Win a £200 "Christmas Blues" Shopping Spree!
Win a £200 post-Christmas spending spree by telling us about the worst gift you ever received or gave!
[ Post your entry here ]
Well, Christmas is just 'round the corner. No doubt the shops will be decked out with their Christmas decorations this weekend. That's those that aren't already 'Christmassy'. Personally, I love the excesses of food and drink. Never forget what Christmas is really about: eating you own weight in Quality Street!
It's difficult to avoid that post-Christmas downer though, isn't it? You spend the best part of two months building up to it, then it whizzes by in a flash of parties, impromptu (drunken) carol singing and stuffing turkeys. After the pantomime is over, you find yourself addicted to Rennie or Alkaselzer, surrounded by bin bags full of gift wrap, with nothing to look forward to but a fridge full of left over turkey sandwiches and red letters from the bank regarding your over-drawn overdraft.
Yes, the long haul to next pay day can be a very long and tortuous one, indeed. Then, flip me, if it isn't Valentine's Day lurking 'round the very next corner. There's barely a breather then even more expense!
Our £200 prize would buy this handmade pendant necklace and leave change for a massive bouquet!Well fear not, because at pressies4princesses we've decided to offer a £200 "Christmas Blues" spending spree to one lucky guy or girl to stretch the festive cheer. For blokes, this will help ease the burden of Valentine's. While girls, you get to buy yourself all the things that matey boy should have, but didn't!
To win, all you need to do is tell us about the worst present you ever received or gave. We'll pick one lucky winner at random from all the anecdotes.
Girls: this is your chance to shame your man, let go of disappointment and receive some well-earned sympathy (not to mention retail therapy) from us here at pressies'. And, once you've posted your sorry tale online, all womankind will offer their collective shoulder for you to cry on. Get it off your chest, post your rant here!
Boys: if you ballsed it up (again!) this £200 could put you back in her good books by Valentine's. That's right, just the 7 weeks of sulking and recriminations to cope with. Alternatively, if you have past failings to confess, here's a chance to clear your conscience and overdraft (well, not make it any worse on Valentine's Day). C'mon, fess up here by posting a comment!
Read the responses to date...
To enter, simply post your story here as a comment.
Please do avoid swearing - as strong as the urge may take you! Comments are pre-moderated for suitability. All published comments will be put in the prize draw, so be sure to include an email address we can contact you at.
Post now - this competition will close once we tire of reading all those sob stories!
I look forward to reading your rant or confession.
Steve
Find more free competitions from other companies here:The Prize Finder - UK Competitions
FreebieList.com's UK Free Stuff
UK Competitions and Prize Draws at UKwins
posted by Suggy at
11:02
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35 Comments:
It was the ugliest thing I have ever laid eyes on - a terracotta jelly mould from my mother-in-law. she thought she had given me the world. It was too ugly to use as a plant holder. The kids and me used to get the thing out from under the sink and put it in view when her arrival was imminent
OK, so I should probably confess my own gift-giving sins.
I was very skint when first setting up in business. And, during this time, my sister got married. So, instead of buying the newlyweds something nice, I decided to make their wedding present.
Undetered by my lack of cabinet making experience or proper tools, I set about making them a wooden computer desk with bits from B & Q.
It was an ambitious expanding design that transformed from sideboard to desk. At least that was the plan.
Some months and hundreds of man-hours later, my enthusiasm had waned for a gift now months overdue. It was finished in a rash of bodges and handed over in a unceremonious (and somewhat embarrassed) fashion, immediately before fleeing the 150 miles home.
Coincidently, when my sister and her husband suddenly emmigrated to New Zealand shortly afterwards, that desk didn't go with them.
My hand-made, erm... masterpiece was passed over for a DFS sofa!
