From the awkward to the outrageous: The funniest Christmas gift mishaps

Every year there’s at least one family member left a little red-faced thanks to a slightly awkward or disappointing Christmas gift, whether it was intentional or not.

From unintentionally rude gifts from gran, to an epic homemade failure, there have been some incredible blunders over recent years and they’ve all been shared online for the world to see.

Here are some of the funniest fails yet.

‘She’s 82 and gave this to me. I’ve never even heard her swear’

Grandparents have the best of intentions when it comes to Christmas presents, but this Reddit user got a shock when he opened his festive gift and expected to find Long Johns.

Instead, it was a very rude knitted piece designed to cover a single part of his body. Whether his gran was aware of the error or not is unclear, but it sparked some funny responses on the chat site.

One user commented: “I guarantee she didn’t look inside and thought she was just getting you long johns” while another added “Fruit warmer? Pocket for banana and two clementines? Either way….needs banana for scale….”

‘My brother never fails to disappoint with his personalised Christmas gifts’

Some siblings are very creative when it comes to making their siblings Christmas gifts but this brother may have stolen the crown for funniest surprise yet.

He created his own personalised calendar to give to his sibling, complete with photos of him dressed up as a banana, carrying a plate of croissants and even giving the dog a kiss on the nose over a ‘romantic’ candle-lit dinner.

It was applauded by other users on Reddit, with one commenting: “Your brother is hilarious and talented! Post last year’s gift please” while another added: “Is your brother single? Because I’d date him in a hot second.”

‘My crooked eyed Granny knit me some socks for Christmas’

Everyone is likely to have given or received some knitted socks for Christmas at some point in their life – whether you got them growing up from your own gran, or have started making them for your grandkids now.

But this Reddit user’s gift went horribly wrong when his “crooked eyed” gran accidentally knitted one much longer than the other – apparently completely unaware of the error.

At least he appeared to find the funny side, and happily posed for a photo in the leg-wear.

’10 years from now we’ll be discussing this in therapy’

Christmas is a particularly special time for children, as they wait with bated breath to discover what Santa and their parents will surprise them with.

But one mum managed to get it horribly wrong when instead of getting a smile from her young son, she got screams of terror.

Taking to Facebook, she shared a photo of her son cowering in the background while she held up a toy spider – called a ‘yellie’ – which essentially scuttles across the floor in the direction of the loudest sound it hears. Unfortunately, that meant it literally chased this little boy around when he started screaming in panic.

Choosing to give her son Leo his present a few weeks before Christmas, his mum revealed on Facebook: “I test it out. I’m amazed at how powerful the little motor is… how fast the little legs move… how its creepy little eyes glow a lovely shade of radioactive green. So I call Leo in.”

“He looks at it, cocks his little head to the side. And then, obviously, I yelled at it. The spider ran for it. Leo starts screaming… the louder he screams, the faster the spider pursued him. He runs.

“And this is when we discovered the fun little feature in which the spider has a tendency to stop abruptly… pause for a couple seconds… spin in several erratic circles… and then turn towards wherever it senses sound… and take off in that direction. More screaming. Spider runs faster.

“Leo is backed into a corner as murder glows green in the eyes of little ‘Skadoodle’.”

Safe to say she won’t be buying that again.

‘I’m 24 and still living with my parents. This is what I got for Christmas’

Many parents expect their adult children to leave home in their early 20s, whether it’s to university and then onwards, or to find a job and settle down in their own home.

One couple got so sick of their child refusing to leave that they dropped one of the biggest hints imaginable for their Christmas present. Instead of treating them to the classic clothes, socks or chocolates, they forked out for two matching suitcases to try and send them on their way.

Seeing the funny side, the Reddit user shared a photo online and it got a huge response as one user commented: “Would be even better if you opened the big one and there was a piece of paper saying ‘GET OUT’,” while another added: “I remember my dad telling me about how he got suitcases with all his clothes packed in them for his 16th birthday. Needless to say I was terrified on the day I turned 16.”

‘Grandma gift gone bad…’

Sometimes, a completely innocent gift can cause an uproar on Christmas Day, and one internet user sparked a hilarious reaction in December 2015 when they shared a photo of a t-shirt a grandmother allegedly gave to an 11-year-old.

While it appeared to innocently show the McDonald’s Golden Arches logo, it was actually a pair of legs pointing out in an X-rated position.

Unfortunately this gran isn’t the only one to fall for the deceptive t-shirt, and a mum made the same mistake earlier this year when she sent her young son to school in one.

Explaining how the epic mistake happened at the time, Shelly McCullar from Texas, US, said she’d been given hand-me-down clothes from a friend, and hadn’t had chance to go through them properly yet.

When homemade gifts for the mother-in-law go very wrong

Making gifts yourself adds a loving touch to your Christmas handouts, especially when you’re trying to impress the in-laws with your creative side.

But one woman got it very wrong when she attempted to make her mother-in-law some homemade candles for the festive season and they ended up looking very dodgy indeed.

Taking to parenting forum Mumsnet, she shared a photo of the finished result and wrote: “We all love Game of Thrones, so I thought it would be cool to make white candles with a blood red centre, and then carve it to look like one of the weirwood trees.”

However, she admitted the results were “lumpen” and added: “Do you think I can salvage them? Or should I just give as is and pretend they’re meant to be erotic candles? They smell really nice but look horrible.”

The question got a mixed response as one mum commented: “They do look a bit strange but I’m sure she’d appreciate the trouble you’ve gone to!” While another added: “They look like something off an eating trial on Im a celeb. Sorry OP!”

‘My great aunt gifted me moisturiser that’s TWELVE YEARS OUT OF DATE’

Every family has that organised relative that plans months in advance what to get their family members for Christmas. Meanwhile on the flip-side, there are some that leave it to the last minute year after year.

It’s unclear which bracket this great aunt fell into, but if she’d planned in advance, it was more than a decade too far.

A shocked Reddit user opened their gift on Christmas Day to discover they had been given moisturiser that was 12 years out of date – with the use by date clearly visible on the front. Sometimes, hoarding ‘back-up’ gifts for years really can go wrong.