Worst Stocking Stuffers
Categories: Holidays, Shopping
As mentioned in the Best Stocking Stuffer post, buying gifts for your loved ones this Christmas or Hanukkah, stocking stuffer variety or otherwise, can be a real chore. What should be fun and festive becomes harder and harder each year, to the point where we're left with little but exasperation over what to get someone. That said, though it should seem pretty obvious, there are some gifts that should never be given during the holidays, or as gifts at all.
Buying someone deodorant or other "utility items" as my husband likes to call them, are a no no. Sure, maybe your grandma can get away with giving you some foot powder--heck, it's better than the soap on a rope you got last year!--but for the rest of us anything related to personal hygiene, including smelling nice, is a no go. And speaking of smelling nice, well, perfume/cologne is generally a bad idea too. It's hard to pick out a fragrance that the recipient will not only like but that smells nice and isn't exorbitantly priced. After all, we're talking about what essentially amounts to scented water. Unless it's a scent you know for a fact the recipient is just pining over, then go for a more solid choice.
Mints sort of fall into the hygiene area. Sure they're the perfect taste for the holiday season--what says holidays if peppermint or wint-o-mint doesn't--but mints can also telegraph that the recipient's breath smells. Ties aren't awful but they sure are boring, as are socks, unless you know the recipient prefers those wacky multi-color ones with the toes in them. Last but not least, gift certificates are considered the kiss of death for many even though I happen to like them. Just make sure you get a certificate that doesn't expire and isn't from one of the myriad companies filing for bankruptcy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karen 12-09-2008 @ 5:49PM
We just celebrated Christmas this weekend with my MIL and she always does a stocking for everyone in my family. I love most of the things you say are a no-no.
I got deodorant, shampoo, creative band-aids, Vera Bradley Mints, chapstick, bare escentials make-up, a small bottle of parfume, Dolly Mama post it notes, a nice pen, stationary, small bottle of Downy wrinkle remover, a decorative case to cary tampons in, a flash drive, a nail brush, toothburshes and toothpaste etc.
Most of those things are hygiene related and I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting them. I always know I'm stocked up for the beginning of the year and she knows what brands I like.
I'm very thankful for those items, this year more than last because those things add up. As I always spend too much during December, it is nice not to have to buy those things in Jan, Feb and March!
My kids get similar stockings that include shampoo, body wash, tic tacs, toothbrushes, iTUNES gift cards, dental floss, etc. and they love digging through the stocking. A lot of times she adds in things that is maybe a brand name hygiene items that I buyer a lesser expensive one and they are thrilled. Sometimes a SpongeBob toothbrush that sings is a great stocking stuffer!
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2Joys 12-09-2008 @ 6:48PM
I like getting all of those things too. We all get a toothbrush every year in our stockings. It is fun to search out and find a fun toothbrush for each member of our family. I love gift certificates too. It is just one last thing I have to buy for myself!
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Jack 12-10-2008 @ 11:55AM
I got a nose-hair clipper once. I was not amused.
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Jennifer 12-10-2008 @ 1:27PM
I love those kind of stocking stuffers! I get what I need instead of a bunch of junk I don't (including candy.) As my daughter grows her stocking will be stuffed with necessities instead of candy and junky toys, it just makes more sense.
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geen 12-10-2008 @ 1:48PM
I got perfume a few years ago, real expensive to. It smelled terrible! I felt so bad my parents got it for me, because it stank so bad I never wore it.
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