Brite-MURKY-DISMAL-DOLL-1983-MISB-82621646

 

[sillyberry]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

On our first Christmas together my then-boyfriend gave me a carbon monoxide detector (apparently a top-of-the-line one!). He said he didn't want me to die, but I think it was just lying around his house and he thought he might as well give it to me.

The funniest part is that all the guys I know think it was a perfectly reasonable gift and all the girls think it is AWFUL.

 

[emilyalyse]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Do White Elephant gifts count?

There is a cow tongue that has been going around in my family for no less than 8 years.

 

[Circe]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

I think it's a tie between a gift from my MIL, and a gift from my parents.

The MIL gift is a skirt that we saw when we were out together. She spotted it, and gasped in delight, and said, "It's so YOU! You must let me buy it for you! Now I won't have to worry about Christmas!"

Ladies, this skirt is ... well. It's full, ankle-length, purple satin overlaid with black tulle spotted with red velvet polka dots. It would be awesome if I were a Pirate Queen, but for day-to-day life (even for me)? It's, ah, a bit much. But, hey, her heart was in the right place (even if I am now a little terrified of what represents her mental image of me).

My parents? Sort of on the same page. For my Ph.D. graduation, my dad decided to have a ring made up for me out of some stones we had sitting around. 7 carat trillion paraiba tourmaline surrounded by smaller indictolites and a single alexandrite. I KNEW it was a lot of rock to put together, so I talked to him and my jeweler carefully, emphasizing that it would be good to space the stones closely to minimize mass, bezels to protect the stones, maybe a sort of antique-y look ....

Yeah, no. It's prong set, and HUGE. It looks like the Princess Di ring, when it goes to a mod disco. It is the complete opposite of what I described, and it was given with the best of intentions, but GOOD LORD.

My best friend tried to make it better by telling me it was a peacock ring (but my best friend also in all seriousness offered to take that skirt off my hands, so I'm thinking she's either trying really hard to make me feel better about this stuff, or maybe they've mixed the two of us up in gift-getting: hey, it could happen, we're very similar). And that's all I got! Good intentions gone ... somewhat awry.

 

[junebug17]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

On our first Christmas together my then-boyfriend gave me a carbon monoxide detector (apparently a top-of-the-line one!). He said he didn't want me to die, but I think it was just lying around his house and he thought he might as well give it to me.

The funniest part is that all the guys I know think it was a perfectly reasonable gift and all the girls think it is AWFUL.

 

[Autumnovember]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

I don't know if this counts but here we go:

I received flowers from a guy at work (while I was at work) that was apparently liked me a lot. Initially, I thought they were from SO but when he told me it wasn't I felt really weird. I remember asking EVERY SINGLE guy friend if he had sent me the flowers as a joke and I even went as far as asking ex boyfriends. Nope, nothing. I even asked the guy who DID send them (I didn't know yet) and even HE denied it. Finally, several hours later he admitted it to me and I thanked him but politely reminded him that I was in a serious relationship. Dude couldn't take no for an answer and persisted that he knew that I felt the same strong connection between us as he had (uhhhhhhh..... ). He also told me how he knew we would be together someday . That was by far the weirdest gift I got because it MADE me feel so weird. I was afraid to go to bed that night, haha!

 

[Autumnovember]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

No doubt it was the "Murky Dismal" doll. My first year in college I had a hard time adjusting and I guess when I talked to my mother she got a really negative vibe. So she sends me this doll, looked kind of like a Cabbage Patch kid, in a cardboard box with plastic in the front. It was named "Murky Dismal." I asked her why on earth she sent that to me (in so many words) and she said that seemed to be my mood. It was the oddest, strangest, and (I guess) funniest gift I've received. Luckily she hasn't send me anything like that since.

Edited to add: here's a picture of the Murky Dismal doll. It's ugly. You've been warned.

http://www.ioffer.com/i/Rainbow-Brite-MURKY-DISMAL-DOLL-1983-MISB-82621646

This made me LOL, literally

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

My dad and I always say that my mom can pinch a penny until it squeels. A name brand Sunggie is $14.99 the generic brand is $9.99. Of course she wanted to save $5 and went with the generic brand. There's too little material and I can't close it over my chest This isn't Christmas but two years ago for my birthday we were in hastings and I saw a CD on clearance for 99cents that looked interesting. My mom took it out of my hand and put it with her stuff. I figured fine, if she wants to pay for it then go ahead. She paid for it, pulled it out of her bag, handed it back to me and said Happy Birthday

 

[yssie]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

No doubt it was the "Murky Dismal" doll. My first year in college I had a hard time adjusting and I guess when I talked to my mother she got a really negative vibe. So she sends me this doll, looked kind of like a Cabbage Patch kid, in a cardboard box with plastic in the front. It was named "Murky Dismal." I asked her why on earth she sent that to me (in so many words) and she said that seemed to be my mood. It was the oddest, strangest, and (I guess) funniest gift I've received. Luckily she hasn't send me anything like that since.

