What’s the Worst White-Elephant Gift You’ve Received? Team Knock Knock Edition

Kate's Lark Hoop - Steps

What would a holiday party be without a white-elephant gift exchange? From awesome, sentimental, and funny, to quirky, questionable, and downright weird, we’ve all received gifts that are all but essentially laughable. Take a look at some of the rather interesting gifts Team Knock Knock has received in the past.

 

Kate's Lark Hoop
1. “Lark Hoop is a white elephant that my best friend and I pass back and forth. Last time, she surprised me by wrapping it and giving it to me at my baby shower—in front of all these older women who could not be expected to ‘get’ the humor. As a copywriter, I find the Lark Hoop box copy unceasingly inspiring.” – Kate, editor (the amazing Lark Hoop seen above)

2. “My worst white-elephant gift was actually something I thought would be my best white-elephant gift—indeed, I fought hard for it. It was a pound of Peet’s Coffee (my favorite coffee, being a Berkeley girl), Holiday Blend (though I do prefer French). What I spaced on is that this was full-bean coffee, and somehow my coffee grinder had gotten lost or broken somewhere along the way, so I’d been buying ground coffee for a while. I moved that pound of coffee with me to three different homes and it stayed in the cabinet, taunting me, for years. I still can’t remember whether I gave it away or got so pissed off at it that I tossed it.” —Jen, head honcho

Peets Coffee
3. “I thought it was funny, but the person that brought this meant it to be a serious gift, attaching an anonymous note that said something to the effect of: ‘This is the best workout I’ve ever done. You’ll love it.’ What makes it the worst gift is that I actually tried it and experienced a pain like I have never felt for a few days. I hate you, Jillian Michaels. I love you, Jillian Michaels.” —Janet, marketing designer

Jillian Michael's Workout
4. “My friends and I usually do a $50 limit on our white-elephant gift exchange so we usually get pretty nice things. Last year, I chose a beautifully wrapped box that was super heavy. There was $50 worth of candy and chocolate in there.” —Janet Cho, graphic designer

$50 Worth of Chocolate and Candy
5. “The worst white elephant I ever received was from the wife of a close family member. She was a very sweet lady but her taste in clothing was . . . well, not mine. As a former executive assistant to a luxury retailer, she boxed the gift beautifully with silk ribbon and a fine box to reveal a pair of crushed red silk velvet leggings. Sadly, they never saw the light of day but did make it to my local Goodwill Industries.” —Mia, design director

Velvet Leggings
6. “I’ve been lucky to have never come across a bad white-elephant gift—until recently. After choosing what I thought would be a glorious mini-Christmas tree, I was faced with rolls of unopened, educational posters from D.C. and felt super confused. Then the gift-giver just looked at me and said ‘They’re from my dead neighbor.’ Ugh.” –Melanie, marketing and digital coordinator

Posters
7. “I received a stick of butter. I had no words, yet my mom was overjoyed since she had just bought a bag of English muffins.” –Jill, marketing assistant

Butter
8. Honorable Mention: our editor Kate’s boyfriend’s pick, Hamburger Baby.

Hamburger Baby
What’s your worst white-elephant gift? Tell us in a comment below!