And while some of us spend Christmas morning unwrapping a glitzy piece of jewelry, the latest piece of tech or the cashmere sweater we had our eye on, others are left with more memorable gifts—that perhaps didn’t feature on their wish list. Here, Newsweek reveals some of the most hilarious, thoughtful and shocking gifts from Christmases past.

A thoughtful gift with a twist

A few years ago, my husband and I each got a packet of sausages for Christmas from my 21-year-old son. We were completely confused. They weren’t even quality sausages, from memory they had about 40 percent meat content, which I complained about.

We literally had absolutely no idea why he’d buy us sausages—initially we suspected he may want us to get up and make a cooked breakfast for Christmas brunch. Instead, he asked us to stand up and walk through to our living room. Although we were bewildered, we did so.

Oh my word! Stood right there in the living room was a fabulous gas barbecue. For years we’d been struggling with a collapsing 20 year old coal barbecue and we were completely dumb struck. I really didn’t know what to say. I even cried a few happy tears—I was so proud of his thoughtfulness and generosity.

My husband and I were just so grateful. It has to have been the best present ever, because he’d been so secretive having it delivered to a neighbor, building it there and storing it in their garage. How he got it into our house on Christmas Eve without us knowing I still don’t know.

Heather Glover, 51, is a Manchester-based campaigner and businesswoman. She is ambassador for the charity Prevent Breast Cancer and co-founder of a lingerie brand.

A strange choice from my auntie

My mom, dad and I had always spent Christmas day and Boxing day with my auntie Joan, who lived on her own. Auntie Joan would arrive on Christmas day loaded with gifts for all of us.

After a sherry or two, we would swap presents, opening them up one by one. As I was getting older, I think auntie Joan struggled with what to buy me. One year, when I was in my early twenties, she arrived as usual bearing gifts.

She’d always been quite eccentric with her choices, but this year she surpassed herself. As I unwrapped my gift a stunned silence fell over everybody. I unveiled a box of grocery store value tissues, only for auntie Joan to say: “I know you like a tissue”.

Julie Allen, 56, is partner of Liverpool-based design firm Century Design. You can visit their website here.

A huge surprise from my mother-in-law

My husband and brother-in-law remember one particular Christmas vividly. It is known in our house as “knickergate”—which in American terms would be “pantiegate”—the year their mom gave me not one, but two awful gifts.

I’m a milliner, and my favorite fashion styles are those of the 1950s; think Dior’s " New look" collection, velvets, silks and embroidery. I’m also a very petite 5 ft tall and size U.K. 12 (U.S. 10).

This particular year, I got a squidgy gift from my mother-in-law. As I opened it, I was apprehensive. I was greeted by fluff, sparkle and sequins until I saw it was a bathrobe—in a size U.K. 22 (U.S. 20).

It immediately started shedding glitter over the carpet. I was a little dumbstruck. I took my husband to the kitchen to rant about the size of the gift, but I was also on “driving duty” that day, so I drove my mother-in-law back home.

When I dropped her off, she gave me another gift. A packet of size 18 U.K. (16) underwear. They hadn’t even been bought for me, she’d bought for herself, but “as she’d lost weight, they were now too big”.

I got back home, walked to open a bottle of red wine, and drank it directly from the bottle. I then jumped up and down on the packet of panties. The next year my brother-in-law bought me a “Keep Calm it’s only Christmas” mug!

Susan Widlake,54, lives in Saffron Walden, Essex. She is the founder of Mill House Millinery. You can visit their website here.

Generous gestures and gifting mishaps

One year, a family member gifted a wonderful book to another family member. It was exquisite, but the only problem was the recipient had given the book to the other person the previous year. They had even written a loving message on the cover. Luckily, everyone thought it was really funny.

Another year, I bought my dad a new wardrobe, giving him a budget of £8,000 ($9,660). He still wears the clothes he bought that Christmas fifteen years later.

But one particularly memorable Christmas day, I was gifted a pair of edible pants with a sexy message, which was very funny.

Polly Arrowsmith, 55, from London, is a qualified accountant who founded the IT company Qube Managed Services Company in 2001. She is now a Director at Cyberpal.

A very practical gift from my dad

I am definitely not keen on practical gifts at Christmas. I love presents that are treats—things I wouldn’t normally buy myself or are a bit more of a luxury.

However, a little family tradition we have is that every year we put one joke present inside a carboard house we have. It was originally created by my grandmother and is made from a cardboard box covered in cotton wool snow.

It’s usually linked to something that has happened to the person throughout the year or something that is coming up. A lot of the time it is an “in” family joke that no one else would find funny. One year, thanks to my dad I pulled a foldable shovel out of the box.

He bought it because that year I was driving up to Scotland for New Year and he was convinced my car was probably going to get caught in a snow drift—so it was kind of a sweet thoughtful gift in some ways.

However, for me, it was way too practical and has ended up being something I never used. Now I’m not even sure where it is!

Liz Mosley, 37, is a Cardiff-based freelance graphic designer and podcast host. You can visit her website here.

A funny but useful present

In 2017, I attended a family friend’s Christmas meal. Normally, we gift a hamper to that family and vice versa. But on this occasion, we were given smaller gifts individually.

My family received gifts that were practical and very on-brand for them. However, when opening mine, I noticed that the set of small moisturizers, shower gels and shampoos, very much looked like the miniature bottles you get from a hotel room.

Of course, I’m aware you can also buy sets of miniatures in shops nowadays, so I may be completely wrong, but the impression I got was that they forgot to get me something and panic-wrapped something they had to hand.

I found it quite funny, and at the same time, I appreciated the gesture as it was a handy thing to have to take on my next city break.

Many other funny incidents occurred that Christmas, including people forgetting to take price tags of presents and cards—not like that matters, but it’s become a running joke in my family now.

Jo Threlfall is a Manchester-based Brand PR Manager at Embryo. You can visit their website here.

An ornament with a surprise

Once, when I was around seven or eight, I received a really cool, but very random, fake rose with base which lit up when you pressed a button. However, it turns out the rose petals were actually a lacy red thong. Santa Claus had some explaining to do.

It turns out my dad had picked it up, apparently rather last minute, when he was abroad on a work trip and hadn’t realised what it was.

I’m now a mum to three boys and Santa definitely won’t be making that same mistake with their presents!

Eliza Flynn is a prenatal and postnatal personal trainer at The Warrior Method. You can visit their website here.

All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.

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