funny puppy story

Looking for housewarming gift ideas? Are you stumped trying to think of the perfect gift to give your friend the new home owner? Well this is not that, but do not stop reading now. This a list of the top 10 things that you should not give as house warming presents.

Number 10– Novelty lighting! Be it a lamp, a candle or a night light; novelty lighting is just not a good idea. I once was given a pink flamingo night light. Sadly, I am not kidding. It was hideous, and I had no idea what to do with it. I ended up giving it as a white elephant present at a Christmas party. If you are considering giving a piece of lighting that makes you giggle, just refrain.

Number 9–Regifting bad gifts that you have received in the past. I know we have probably all been guilty of doing this in the past, but it really is not a good idea. One resifting story is too awful to tell. A mother-in-law gave her new daughter-in-law a set of kitchen glasses for her new house. Only they were not new. In fact they already belonged to the daughter. Her husband had stored them in his mother’s garage until he and his new bride could move into their new home! The moral of the story: don’t re-gift presents, especially if you can’t remember where it came from.

Number 8–Barbie doll toilet paper cozy. You have seen them at garage sales, craft fairs, and perhaps on the back of your grandmother’s toilet. It is that slightly creepy, Barbie doll whose legs sit inside the roll of toilet paper, her usually crocheted skirt hiding the spare TP roll.

Number 7- Sports team memorabilia. No matter how big of a Braves fan your friend is, I doubt that he, or his wife for that matter, would appreciate a throw blanket sporting their favorite teams logo, or a framed poster of his favorite player. It sounds good, but where would they put it?

Number 6–Novelty drinking glasses or beer coozies. Does anyone really need a complete set of Shrek glasses from McDonalds? Or fish face beer coozies? You know a good rule of thumb is that if it has the word novelty in the description, don’t buy it!

Number 5–Taxidermied animal. Now I hope this one speaks for itself, but just in case you’re considering buying a gag jackelope or a stuffed moose head, DON’T!

Number 4– Mounted, talking animals. We’ve all seen them in the store or on tv. The hilarious bass that sings and dances. This one goes into the same category as number 5. Please have a little more restraint. It sounds funny, but in reality it’s not.

Number 3– Live animals. As sweet as a new puppy or kitten may seem; they don’t make the best housewarming gift. Pets as presents seem like a great idea, but the logistics of owning a pet came be very tricky. And many times they can wreak havoc on a new home. So pass by the box of free kittens outside of Walmart, because you just might lose your friend over it.

Number 2– An Ashtray for a nonsmoker. I would hope that no one would actually do this, but I heard a story once of a mother-in-law giving an ashtray to her new daughter-in-law. Unfortunately the daughter-in-law didn’t smoke, and all she could think was that her new mother-in-law was plotting for her early demise.

And the Number 1 bad housewarming gift– cleaning supplies. Now many of you may think that cleaning supplies would be a good gift, and in theory it would be. The problem is the message that this kind of gift sends. Something like, “Here’s a vacuum cleaner, because you clearly don’t spend enough time on your domestic responsibilities. Women especially can take offence at such an offering. So unless it is a requested item, skip the cleaning supplies.