Your worst Christmas present!
The one which really sticks out for me was a bottle garden. Not one of the dinky little ones you often see in GC's now. This one was a massive carboy which I could barely lift and came with its own wrought iron stand. I have no idea what the thought process of the person who bought it for us was!
My mother sadly had a bit of a habit of thinking bigger was always better, although she wasn't the one to buy the carboy. Just one example - I love doing jigsaws and suggested a Jigroll as a suitable Crimbo pressie. I even gave her the specific details for one suitable for 1000 piece jigsaws. Come Christmas Day I was presented with a wrapped item about the size of a bazooka! She had decided to get the one for a 5000 piece jigsaw. What she hadn't considered was that there was nowhere in the house with enough space to unroll it. It's still in our loft
I suppose I could always get it down instead of a new carpet.
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Only my ex MIL could get it so wrong - a pair of bright blue ribbed petite tights ........ for me!!! No way, not in any circumstances could I ever have been described as petite
And as for the thought of my sturdy limbs in bright blue ribbed fabric 
.................!!! 
I've a suspicion she may have won them in a raffle and kept them in her Christmas cupboard for someone she needed a present for ................ bless
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My ex bought me one of those metal roasting tins with a lid. He wrapped it up . I unwrapped it expecting the proper present inside. Oops. That was it. What compounded it, it was in front of all my family. But it means you can make roast dinners like my mum does, he said.
It cost him a double row of pearls with a diamond and sapphire clasp. I picked it out at the International Spring jewellery fair in Birmingham, three months later.
My Dad was blind. He used to get me to buy his present for Mum. One year he told me he wanted me to get her one of those hand held vacuum cleaner thingies. I said "Dad, I'm not going to buy Mum a hoover for a Christmas present". He was adamant. So I bought her a lovely scarf and blouse with the money and wrapped it up with a note saying 'Dear Mum, now say - "Oh wow. A Dustbuster. I really wanted one of those" '
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
When I was little,my parents gave me a puppet on strings. I can't remember asking for it, but we only had 1 present and fruit in a stocking.
Logan, I had a string puppet - it was Muffin the Mule
I don't remember asking for it either, but I loved Muffin on tv so my parents were on safe ground.
Come to think of it, I don't think most children asked for specific presents back in those days - it really wasn't that long after the war and rationing etc and we were grateful for what we got.
The best present I ever ever ever got was a toy farm made for me by my Pa
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Love that story raisingirl
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The first Christmas after my parents got married Dad bought Mum kitchen scales. I think her reaction was pretty much like fidgets
. Someone once bought me a vanilla scented candle which had the strongest, most artificial scent you could imagine. All the windows had to be opened despite the freezing temperature
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I like practical prezzies these days but that wasn't the case early on in our relationship. One year, after Ken Hom had done his first series on the Beeb I received a lovely rusty wok that needed tempering. Not thrilled.
Another year was a new pressure cooker, shortly after I'd blown up the old one. Being gifted, I blew that one up too so now manage without. Best of all was a mobile phone - for the woman who has always considered having a PC, internet and answer phone at home to be adequate communication resources. If I'm not at home I'm busy doing something and don't want interruptions.
A ghastly garden ornament which was quickly dispatched to a charity shop.....I don't do garden ornaments
One year, my husband asked me what I would like so I told him, clearly, what I didn't want so that my present would be a surprise.
Nothing electrical
No clothes with cartoons or logos on the front
No mittens.
What did I get?
An electric toothbrush, a sweatshirt with a 'funny' cartoon and a pair of mittens
We went for Christmas dinner at the house of friends. They gave out presents and he gave her a beautifully wrapped ........ set of saucepans. Because we were there she accepted them gracefully but went around for the rest of the day with a face like a slapped a*** on her. It was only quite late in the evening when he came into the room, looking all innocent, and said "Sorry, I forgot to give you this". 'This' was a beautiful fur coat, one she had apparently wanted for years (way back in the pre-PC days). She wasn't sure whether to throttle him or kiss him. Fortunately she decided on the kiss (probably too many witnesses for a throttling).