Ever received a totally tasteless gift for Christmas? What on earth were they thinking of when they gave you that tacky Santa loo seat cover? Were they expecting you to actually use it?
What do you do with your unwanted Christmas gifts? Do you rush down to your local charity shop as soon as Christmas is over, have you time to spend hours uploading on e-Bay, or do you keep a secret stash of untouched presents hidden away under your bed?
I found these extraordinary pink plastic flamingos, a gift from several years ago, lurking in the bottom of a cupboard. Fortunately for anyone remotely connected to me, the legs are missing, so I’m unable to pass them on… though I have to admit to ‘re-gifting’ some presents that I know I’ll never use or wear myself.
Even though I’m doing the sensible thing by recycling the stuff I don’t want to keep, handing someone else’s gift over to a friend or relative makes me feel curiously uncomfortable. Ultimately, the gift we give someone says a lot about our own taste. If a gift has been chosen by someone else, it’s their style statement we're making, not ours. Is this an overly sensitive or conceited way to look at re-gifting? After all, the recipient may in fact prefer another person’s taste to our own.
Anyway, here are a couple of gift ideas I’ve picked out from ShopCurious, which may or may not suit your personal taste. The items featured here are vintage pieces, that have been beautifully handmade from natural materials. They’re also useful too: the hand painted, lacquered musical box can be used to store all manner of things – from jewellery to personal keepsakes – and this unusually exotic, silver filigree card holder is multi-functional too. Plus, very importantly, each of these items is totally unique, so your choice of gift cannot be replicated by anyone else.
By the way, if you do happen to receive a totally tasteless gift, are you brave enough to say what you actually think?
Are you?
PS Apologies to Tony and Jan, but does anyone want a pair of legless pink plastic flamingos?
I also feel guilty about regifting except when I KNOW that the present will be much appreciated by the new recipient.
ReplyDeletePlastic pink..? Qué horror..
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and original boxes..what luck the one that could receive them as gift !..
Besos desde España.
Love the cardholder and box. Will check out further.
ReplyDeleteYour seven deadly sin glasses are very cool. I'm linking to you tomorrow. I also love the galleon cufflinks. They would be a great gift for my mother to give to my husband. I've sent her the link.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have your positive feedback Jill - thanks so much for the recommendation and the link - all much appreciated xx
ReplyDeleteMy ex-neighbor used to have that flamingo...I prayed they would just disappear...haha*
ReplyDeleteLove that lacquer box!
My in-laws went to an 'antiques' fair (believe me those inverted commas are judiciously employed!) and brought back a ghastly Hyacinth Bucket style china figurine. It's a doleful looking Victorian maiden in a pink dress with dark fair hair, with SARAH written on the bottom. They're convinced it's the image of me and were so chuffed to give it to me that I sort of fell in love by default. She's on the piano. No-one seems to think she's even slightly out of keeping with the rest of the decor, which I find slightly worrying!
ReplyDeleteSarah P
x
Sounds 'divine' Sarah!
ReplyDeleteAn old boyfriend once gave me a light-up plastic goose lamp for xmas.
ReplyDeleteNaturally we're still good friends. xxC