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  #16  
Old 12-17-2014, 02:57 PM
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1. Robots that don’t perform any actual functions, such as vacuuming.
2. (Corollary) Electro-mechanical “pets.”
3. Certificates for trees planted in Israel (if you’ve been to the Galilee, you know there are plenty of trees there by now)--would rather the $ were used to feed or give medical care to displaced families.
4. Heated "throw blankets.” Way too small to cover all of you. Heck, furniture “throws" of any sort!
5. Fake-fur hats that look like animal heads, especially the ones with mittens built into elongated earflaps. They make it really difficult to use your hands, and the flaps to which they’re attached are too short to wrap around your neck and still wear the mittens.
6. Fingerless gloves. Your palms are not what get frostbitten first!
7. Wheel-heel sneakers.
8. (If you are seriously into wine) Decorated or colored wine glasses (unless you use them for other beverages instead).
9. Electronic margarita machines. Blenders do it all, and then some--at a fraction of the price.
10. Backpack purses--doesn’t everyone want to allow pickpockets to reach inside sight unseen? (NOT). Same with any purses that don’t have flaps or zippers.
11. “Collectors’” gold coins--i.e., the kind that are privately minted as ltd. editions.
12. Gift cards--unless they have no expiration date and don’t charge a fee for checking your remaining balance. Why not give cash or check inside a nice card?
13. Cheap off-brand “tablets” and PDAs. Utterly useless. A giveaway datebook from the greeting-card store is free, fits in your pocket or purse, and doesn’t use batteries or need recharging.
14. Cheeseballs, cheeselogs, cheese-food spreads. Here’s a thought: why not real cheese? (And who uses up a two-pound wheel of Baby Swiss anyway? Still working on the Hickory Farms--or Swiss Colony, I forget--one we got two years ago, and have two in the wings).
15. Fruitcake--unless it’s either lovingly homemade or from Collin St. Bakery in TX.
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I cried because I had no shoes.....but then I realized I won’t get blisters.
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  #17  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:02 PM
RedJoker RedJoker is offline
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Quote:
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Well, congratulations on your upcoming wedding! That's pretty cool!

- Glenn
Thanks, Glenn!
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  #18  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:07 PM
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I enjoy being loved and appreciated as much as anyone, but to me this qualifies as Exhibit 1 in our Useless Gifts category. Can you think of others?
The Scented set of candles which were infused with the aroma of doughnuts. I appreciated the thought and generosity of giving us something unique, however we did not want our house to smell like doughnuts. I apologize to the doughnut lovers who might like this gift, but for us it was useless.
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  #19  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:16 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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My wife loves Christmas and she has taught me over the years to really appreciate the season, too. But she has also been very practical about gift giving. Neither one of us likes to waste money, and we realize that most of us don't need any more "stuff." So over the last ten years or so, we have really scaled back the gift giving stuff to really concentrate on what's needed.

On the other hand, we have fun giving some fun things to the grand children. Four out of five grand children are boys, and one is only 7 months old; you can make the older boys really happy with moderately priced Lego sets. Of course, a week after Christmas those parts are found all over the house... Well... maybe they are useless...

Last time I visited my 6-year-old grandson in Massachusetts, I read him Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. He wasn't sure he was interested, but as I started reading, he came over and cuddled up, and he loved it. That book came from the local library, but before I left, he asked me if someday he might be able to have his own copy. So that will be a worthwhile Christmas present, I think...

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  #20  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:23 PM
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you can make the older boys really happy with moderately priced Lego sets. Of course, a week after Christmas those parts are found all over the house... Well... maybe they are useless...
Especially if you step on one barefoot.....
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I cried because I had no shoes.....but then I realized I won’t get blisters.
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  #21  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:36 PM
JCave JCave is offline
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Just hope my wife doesn't consider the pendant I'm building as useless. It has crossed my mind.... One thing for sure, she cannot take it back for a refund.
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  #22  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:43 PM
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No gift is useless .
At the least , you can complain about it .
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  #23  
Old 12-17-2014, 03:46 PM
amyFB amyFB is offline
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We're out of little kids in our family, and no one needs anything or has extra cash to spend on useless stuff.