You can imagine the scene one Christmas not so long ago, lots of pressies under the tree for me from my seemingly very generous (and now ex) boyfriend. On Christmas morning I began excitedly ripping into the paper to discover.....an entire car- cleaning kit, each item wrapped separately! I was overjoyed......
mine has to be when a friend gave me a set of earrings. how stunning they were must of cost a fortune. I kept telling her how she shouldnt have spoilt me and they must have cost a fortune, to be then told they cost her nothing she got them free with a bottle of Archers! Something I will never forget!
I was approaching my 21st birthday and my new father-in-law kept hinting that he had purchased a unique and expensive gift to mark the occassion.
The great day arrived and in front of 20 odd guests he solemnly presented me with an official looking envelope.
With trembling hands I opened it,
my deeds to a burial plot in the local churchyard!
A few years back I was dating a girl who always complained that I was away too much working. As a joke I bought her a vibrator, knowing she has a sense of humour.
The problem starts here, is that I'm always being complained at as I don't generally give cards or wrap gifts. I always tend to take the lazy way and give the gift in a bag. I wrapped this one because of its content and wrapped all the others as well and did my best with the small little sticky cars you stick on the gifts and addressed it to her mother.
Talk about embarrassing, what made it worse is her mother never said anything about it, while my partner got a set of rare teas in oak wood the mother got the vibrator. She thanked me for the gift. The shock came when my partner opened here gift and her mother announce her gift was upstairs where she would open it later. I sat that there cringing for about two hours waiting for her to say something, I didn't want to broach the subject. To this day nobody has said a word about it.
I wasnt directly responsible for the giving of the present ... but I was the one to get the blame. I worked in a theatre and the action of the play called for a bottle of champagne to be opened. A well known champage producer provide theatre companies with their bottles filled with ginger ale for such ocassions.
As a joke I gave a bottle of "champagne" to a mate ... however he put it in his cupboard and totally forgot about it. It wasnt until he was visiting his prospective in-laws for the first "family meal" and realised he couldnt turn up empty handed ... so - yep you guessed it, grabbed the bottle of champers to hopefully impress the folks ... It didnt go down to well initially but I believe they later came to see the funny side!
The worst and most humourous gift ive ever recieved has to be a pair of gloves i recived from a guy i met on a blind date, They were bright pink and it turns out kids gloves, needless to say we werent the right fit either.
On my 23rd birthday my sis and her family happily handed me a massive box, beautifully wrapped up.
Something that I would find very useful and much needed apparently.
Very excited I quickly unwrapped it. Thinking it was something amazing like a new computer or some much needed kitchen stuff I was quite shocked to find socks.
Not just a couple of pairs. 100 pairs of socks!
Without showing it, I was pretty gutted.
Funnily enough, I seem to have lost pretty much every single pair over the last 6 year! Typical!
My sister's boyfriend had left this large, beautiful and expensive looking box under the tree for me. It was one of those presents you keep trying to peek into or shake a bit to see what it is. Anyway come Xmas morning I ripped into this one first as I couldn't wait any longer- and out popped a dark brown feather handbag- it was hideous and looked like a road kill- I donated it to my local charity shop in the new year.
Would you believe sexy leopard skin patterned tights at the age of 6! My mother was horrified and I've never fogetten all the uproar that Christmas.
My then boyfriend and I decided to buy an antique piece of furniture. He went off the auction and I met him there later. When I arrived, he said that he had got quite carried away and ended up buying me a present. Wow, I thought. How exciting. It must have cost a fortune and would be some amazing piece that I would treasure forever. It turned out to be a small, plain, tatty wooden box, with a whole side panel missing off it. I couldn't help show my disappointment!
Many years ago I was sent for Valentines Day a framed flat frog, the frog had obviously been flattened by a car and framed in a beautiful gilt frame with a note saying that if I kissed the frog my Prince would come, needless to say the frog was binned and my Prince ditched!
Annie S
i was once given a birthday card with a note inside saying guess who's going shopping at harvey nics?!.....not me!! the shopping trip never materialised.....he's now my ex!
