How can I politely ask my in-laws to stop buying me unwanted home decor gifts?

[dannyzmom]

OMG Linda - you have a huge dead animal on your wall!!!!!
BAhahahaha!
If it's any consolation, I love your paint color!
I may have to grab my digicam and snap a few pics of the stuff they bring us...

 

[etteluap70PC]

I have been a collector of items over the years. My mom startes me on Pathces from different trips and vacations we went on as a kid so I could remember the trips I took with my family. Well.... why then do people bring/buy you patches (or whatever In later years for me it was shot glasses) from trips thay have taken? Like I give a darn about where you went. Yeah like I have fond memories of when you went to Disney and didn't ask me to go with you? Cummon people...

I had this converation with my stepmom at Christmas about the "filler/just to have another gift type gifts. I told her how I do not have the room for these type of gifts and gave an example of yet another cute snowman candleholder I got from my SIL. So after we are done opening gifts at Christmas my Step mom comes out of the bedroom with a coupple of gift bags that she forgot for my sis and I. And guess what...... yup another snowman candle holder!! ARRRGGGGGG!!!!!

How hard is it to think of a useful gift!!!

 

[chefjeanine]

I had this converation with my stepmom at Christmas about the "filler/just to have another gift type gifts.

How hard is it to think of a useful gift!!!

This is why I encouraged my family to stop giving gifts at Christmas time. My argument is that we purchase for ourselves anything we want so there really isn't a reason to exchange gifts -- we don’t' need anything! Now at Christmas we do a Yankee Gift Swap with a price tag of $10. Once in awhile you get something you can use and that you like. If not, it's off to the Goodwill store so someone else can benefit.

 

[dannyzmom]

Ok - here goes...picture one is the maskes made out of bones...

Next is the drum...notice on the bottom right of the drum you'll see that the man's penis is in the snake's mouth...lovely...

...I keep that side turned toward the wall (abviously)

Next comes the wallhanging that MIL kvetches about every time she visits. It's hanging in the bathroom on a side wall where it won't be all that noticeable. I think it would look fabulous in a chinese restaurant. the little doors in the front open up and I am so tempted to stick a Chinese take-out menu inside them - LOL:

Finally you'll see the misc items hanging on the bathroom wall - a wooden purse of some sort...a not-so-offensive walking stick, and (drumroll please...) the PENIS GOURD!!! On one of their Third World Country visits the men wore penis gourds...so, my IL's bought one!! LOVELY. Oh, and did I mention the penis gourd has bugs??? Every week or so I find a bunch of dead bugs on the floor under it. Niiiiice.

And here is a close-up of the penis gourd...wouldntcha like DH to come to bed wearing one of those??? NOT!!

 

[etteluap70PC]

I wish my family would go for no gifts or it has to be a charity donation or something.... No way, they will NOT go for it .... You have to have gifts!!!!

drives me nuts!!!

 

[etteluap70PC]

Wow Carolyn!!! Holy buckets!!!!

I guess I am ok with the 200 snowman candleholders!

Otherwise I am speechless! LOL!

 

[chefjeanine]

Carolyn,

:thumbup: You should absolutely put a menu inside the wall hanging with doors!

Seems like they may have paid a pretty penny for some of this stuff. . . I wish I had some sage advice for you to get it out of your house (and keep any new coming in) without hurting feelings.

By the way, I snorted when you gave the evil laugh to Linda about the big dead animal on her wall. That cracked me up. How sensitive of you!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

This has been the most entertaining thread......


But Carolyn - I don't think I would care if I offended my IL's - that stuff would not be on display at my house.....:yuck:

And c'mon - who BUYS penis gourds and drums with snakes biting penises to give as gifts? It really seems a bit tasteless. "Oh, that? Why, that's a penis gourd - we thought you would just love it!"

I guess I should be happy that my IL's bought me a garbage disposal! At least I use it and can appreciate it!

 

[janetupnorth]

I can sympathize in the fact that my kids have about 200 stuffed animals in the house!!!! My mom thinks she needs to buy them one all the time...I always here that it was on sale or something...I told her to stop buying them and now she buys a bunch of stuff at the dollar store it seems...On the wall decor...yeah, that can get overwhelming! I don't know what to say except to try and be honest with them. Also, I'd be curious to ask them WHERE they THOUGHT you were going to put it all?!?!?!On a side note, LOVE your houses, they are beautiful...I'd be ashamed to take a picture of my little 2 BR house with 14 year old carpet!!!! I was trying to save to replace it this year, but our roof has a soft spot so that might win out. If you're thinking of selling all this "fancy stuff" you can donate to my floor fund! LOL!