Edited to add: here's a picture of the Murky Dismal doll. It's ugly. You've been warned.

http://www.ioffer.com/i/Rainbow-Brite-MURKY-DISMAL-DOLL-1983-MISB-82621646

This made me LOL, literally

I just snorted my clam chowder

 

[yssie]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Circe - I think we ought to get pics of this ring

 

[diamondringlover]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Gosh reading some of these reponses reminded of the worst gift ever, it was Valentines day and my then boyfriend bought me a muffler for my car, yes you read correctly a muffler for my car for Valentines day....lol, now I did need the muffler but still I could have got that myself, he always gave very practical gifts he drove me batty, guess thats why we finally broke up that and the cheating he was doing lol

 

[tyty333]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

SparklyBlond, the 99 cent CD birthday gift gave me a good laugh!

Not really weird or anything but the gift that I always think about as far as bad gifts go was the TV stand my BF gave
me for xmas one year. Talk about way too pratical...and to think I spent about $250 (got him a nice watch) on him and the
stand was maybe $50. I think he was trying to tell me something.

 

[megumic]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

tupperware. wtf. that is so not a gift.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Another effort to cheer this board up! I am trying my darnest to be happy, and I am taking you all with me!

Oddest gift I ever got was a wedding present; it was a ginormous spoon. It stretched from my elbow to the tips of my fingers and it was silver plate. Years later, somebody said it must have been a "stuffing spoon". They make a spoon just for stuffing things?

We put it out in various yard sales over the years, and someone finally bought it for a quarter.

They said they were going to use it for a wedding gift . . .

Yup, sounds like a stuffing spoon. Not for putting in stuffing, but for getting it out, while serving at the table. It is suposed to be a symbol of hospitality. Tell me, did it have a pineapple engraved on the handle as well?

Circe - you know we need to see a picture of that ring. We demand to see a picture, in fact! *pouts*

My weirdest gift - my father gave me a thingy to make caipirinhas in, similar to a mortar and pestle. I don't drink. My friends rarely drink. We don't do mixed drinks. Why would I want one? "So you can make me caipirinhas when I visit" was his explanation. Agh! Well, I use it for grinding spices. If he wants a drink when he visits, it is going to taste mildly of coriander, cinnanom and cardamon (and he better bring the cachaça and limes as well).

 

[blueiris]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

I'm cracking up at some of these, especially the Murky Dismal doll and the $.99 "Happy Birthday" CD!

My mom always did the shopping for us, and that continued as we became adults. When I'd thank my dad for the gift from them, he'd always say with a smile, "What did I get you?"

One year my mom was out of town on my birthday and so just my dad came over for dinner and cake. He showed up with a gift for me, and that in itself was a surprise. Inside a Barnes and Noble shopping bag were five books, all unwrapped (he hated the "waste" of wrapping paper). All were from the bargain books table, and still had their bargain price stickers on them. None of that bothered me in the least, of course, but as I took each book out and looked at it, the title of one book surprised me. It was a book of case studies ... about divorce! At that time, I'd been married around 23 years. My husband saw the title and laughingly asked if that was a hint. My dad hated to shop and avoided it whenever possible, so I honestly think he just ran into the store and grabbed five books without even looking at the titles. I was truly touched that he'd taken the trouble - and that book on divorce went in a big pile of books I donated to the library.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

There is only one gift that stands out - and it has for almost 20 years now... it's THE white elephant gift... for us anyway.

As a wedding gift we got a wall decoration from a relative who got it from one of those tupperware style home decoration book party type things.... and it had two components: First, it had a molded gold plastic cut out of the last supper - the frame and table and all the people were one solid piece of gold plastic. Second, it had a mirrored background. Hideous. We aren't even Christian. But if I was, I'd be offended! lol I think I'd rather have velvet elvis, seriously. Or maybe a velvet painting of kitties with big eyes or something... or better yet, how about just the mirror

 

[radiantquest]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

My worst gift is mild in comparisson. Dh and I are terrible at buying gifts for each other. We are always way off. The worst gift he gave me was towels. Now not only are these not really for me, but they are water repellant. As in it just smears the the water across your skin. Luckily we are able to laugh about the awful gifts that we give to each other.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

No doubt it was the "Murky Dismal" doll. My first year in college I had a hard time adjusting and I guess when I talked to my mother she got a really negative vibe. So she sends me this doll, looked kind of like a Cabbage Patch kid, in a cardboard box with plastic in the front. It was named "Murky Dismal." I asked her why on earth she sent that to me (in so many words) and she said that seemed to be my mood. It was the oddest, strangest, and (I guess) funniest gift I've received. Luckily she hasn't send me anything like that since.