I once gave someone a plastic willy as a jokey sort of present :-/ But then felt quite ridiculous after.
Oh my God I'd forgotten about this one - my mother-out-law once gave me a framed photograph of herself!
..........................a few years ago my Grandmother gave me a quilted satin Bathrobe,Gold with a Black lining.
She`d bought it at a Discount Warehouse & not only was it so short that it didn`t even cover my Tackle, it had the word "Substandard" stencilled across the back in Black!
Every Christmas I receive hideous tacky presents from my mother in law, such as big hairy spider pyjama cases and a clock that chimes different bird noises every hour.
But I think the worst present I ever received was from a boyfriend when I was a teenager. He gave me "underwear" for my birthday. Not only was it two sizes too big but it looked like something his mother would have bought and been wearing for 5 years or so - a long-sleeved leotard like conconction that did up at the crotch with poppers. My suspicions that he had taken it from his mum's underwear drawer were confirmed when I tried to return it (to Etam of all places) and was told that the label inside was one they had stopped using 4 years previously. Needless to say, he was promptly dumped.
Worst present i ever received was 4 years ago when everyone forgot it was my birthday and all i received was a big load of "nothing"" ! I sulked for the whole day and didn't bother telling anyone as if they couldn't be bothered to remember i couldn't be bothered to tell them.
Funny enough the following day everyone thought it was my birthday and then i had to explain that it wasn't and it had been the day before.
Worst birthday ever. :(
My mums old boyfriend used to be the best for classically tragic christmas presents. Undeterred by my constant groaning and eye rolling he turned up one christmas beaming with pride at the armful of presents that he carried in. Suspiciously they all looked fairly easy to guess the contents of. Cue.. one perfectly wrapped lampshade - complete with lightbulb for my mum. A wrapped 15 inch ruler... *I was at school at the time* and a wrapped eraser. It pains me to type this out.
He was so proud of his present buying achievement that I hated to be sarcastic even though I couldnt believe his cheek. Having to fake gasps of joy as i unwrapped that ruler will go down in history as one of my most pitiful moments :D and no they arent together anymore!
Some orange courdroy trousers my father bought me when i was about 12! They were awful!! My mum was horrified...
Lol mine isnt as cool as most of the others here. But it was a terrible pair of stripey socks from an aunt.
The worst Christmas present I ever had was when I was fourteen and my parents gave me a bus pass!!! It was only just over a mile to my school but they were worried about me carrying my bags over the winter time so bought me a bus pass for christmas. I also received a box of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, as they were my favourite and we never had them in our house very often!! They were even wrapped up in Christmas paper!!
it was the wors present my new husband could have got me for valentines day and squeaky cow dog toy, his excuse was you like cows, all I could say was its a dog toy! He could not see why I was so upset, my son now plays with is 3 years on and we dont mention it.
A sweatshirt from my Ex Mother in Law with a patchwork teapot with mice coming out of the lid and spout on the front. I was 30 years old!!!!!
One year, about a month before Christmas my friend and I were discussing the ins and outs of gift giving and came to a mutual agreement that smellies in a basket (unless fancy) usually denoted little thought, effort and meant that you didn't really like the person.
A month later I eagerly unwrapped her present to find exactly that - a vivd purple basket full of soap, shower gel and shredded paper. I thought it might be a joke and looked eagerly around for my real present, but my glances yielded nothing, not even a smile from her lips. I took the hint, I haven't seen her much since then!!
For my 18th birthday, prior to waving goodbye to my parents to embark on a 4 year long study/party fest, I was greeted at the kitchen table on the morning of my birthday with a few grift wrapped presents.
