We all know the feeling. A longtime friend visits home and brings with her the newest scent from her grandmother’s candle collection in a fruity scent — and you’re a floral-scent kind of gal. A boyfriend gives you a surprise for Christmas, that — surprise! You have already bought yourself (Ooof!). A coworker gifts you a shirt from Tommy Bahama because she overheard you talking about your childhood dream of owning a surf shack (true story).
What once was meant as a meaningful gift to you sometimes ends as clutter in some area of the house. Don’t let it go to waste! Whether you are a practicing re-gifter or shun the idea altogether, there are ways to re-purpose and organize otherwise useful items that we may just, well, have no use for.
Let’s be honest for a minute before we get to the nitty gritty. Some gift giving fiascoes are a product of good intentions — trying to fill in parts of our personalities with what they know about us led to the Tommy Bahama beach shirt situation. Others are due to a lack of trying — like the year I was given a used curling iron at a youth group game of White Elephant one Christmas. And some are done intentionally to send a message, like sending you a vacuum cleaner when you move into your first apartment (yet I still use it, thanks mom!). You have to give them credit for trying.
[Read more…] about Re-Gift or Return? The Fine Art of Purging Gifts After the Holidays