Edited to add: here's a picture of the Murky Dismal doll. It's ugly. You've been warned.

http://www.ioffer.com/i/Rainbow-Brite-MURKY-DISMAL-DOLL-1983-MISB-82621646

OMG it's Murky from Rainbow Brite! That is the best gift EVER! If you don't want it, I'd be happy to take it off your hands

ETA: Seriously. Rainbow Brite of any shape or form makes me smile - it was my favorite as a child.

 

[anchor31]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

I love all yours! The doll is pretty funny.

I'm not a decorative... anything, kind of person. I don't like figurines, candles or anything of the sort. When DH and I got married, we had a perfectly good registry with *practical* items to fit any and all budgets... DH's cousin got us an ugly-looking candle holder. It's a huge piece you have to screw to the wall. We've moved twice since and we still haven't put it up. When I see it in the garage, I still go "wth was she thinking?".

 

[Jessie702]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Wow....some of these made me laugh so hard. The .99 CD...lol...Ive never really recieved an odd gift, but for christmas one year, a friend of mine, gave my other friend 1 brown towel. Not a set, and not like a beach towel, but 1 brown towel. He firgured since he had gotten a set of towels, he might as well break them up, and give everyone a gift.

 

[Tanzigrrl]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Fake vomit.

Really.

I was 16 years old and my then boyfriend got me 1) fake vomit 2) a ruby and diamond band (that I still wear today, tee hee) for the same Christmas! So, how did he simultaneously get it "so wrong" and "so right."

 

[Prana]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

On our first Christmas together my then-boyfriend gave me a carbon monoxide detector (apparently a top-of-the-line one!). He said he didn't want me to die, but I think it was just lying around his house and he thought he might as well give it to me.

The funniest part is that all the guys I know think it was a perfectly reasonable gift and all the girls think it is AWFUL.

This is hilarious. Because you know he probably thought it was a great gift that he probably put a lot of thought into.

 

[Prana]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

My MIL was on a QVC gift buying kick several years ago for a year or two. She would get so excited to find things on QVC and buy them for us. Well, one year, she decided that me and her two daughters would really like an entire box full of those non slip coat hangers. She made us all open them at the same time. There was complete silence, awkward sideways glances, crickets chirping...the whole 9 yards. None of us knew how to react because we didn't know if it was a joke or not. Needless to say, she stopped shopping at QVC after that.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Ok, I love those hangers! I have a whole closet full of them, although not the ones from QVC. I don't think I would give them as a
christmas present but I have bought some at costco for my daughter.

Years ago, when we were married about 10 years, my hubby had a side business as a painting contractor. One time he was throwing
something away in a dumpster and he caught sight of a painted santa brick. He thought, 'my wife would love this' so he climbed in
and got it for me. My dumpster diving hubby. Well, he was right, I did love it. The kids love it, and the story as well. I think it
will be the thing they each want after we are gone. I think whoever painted it had some talent. I love that the man loves me so
much he will climb into a dirty dumpster to get something for me. True love. Here is a photo. It sits by our fireplace every year, in
every house we have owned.

 

[zipzapgirl]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

The year before last I ended up with a gift from the Chinese Gift Exchange that was hideous. It was a Homer Simpson bottle opener that made burping sounds when used.

 

[mayachel]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

The second or third year my husband (then boyfriend)and I were dating, his grandmother handed out gifts around the dinner table. My sil received a lovely heirloom piece of jewelery, my husband received something of his grandfather's...and my gift? In a perfectly lovely velvet jewelery pouch, I reached in to pull out a strand of plastic pearls...not costume jewelery per se, but PLASTIC like, out of a gumball machine, molded to the thread plastic pearl necklace.

I was convinced she hated me.

I now feel confident she cares quite a bit for me...still have no idea what that gift was. DH assured me that he thinks she didn't realize what it was and would never ask about it again. So I've stuffed it in the back of my jewelery box as a good laugh every now and again.

 

[sillyberry]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

On our first Christmas together my then-boyfriend gave me a carbon monoxide detector (apparently a top-of-the-line one!). He said he didn't want me to die, but I think it was just lying around his house and he thought he might as well give it to me.

The funniest part is that all the guys I know think it was a perfectly reasonable gift and all the girls think it is AWFUL.

This is hilarious. Because you know he probably thought it was a great gift that he probably put a lot of thought into.

I should probably clarify that then-boyfriend is now-fiancé. And indeed he still thinks it was awesome. It's become a very long-running joke - whenever I'm mad at him I yell "and you got me a carbon monoxide detector for Christmas!"

 

[BoulderGal]

Re: What's the Oddest, Strangest, Funniest Gift You've Recei

Do White Elephant gifts count?

There is a cow tongue that has been going around in my family for no less than 8 years.

We have a concert DVD of the early 90's German heavy metal band Rammstein as the recurring christmas gift. I started it by giving it to my brother. It's truly horrible!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLp63WBV-Ic

Sorry if I've burned your mind's eye with that!

BoulderGal