MIL is the biggest supporter of all MLM home party things. One year I received 7 different Thirty-one items. She's never been to a Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef or Scentsy party and left without buying a crap load of stuff. Sometimes those items are useful, and sometimes she buys you a bucket of margarita mix while you're pregnant!
However our "angel nightlight" has to be this clock she bought us. It was about 8x10 and made of shiny blue plastic and had one of those stick on clock kits. It had some sort of nature scene. DH & I always joked about where we would display this clock. We eventually sold it to a neighbor (who collects clocks and has them all over his garage) at a garage sale for $.50. MIL asked about it once and DH just said he hadn't seen it for a while.
I guess the second runner up would have to be this clear prism with a bride & groom etched on the inside. It came with a little battery operated stand that lights up and changes colors. That became a gag gift whenever a teacher at my old school would get engaged. The prism would appear on your desk after announcing your engagement.
My step-MIL a few Christmases ago got me a long-sleeve white lace nightgown. It's similar to this. WTF, does she think I'm a virgin Amish farmer's daughter?! I threw it out.
I would love this.
I doubt it LOL. It was a super cheap, stiff, scratchy, almost curtain-like fabric. So bizarre. I even tried washing it with fabric softener (which I don't normally use) and nope, still terrible.
you know those plates that every grandmother has hanging on their wall, with little kids in some idyllic setting? Yeah, SIL gave us 4 of those suckers.
You mean Hummel plates? They are very $$$$ (says the woman who will have to sort through my mom's collection). Sell them on eBay, you will probably get $100 apiece for them if they are the right years.
They buy the kids whatever light up, as seen on TV toy that comes out each Christmas. One for each, even the newborns. She is also the person who buys slippeez in mass quantities. Thankfully we are given cash.
I think it's hysterical that my mom, who is a good gift giver, willingly buys herself so many of the things that have been mentioned in this thread. Long flannel nightgowns? Check. Decorative plates from the Bradford Exchange? Check. Christmas china? Check. What's even worse is that she was well into these things when she was the age I am now.
My favorite thing ever is this giant gold "sleeping" reindeer that gets hauled out at Christmas. It sits on the floor in the living room. I do not look forward to inheriting that someday.
you know those plates that every grandmother has hanging on their wall, with little kids in some idyllic setting? Yeah, SIL gave us 4 of those suckers.
You mean Hummel plates? They are very $$$$ (says the woman who will have to sort through my mom's collection). Sell them on eBay, you will probably get $100 apiece for them if they are the right years.
ooh, really? I don't even remember where we buried them away. Thanks!
Post by dancingirl21 on Oct 21, 2014 6:35:51 GMT -5
2 years ago my MIL got all the girls really expensive and really hideous mink scarves. It is mainly black but has swirls of brown, blue and mustard yellow. It's awful, I've never worn it and I don't care. Not to mention the whole animal thing.
The year before that, she and FIL went to the Caribbean and got us all pearl necklaces. But not just a strand of pearls. It also has silver things in between. I'm not a pearl girl so that has also never been worn.
Post by catsarecute on Oct 21, 2014 7:22:46 GMT -5
My IL's once got me a maternity shirt for my birthday before DH and I were married. They didn't know it was a maternity shirt. It was sitting with regular shirts and they just thought it was extra long. It was pretty funny. I still tease them about it.
Post by wildfloweragain on Oct 21, 2014 7:52:23 GMT -5
H's aunt used to sew/knit things for us that were always orange and brown. Not fall decorations, either. We boxed them up. SIL used to go to garage sales "for" us and get us loads of stained clothes that we promptly donated.
@this - surely that can be turned into some kind of Halloween decor item, no?
So my IL's are actually very generous gift-givers and usually stick to cash/gift cards - HOWEVER, every gift is strings attached, in that they want MAXIMUM exposure for people being impressed by whatever they give us.
My baby shower weekend I had a shower at my parent's house in MD (since my family was local down there) and the following day one at my house in NJ (local to friends and IL's). My IL's (including my not-invited FIL) attended both. They bought us our glider (which - thank you - was awesome) and insisted that they rent a van, physically pick it up from the store, DRIVE IT TO MARYLAND TO GIVE IT TO ME, then DRIVE IT BACK TO NJ to bring again to my second shower so "everyone could see it!"
(huh)
My parents gifted us the crib and none of these shenanigans were required.
My H's parents are decent gift givers. They usually just ask us where we'd like a gift card from.
My parents aren't terrible, but my mom kind of misses the mark sometimes. Like, she is always trying to buy everyone clothes. I think she even used to buy her male bosses sweaters for Christmas, and when I pointed out I thought it was a little odd she was all "I don't know what else to give!" LOL.
I'm not a sentimental person, and I don't like people giving me things I have to display, and as much as I tell her that, she still insists on doing personalized things that I can't ever get rid of. Like for our wedding she embroidered something with our wedding info and framed it, and she also wrote a poem and framed it. The poem makes me cringe to read it so I stuck it in a box somewhere. I know she'll be doing another framed embroidered thing for the baby, and at this point I don't have the heart to tell her I really don't want one. They take her a long time to do and it's kind of a martyr thing for her because she loves to talk about how long it takes her to do it, and how much time she spent choosing the colors and patterns and whatnot.
Post by nonsenseabound on Oct 21, 2014 10:07:53 GMT -5
my husband's grandma who is a bit goofy gave me USED cookie cutters, as in they still had bits of cookie dough on em. She also gave me a "handknit" hat that had an aeropostale and a "diamond" bracelet that was obviously fake.
On the other hand, she has given us cash in the past so it's a golden toss up as to what we get each year.
My grandpa was an interesting gift giver! I would not change the memories it created for anything. He once gave my aunt a sleep t-shirt with a cat face on it. She had a cat but SO not her style. I was around 20 when he gave me a ceramic egg (not the fancy expensive ones) for Christmas but he used it to hold cash. I still cherish that horrid egg. The next year he pretended to forget me and I opened a box full of Black Friday ads (my favorite thing) after I searched through it I found money lol. He bought all of his grown sons light up gloves, my mom got a plaid floor length nightgown.
we had some gems over the years but it made me anticipate the holidays so much more
Post by mellimel19 on Oct 21, 2014 11:24:23 GMT -5
GMIL gave DD (who was 6 months old) a hideous ceramic angel. It's a sweet thought because GMIL collects angels, and wanted to give DD something from her collection, but boy is it ugly. So I just put it high up on a shelf and cringe every time I look at it lol.
2 years ago MIL got me this AWFUL advent calendar from Costco. H's aunt has this lovely wooden advent calendar with little drawers to put candy or trinkets in. I asked her where she got it, saying how I had been looking for a nice wooden advent calendar just like that one to have as part of our holiday decor and start a tradition of hiding little things in there for H or our future children. So, well meaning MIL overheard the conversation and got me this huge, ugly plastic advent calendar with stickers on each of the drawers, that plays like 20 different Christmas carols. It went right in the closet, where it's been eating up a ton of space for the last 2 years. That thing is just awful.