After unwrapping a few - the typical jewellery, cds etc, my Dad thrust a present into my hands with an excited grin on his face. Thinking that he'd got me the latest MP3 Player I was after, I hurriedly tore off the wrapping paper....to discover a "Handy DIY (an A-Z guide)" manual containing information such as how to fit a staircase, tile a roof, lay a carpet etc - everything an 18 year old girl needs! I was informed that it would "come in handy at University". 5 years on and I still haven't looked inside its cover apart from when I first received it!
Thanks Dad!!
Im sure he meant well, but my father presented me one christmas with this present, he was very proud of himself, thinking that he must have finally bought the perfect present. I eagerly ripped open the wrapping only to find a box of electric hair rollers.... Admittedly they were a very nice set, one that come with many recommendations, in fact exactly the same make and model of the set i had only months earlier given to a charity shop as after 8 months of having very short hair decoded i no longer had a use of hair curlers. 6 yrs on, not even a set of hair curlers has convinced me to grow my hair again!!
Ungrateful daughter
Every year I seem to make some mistake when buying presents, one year I completely forgot my brother and his daughter, I didn't remember until the presents were being given out, or the year when I didn't make it home and had to buy presents at the petrol station shop (yes, really did, thank god for the discount CD rack and my family's terrible music taste - Daniel O'Donnel anyone?) But my worst gift I have ever given has to be a provisional driving licence form from the Post Office. My mum had been talking about taking lessons for ages so I thought it would be a good start...That was 14 years ago and she passed her test last month two days before her 69th Birthday. This year I am organised and have every thing bought or ordered. oh bugger just remembered Secret Santa for work.
one christmas i gave my sister a giant size nitey as she is quite a big lady and the following year she handed it back to me as my christmas present.whether she knew or not that i was the one who gave it to her i dont know..but she also included an old tina turner tape that had been on her kitchen table throughout the year covered in stale gravy..it gets worse she then gave my brother a pair of underpants which were aged 9 to 10 years...and my brother is 40.
Just for a while, fruit machines paid out the top prize in little gifts, rather than cash (circa 1995). Having just graduated I had very little money (well, enough to be gambling and drinking, but not enough to buy my girlfriend a decent present). When I won an attractive looking watch from the machine, I duly wrapped it and gave it to my beloved. The watch lasted maybe 5 days before breaking, but she's now my wife so I must have done something right !!
Ooohh, the most awful gift I ever received was a three pack of brown Yfronts with yellow trim. I wouldn't have minded, but I'm a girl!
They weren't even *new* - the packaging had been opened and resealed! I have no idea who they were meant for - and even less of an idea of the look on their face when they opened a (presumably girly) gift intended for me!
beverleya@btinternet.com
My beloved husband on our first Christmas together gave me a deck chair, his family didn't think I should be complaining as before that everyone had got a blank cassette to tape their own music on from him. Needless to say I have done all the present shopping since then.
The worst and least romantic present I have ever received was from my EX husband who bought me an iron for my 40th birthday, I don't take it personally since finding out he bought one for his girlfriend for Christmas!
Many years ago I used to have to travel the five hours from my lovely South London home up to my (now ex) boyfriend's mother's house to see her.
The particular Christmas in question I had a double whammy. First of all, my ex had bought me something from Tiffany - all looked hopeful, I'd been dropping hints about the silver keyring all year.
As I saw the turquoise box my heart lept! I opened the box to find the most disgusting bangle, that I was shocked that Tiffany even made such an item, and he then insisted I wear it at all times (the thing was so heavy it used to make my wrist sore). I felt like Mr T.
To add insult to injury, I then received a whole load of what can only be described as market stall tatt to wear as clothing from his Mum, including a suedette safari outfit in khaki and a high polyester pyjama set (in her style rather than mine), because I "didn't look enough like his ex wife" and "you're looking a bit fat". She insisted I wear all these items even thought he sythetics were causing heat rashes on my legs. Later on I inadvertantly set light to the pjyama set (honest, it was an accident and highly flammable).
The five day break past slowly. The most gratifying day was when I dumped him and realised I'd never have to see his evil mother ever again.....
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