 

[janetupnorth]

This has been the most entertaining thread......


But Carolyn - I don't think I would care if I offended my IL's - that stuff would not be on display at my house.....:yuck:

And c'mon - who BUYS penis gourds and drums with snakes biting penises to give as gifts? It really seems a bit tasteless. "Oh, that? Why, that's a penis gourd - we thought you would just love it!"

I guess I should be happy that my IL's bought me a garbage disposal! At least I use it and can appreciate it!

Hey, maybe you can "accidentally" drop Carolyn's penis gourd down your garbage disposal?

 

[pamperedalf]

I just showed the pics to DH and he said can you say ugly??As my friend Ida would say Holy Crackers!! I don't know how to fix this, sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[pclinskie]

Don't know if anyone posted this, but my mother in law gives me kitchen stuff. I've been doing this for eight years!

 

[ragschef]

Are there any local Art Museums near you?? Maybe you could suggest donating some of it in their honor to an Art Museum, that way everyone could enjoy the great gifts from around the world. Tell them you feel so selfish to keep it all to yourself!!!

LOVE this idea!!!



BTW, what happened to your avatar, Shawna?

 

[ChefLisa]

Oh Carolyn! Just Oh Carolyn!

If your husband likes the penis gourd so much, I think he needs to start wearing it. Those decorations definitely do not belong in a traditional Florida home.

I really liked the advice someone gave you about suggesting they donate money to a charity in the countries they visit.

As far as the items currently on your wall, I am kind of at a lost as to what you should do. I really do think they need to come off the walls!

Oh, Linda, has that animal ever come off the wall at night? I would definitely listen for footsteps. That thing would scare me!

Lisa

 

[PChef_ang]

:blushing: WOW!! It's like watching National Geographic everyday! This thread has definitely made my day....Zebra wall hangings, penis gourds....the door OH MY!! The scary thing is your IL's agree together on this. They see something and say oh, this would be great you guys!! It's unfortuinate as I am sure it isn't cheap to ship some of these things back to the states!!
Thank the Lord I don't have this problem, my stepmom knows my taste, don't really talk with or receive anything from my mom, the IL's are divorced and a bit loopy, we don't get things from them very often either..

I am so sorry that you have to deal with this, yikes!

I would be agonized on how to stop this....I am a people pleaser and would be so worried that i would upset someone, I would end up living in agony just to keep the peace!!:yuck:

 

[MORFIA]

cant relate I have OUT-LAWS---only----

smile and wave==

 

[pamperedlinda]

Okay Carolyn - you definatley win this one! Yikes, that stuff is just plain BAD!! After seeing your pain, my zebra skin isn't so bad after all. I do like the walking stick thing though. Your ILs should meet my ILs - I'm sure they'd have a heyday with who has seen more poverty in whatever country they tend to visit.....LMAO!!!

btw, my ILs have a mask very similar to yours......please pray that I don't have to have it one day. My only saving grace in some of the "family heirlooms" that DH will inherit is that by that time he will have his hangar built and he can hang all that stuff out there in "man town". As his friend told him "the chick gets the house, but she can't say anything about how the hangar looks" I'm good with that!

 

[pamperedlinda]

Oh, Linda, has that animal ever come off the wall at night? I would definitely listen for footsteps. That thing would scare me!

Lisa

Nope, not yet. I 'lovingly' refer to it as the "carcass"! LMAO

 

[chefshawna]

LOVE this idea!!!



BTW, what happened to your avatar, Shawna?

I've just never put one in! I need to download a pic of my family and put in there.


Carolyn....WOW is all I can say!!!!! I really wouldn't want to have to explain the penis drum to my kids.... or anyone for that matter!!! And a penis gourd!?!?! You should tell your in-laws that DH is having an allergic reaction to all the bugs inside and maybe FIL wouldn't be so sensitive so he can have it back!

Good luck!!

 

[cooking.with.ann]

I will never complain about the gifts I receive from my in-laws again.

