Submitted by Trend Hunter on December 31st, 2008

Each year my eccentric grandmother knits or creates clothing and accessories for the other members of my family. When the parcel arrives from Germany, we all know the contents risk being horrific, but we also understand the love that went in, not to mention the hours spent with her “craft glasses” on. When we were younger, she would knit us sweaters with cartoon characters which we had clearly outgrown – the year she sent us matching Tom and Jerry sweaters (we were about 12 and 13 years old) my mother told her that while we appreciated the gifts, we had reached that ‘complicated’ stage of life where we wanted to choose our own presents. For a while she sent money (which made thanking her so much easier), but for some reason, she switched back to handmade gifts a few of years ago. Two Christmases ago she had made some jewelry which was actually beautiful, and we told her how much we genuinely loved it, and even sent photos of us wearing it.

Well, perhaps we expressed too much enthusiasm, because the following Christmas she sent an enormous parcel full of the most eccentric jewels and baubles we had ever seen. There were earrings with long vibrant feathers, necklaces with colorful plastic beads, some the size of golf balls and childish bracelets that looked like they’d come out of a vending machine. To humor her (and entertain each other) we draped ourselves in the jewels, snapped a few photos and sent them off to her, with no intention of ever wearing them in public. Well, when we phoned to thank her a few hours later, she told us she had specifically designed the jewels to wear to a fancy ballet we had tickets for (and which we would know a lot of people at) the following night.

We gently had to tell her we had already chosen our outfits, including accessories, and while we said it with kindness, it didn’t stop the hurt look in her eyes. It’s a complicated scenario that many people are likely familiar with. We’re still not sure what the right way to handle moments like these. I love the thought behind the gifts, and am so appreciative of the effort, but after already asking her not to send those items, what else can we do to  avoid this annual awkwardness? To give her a hint, this year we gave her a gift certificate to her favorite department store, and another to a coffee shop she likes to frequent, and she loved the concept of the cards so much, we hope it inspires her gift for next year.

by Bianca Bartz of Trendhunter

Submitted by Trend Hunter on December 22nd, 2008

Of all the brutal presents I’ve received in my life, none have been so humbling as those from (now) ex-boyfriends. You’d think there would be a seminar that hapless significant others could attend to help guide them along the right path to gift enlightenment. The world might be a happier place, especially around the holidays.

Here are the best of the worst. Some of these gifts came from the same person within the same year!

1. Underwear, two sizes too small.

2. A bra, a letter too large.

3. A pack of cheap disposable razors with a note, “So you don’t use mine.”

4. A three-pack of athletic socks (Don’t get me wrong, I love new socks,
just not from my boyfriend)

5. Barbie-blue eyeshadow.

6. A six-pack of lint rollers (Again, super useful but not particularly
romantic).

7. A 30-pack of Natural Light beer (at a total retail cost of about $13).

-Marissa Brassfield for Trend Hunter

Submitted by Trend Hunter on December 18th, 2008

The idea behind a Secret Santa gift exchange is great: Set a price limit, drop names from a hat and gift away. A completely anonymous Secret Santa gift exchange is somewhat more perilous, however, especially when college kids are thrown into the mix.

My freshman year dorm instituted a Secret Santa gift exchange that would remain completely anonymous. Our gifts were to be labeled and given to our RA, who would then disperse the gifts at our weekly meeting to open. There were some brief guidelines and a $10 limit. Since the exchange was limited to just our hall, there were only 20 of us. How bad could it be?

For my Secret Santa gift, I bought an AC/DC shirt. I received a fart machine. Yes, a fart machine. I considered myself lucky minutes later when one of the super-sheltered twins opened a miniature, um, adult toy.

Since then, the Secret Santa gifts I’ve received as a working professional have been relatively innocuous, but no less welcome in my home: a singing, dancing Big Mouth Billy Bass, a Tamagotchi (about 12 years too late) and a tennis racket bug zapper. Thankfully, all of these gifts–including the fart machine that kicked this tirade off–came with its receipt.

-Marissa Brassfield for Trend Hunter

image by Dan Zen

Submitted by Trend Hunter on December 4th, 2008

Since Trend Hunter is all about innovation, we see a lot of incredibly
unique gift ideas. In reality, however, good gifts are hard to come by.

On that note, have you ever received a really bad Christmas present? One
where you just knew the horror was showing in your eyes when you grinned,
grinding your teeth in an attempted polite smile, as you thanked the
generous gifter? Yah, so have I. It’s tough because I am so grateful
when people think of me, but honestly, sometimes a card or a nice afternoon
stroll with a cup of coffee would be giving me so much more. READ THE REST…