My grandson got his girlfriend to pick out his gift to me. Now, I really appreciate the thought but ....... she bought perfume and body lotion from Victoria's Secret. It smells like a sexy young woman. Neither of which I am. There's no way that I would go out in public wearing it. If I did, I'd have men following me around carrying their mattress on their back. I don't want to hurt their feelings, but it leaves me with a problem. What to do with it. Suggestions? What do you do with gifts that you can't use?
We've given things to the Goodwill we've got as a gift and couldn't/wouldn't use. This last Christmas, my SIL (wife's older sister) gave me two packs of Bridgford Beef Jerky. I will only eat Jack Links Beef Jerky and nothing else. Opened one pack, eat a few and darn near got sick! Tossed both packs in the trash can.
If I know someone who would appreciate it I would gift it to them or use the perfume as an air freshener if you like the fragrance and use the lotion after washing your hands.
The air freshener sounds like a good idea, @Von Jones . It doesn't stink, it just doesn't smell like a scent an old lady would wear. It would probably make my bathroom smell a lot better sometimes.
Fragrance is such a personal thing; it seems like people would understand that is not a good gift idea unless they know the fragrance that you like to wear. Von's idea is a good one, and maybe use the perfume to refresh potpourri. You could always re-gift or donate. You have to appreciate this... who heads for Victoria's Secret to shop for grandma??
If you're gonna attract men who are strong enough to carry mattresses around, I fail to see the downside (if you're a woman.)
Every Christmas, we grandkids got together and bought our beloved grandpa a giant bottle of Old Spice after-shave lotion. He would open it, exclaim loudly that it was EXACTLY what he had been hoping to get and how happy he was and then he'd go upstairs to the bathroom and replace the old dusty bottle on the shelf with the new bottle. It wasn't until after he died when I was in my 20's that my grandmother told me that he couldn't stand the smell of Old Spice. He had told her all those years to not tell us that he didn't like it because he didn't want to hurt our feelings. That's the kind of person my grandpa was. I can only hope that I'll ever be as good as he was and as caring.
People should just "do whatever they want to" with an unwanted gift and not tell the friend or family what they did with it.
I like @Mary Robi 's idea. I'll keep one bottle of the perfume and put it where they can see it when they visit. I'll take the rest to the Thrift Store. I love Old Spice aftershave. My hubby used it to please me.
Oh, pipe tobacco..... My dad smoked Cherry Blend. After he died, I actually bought a little bit at a smoke shop just to sniff it occasionally.
I remember giving my mother a crock pot for Christmas when they became popular in the 1970s. I should have known better. She never used it, but kept it for years stashed away in the back of a cupboard. My father had his favorite wallets. They would literally be falling apart and he'd keep using them. My mother suggested getting him a new one for Christmas a couple of times when I was a kid. She helped me pick them out. He never liked them. Kept them stashed in a drawer. I found one just last year. I have trouble throwing away anything someone got me as a gift. Even after the giver is long gone.