Carolyn, can you pack up some of these "treasures" to keep them safe for your children to have in their own homes one day? Of course, the box might get lost...darn it, I hate when that happens!

 

[merego]

What is it with MIL's??? My MILhas the most gosh awful taste in everything and her house is wall to wall junk. my walls aren't bare but they have enough of twhat they need to go with how my house is decorated. Not only is her taste awful with decor, she buys me and the kids clothes that I wouldn't wear to go to my mailbox. She sees me all the time, you'd think she'd know what I like and don't like. She is also always trying to dress our kids ( that are 12 months and 12 days apart) like twins and I hate that. Just b/c she did it with her kids doesn't mean I want to do it with mine. WOW... it felt good to get that out!!!! I wish I had some advice Carolyn, but I could use some myself~ ha ha

 

[Gina M]

Thanks for the laughs Carolyn - those are some ugly things! I would be boxing them up "because we need to paint" and then "forget" to put them up again. No way would that be up on my wall!

 

[Rebeccascabinet]

You know I used to complain about my small house, but I am so grateful now because my house is to small to hold a lot of nicknacks (ie. horrible gifts from FIL) and no room for long term guests.

 

[Gina M]

You know I used to complain about my small house, but I am so grateful now because my house is to small to hold a lot of nicknacks (ie. horrible gifts from FIL) and no room for long term guests.

I totally know what you mean - we can never have anyone stay with us (alright by us!) and there is limited space so I only have out what I like and want to have out!

 

[amy07]

Question for your Carolyn: Are those masks that are made from bones actually pelvic bones? That's what it looks like to me!:yuck: I'm thinking your inlaws may have some deeper issues with a fascination for certain body parts! LOL Bless you for taking it in stride this long.
My father is a big outdoorsman so I'm used to seeing the heads/bodies of animals on display but this takes the cake!

Maybe you could find one of those places that does the belly casts of pregnant women and ask for a donation. Get your kids to paint it and give it to them for a "special" occasion! Maybe they would get the hint?

 

[dannyzmom]

Question for your Carolyn: Are those masks that are made from bones actually pelvic bones? That's what it looks like to me!:yuck: I'm thinking your inlaws may have some deeper issues with a fascination for certain body parts! LOL Bless you for taking it in stride this long.
My father is a big outdoorsman so I'm used to seeing the heads/bodies of animals on display but this takes the cake!

Maybe you could find one of those places that does the belly casts of pregnant women and ask for a donation. Get your kids to paint it and give it to them for a "special" occasion! Maybe they would get the hint?

ROFL - man you guys are really making me laugh today. I have been so pissy about the issue for so long, it is nice to finally be able to see some of the humor in it - LOL
THANK YOU!!!

As for the masks, I believe they are from animal skulls??? Ick.
My step-dad is a hunter, too - so I am used to deer heads and things like that - Mom made him keep those up in his office/cave. But at least being an outdoorsman is an All American type thing...penis gourds? Well...not-so-much.

 

[yankeeinontario]

This would be one of the reasons we moved 12 hours away from my MIL. She can't bring me bags of stuff that she got on sale at Big Lots! Further more, she is too cheap to travel all the way up here. I was able to ditch stuff when we moved from Illinois to Ontario! She'll never know.

 

[dannyzmom]

This would be one of the reasons we moved 12 hours away from my MIL. She can't bring me bags of stuff that she got on sale at Big Lots! Further more, she is too cheap to travel all the way up here. I was able to ditch stuff when we moved from Illinois to Ontario! She'll never know.

My ILs live 1200 miles away much of the year and then for 3 months they live in Guatemala now (no, they're not Guatemalan...it was just their favorite destination to visit so they bought a house there)...they visit Florida for about 4 weeks in the winter and 1-2 in the spring. Yet, they still manage to decorate MY house...ugh.

 

[christinaspc]

I feel for you carolyn I wouldn't know what it feels like having MIL who wants to buy you things all the time cause all i ever here them tell my hubby is how i am so hard to shop for so i get a pair of socks for christmas... but his parents and i don't see eye to eye on things. but me being hard to shop for is a joke we have been together for almost 8 yrs.

Best of luck Carolyn, hubby seen the pics and he said " force be with you" he feels those are ugly items as well. He said the door should be a whopper.

 

[janetupnorth]

If you had enough land, I'd build them a little "summer cabin" by you and decorate it with all the STUFF they gave you!