A few years ago we came up with an idea that has grounded our holiday gathering:

Sitting around a prettily decorated tree at my sister's home in the mountains, instead of "things", we give each other the gift of a story we remember about a family member no longer living.

It does have a chance to make one or more eyes 'leak' but it is a nice gathering of all our ghosts of Christmas past.

happy holidays!
yours in tune,
amyfb
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  #24  
Old 12-18-2014, 05:03 AM
Zosoa Zosoa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amyFB View Post

A few years ago we came up with an idea that has grounded our holiday gathering:

Sitting around a prettily decorated tree at my sister's home in the mountains, instead of "things", we give each other the gift of a story we remember about a family member no longer living.

Aw that's a really sweet idea!

I make jewelry for a living, so you could argue I make my whole income from producing useless gifts... but it is decorative and seems to bring people joy, so I argue that's a 'use'.


My thing for the last couple of years has been to make my friends and family jewelry gifts from all my scrap silver and any extra semi-precious gemstones and beads left over from projects through the year.

It means they get something totally handmade and unique. Plus I really have to practice my metalsmithing skills to forge nice stuff from melted down bits...and the monetary cost is only the scrap value of the metal which isn't usually huge.
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  #25  
Old 12-18-2014, 10:32 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Otterhound View Post
No gift is useless .
At the least , you can complain about it .
I like that...some people enjoy a good complaining, after all...I am not immune to such, so I will indulge here...

For me, a truly useless gift is something like a tie, or a CD of music I don't like, such as Yani, or some such drivel...

Some people seem to have a real knack at giving gifts that are just so wrong, it's almost touching...

My father was a master at such, particularly when I was young. For example, I'd go on about a toy rocket, that would shoot into the air, a hundred feet up, and I'd get the useless version, that would go five feet, and then be broken. Or, the bike, with the streamers and three speeds, and get my sisiter's hand me down, ten-year old girl's bike. It was only years later, that I realised he was just a really cheap, er, frugal, person...

Myself, I hate the gift-giving expectation, that is this season...I'm better at giving gifts, when no one expects them...

Oh, I forget the really useless gift--a card. Even the cleverest of them are no more than a two-second smile, heading for the circular file...
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  #26  
Old 12-18-2014, 03:38 PM
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I would rather know someone is upcycling or recycling a gift I give them regardless of how useful it is than to return it for cash.
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  #27  
Old 12-18-2014, 03:55 PM
Dave Abrahamson Dave Abrahamson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago Sandy View Post
Especially if you step on one barefoot.....
Or suck it up in the vacuum cleaner.....kinda like Barbie shoes.....don't ask me how I know. 😉
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  #28  
Old 12-18-2014, 04:24 PM
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Brits of my generation (class of '77) may remember 'soap-on-a-rope.' This noisome article consisted of a round piece of scented soap on the end of a looped chord, which, one presumed, was for hanging up in the shower. Really handy and ingenious, right? Well, once used, the 'rope' became sodden with gunky soapsuds, so you couldn't really stick it in your pocket after the shower. You would need a special bath-bag, and even if you used that, the soap would cover the insides and render it useless for anything else. What heightened the anguish was that the soap lasted forever, meaning that you trooped around like Marley's ghost for the rest of the year with your deformed and gunky soap-on-a-rope in tow, ready for whenever you needed the next shower.
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  #29  
Old 12-18-2014, 04:43 PM
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Default Useless Gifts

That star name present would be much nicer if accompanied by a really nice telescope.
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  #30  
Old 12-18-2014, 05:02 PM
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A telescope would make the certificate on the wall look prettier. Maybe bigger, too.
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