For most people Christmas is the busiest time of year. And finding unique, high quality, and original ideas for Christmas gifts and Christmas decorations can be very difficult as well as very time consuming. Here is your help.
Shopping early for the Christmas is always a good idea because you will find yourself ahead of vast majority of the crowds. General public only start their shopping when Christmas is just days or weeks away. You will find more tips here.
Superstitions: There are a lot of superstitions and legends involving the giving and receiving of gifts. For instance it was at one time considered bad luck to give a pair of scissors or a knife as a gift because it was feared that the act would "cut" the friendship in half. Therefore knives were never given as wedding gifts as it was believed they would lead to a broken marriage.
Also never give anyone a pair of shoes as a Christmas gift because they would make the person you give them to walk away from you. When you give someone a gift of a wallet or purse be sure to put some money into it, even if only a coin, to ward off bad luck. At one time bakers would throw in an extra roll when you bought a dozen as a "gift" in case any of the other rolls were too small. This "gift" became known as the baker's dozen.
Urban legends: Legends are told as having happened long, long ago whereas urban legends are set in contemporary times and told as having happened to people known either personally to the teller or to someone known by a person the teller knows. The places and names change as they are updated to fit current times and all carry a warning or lesson of some sort. There may even be some truth to the story although the people and places have been changed so many times that it becomes hard to determine what the truth actually was.
One such tale recounts a king's offer of a gift to a famous golfer (sometimes the golfer is named other times he is just "a famous golfer") who after first declining the gift asks for a golf club only to find to his amazement that the king has bought him an entire golf course.
In several different legends, although the people and circumstances change the story and its warning are the same. A son (nephew, daughter, niece…) is expecting a very expensive gift (car, house, inheritance…) from his father (uncle, aunt…) but receives a bible. In a fit of anger he throws the bible at the giver and leaves not returning until the givers death when he notices the bible from so long ago, opens it and finds the (key to the car, check to the car dealer, will leaving him everything etc.).
Then there are the one-up-manship legends. Two or more siblings vie to get the best gift for their mother (houses, cars, jewels) with one going to great expense to get a bird (myna, parrot…) that has been specially trained (to read the bible, sing opera, speak Italian…). The mother politely thanks all (while letting them know their gift wasn't very practical) then speaks proudly of the child who had the sense to bring her the delicious chicken.
There is also a true story of two brothers who re-gifted the same pair of pants back and forth wrapped in very creative ways, from rolling them into a 3' long 1" wide pipe to stuffing them into the glove compartment of a car that they then had crushed and delivered in time for Christmas. The pants went back and forth for 25 years before they finally fell apart.
All of us have heard at one time or another seller or buyer beware – but in this case, the saying now becomes gifter beware. Many of us give with the best of intentions, but never realize that the gifts we are about to give are truly nightmares – or worse – in disguise. No one ever means to make such a mistake, but these do occur and we are here to help you avoid these mishaps. The following are the six worst gift ideas ever to cross our paths.
The first and biggest of the six worst gift ideas ever to give is the item that tries to give a subtle hint for what you consider a needed change in this person's life. We think this is a polite way of doing it, but all in all we cause more pain and trouble than it is worth. Some examples of these types of gifts are things like books for losing weight, an audio book on helping someone with their memory, or even a book on finding the right guy or girl. For the recipient, all they experience is you calling them fat, stupid, and unable to meet good people for relationships. The gift causes pain and depression – the opposite of the intention you had for it.
The second of the six worst gift ideas ever given is giving something that shows how little, if any, thought you put into your gift. This happens more often than people like to admit to, and this is why it is number two on our list. Some examples of these gifts would be giving body jewelry to someone who doesn't even have an ear pierced, an 'I believe in Xenu" T-shirt for a Christian, or even a box of chocolates for a diabetic. If you truly don't want to put your heart into giving gifts, then don't even bother – those you call friends will appreciate it.
The third out of six worst gift ideas ever thought of would be the extremely large books often referred to as coffee table books. The typical thought when giving these books is that the large wrapped item will make the person so much more happy – but upon opening this tome of a book, almost always the person is anything but happy. Books can be a great gift, but remember that in this instance, regular sized or even pocket sized is better than extraordinarily huge.
Fourth of the six worst gift ideas ever attempted is giving a gift that the person has no way to exchange or even be able to give away. We all want the recipient to love our gifts, but we can't get it right 100 percent of the time. So please, do not give a gift from a specialty shop that does not exist in the recipient's part of the country unless you know for sure they want this item in question. If you don't, the person has the potential to be quite angry and disappointed in you and your gift.
Of the six worst gift ideas ever to see the light of day, number five may appear harmless enough, but don't allow it to fool you. We all forget a holiday or special occasion and find ourselves desperate to come up with a gift. We know we don't have enough time to go out and purchase something, and making something is out of the question. So we look through what we own and give the special someone a gift we ourselves were given before, or even something we had bought for ourselves. The problem is the immense guilt you feel after the fact for doing so. Remember, even items that at first appear free to give away – there is always a cost.
Finally, the sixth worst gift idea ever is the one where you buy the item, actually wanting it for yourself, but you figure the recipient will not want it and will give it back to you. Please know this: this type of plan will always backfire on you, and is horrible to attempt in the first place! If you want the item, buy it for you – or you will be ending up buying two when you could have only bought it once.
Always remember the golden rule: Buy for others, then buy for you as well. You will both be happy!
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