A house-warming gift

I have well and truly neglected this blog lately. I just had a quick peruse and it's been almost a month since I last posted something on here, so I apologise for my considerable absence. Moving on, and I moved into a new house about six months ago now and my sister and her girlfriend decided to each give me a gift. How lovely of them. Unfortunately for me that equates to double the amount of ugly crap accumulating in my room and an extra chance for me to win that ultimate of prizes, the fugly trophy. My sister's girlfriend gave me a lovely... christmas ornament? I'm really not sure as to what purpose it serves exactly but I do know that it definitely fulfills the criteria of a fugly present. They jointly gifted me a heinous pink felt locker. Yes, fluorescent mini locker which they took the liberty of 'beautifying' or in the words of an Alice in Wonderland character 'uglifying.' So without further ado I present you with both gifts in all their splendour and glory.





And the best for last, here's the beauty of the pink locker. Although I must hasten to add that I don't think the photos quite do its ugliness justice.

A glorious day

This is Gloria. She's a rather provocative garden gnome that I gifted to my sister's girlfriend for Christmas last year. She's a um, very classy little lady who now adorns their storage cupboard in plain sight of guests. I think she's a great addition to any home. She's also one of the only fugly presents I haven't found in an op shop. I found her hidden among some of the classier items at a cheap shop in my hometown and couldn't resist her rather creepy demeanour. So that's how she came to be the new member of my sister and her girlfriend's abode. A touch of class never goes astray.

Meet Fiona

Following on from the last post, this is the present I gave my sister for her birthday a couple of weekends ago. She's aptly been named Fiona the Fugly Hippo. She's a handmade, paper-mache hippo money box and the lady who served me at the op shop kindly informed me that she's also about 30 years old. That's a good vintage year for hippos isn't it? I think the real kicker though is the little frill skirt she's wearing and how she's lovingly adorned with pink, white, green and yellow flowers which surely adds a little pizazz to any outfit. So without further ado, I introduce to you the gorgeous Fiona.

Fowl Owls

My sister and I went back home this weekend to celebrate her birthday, my Dad's birthday and Mother's day all at the same time. It gets too hard to organise all four of us to catch up so we celebrate all three events at the same time. So there'll be a few more posts in the coming weeks about the 'fuglies' that were gifted for these ocassions. So I figure we may as well go in chronological order and start with Mother's Day. So my sister and I gave Mum a set of beautiful ornamental owls to sit in her new bookcase. She's been looking for some unique knick-knacks to fill up some of the empty spaces and we thought these were absolutely perfect. It's a little family of wooden owls. They actually remind me of wooden furbies. They have rather creepy and strange looks on their faces. These presents always seem to be quite photogenic, the photos never do their ugliness justice. It makes it a tad difficult to understand the depth of the unattractiveness of these little critters. But Mum's been true to the rules and had them on display after only a few hours, an impressive move. Needless to say, I think this was a truly special gift.

P.S. Credit for the title should be given to my Mum who came up with the term upon receiving such a truly wonderful gift.

A gift of beauty

As the wonderfully thoughtful sister I am, I just knew that my sister would absolutely adore this beautiful photo frame for Christmas. Call it intuition but I think I was on the money. Maybe it was the thoughtfully arranged ducks climbing up the tree on the side? Or the grimy dirt still caked onto the frame? I'm not sure, but either way it was a hit. It might not have been a contender for the grand prize but it still warms the heart to see such a wonderful gift that's truly appreciated.

A New House

My sister and her girlfriend moved into a new place a few months ago now and so of course, they had to have a lovely house-warming present. So it was with delight that I went op-shopping to both my regular haunts and a few new ones and found these absolute gems. I'm not quite sure they take pride of place in the house but they're still on display which is always good to see! I'm sorry for the poor lighting in these photos. This is the delightful shoe knick-knack. As far as I know it serves no obvious purpose aside from looking fabulous. I mean who doesn't love sequins?!






But this is my personal favourite. I found these salt and pepper shakers after I'd found the shoe and I figured considering there's two of them, I was well within the limits of the rules to buy them each a house-warming present. I think it's the creepy, vacant eyes that get me the most with this present. We may just have a contender on our hands.

The Joy of Giving

This is what my parent's gave me for Christmas last year. I don't think it quite lives up to the hideousness of the helmet or the 'frog,' but I give them kudos for effort nonetheless.

Here's what they gave my sister:



A particularly good effort but I have a feeling this year we may have all upped the ante quite a bit! I already have my sister's 'fugly' present selected for her birthday which is next month. I've had it for about three months or so and I'm hoping it will be enough to get me over the line for that oh-so-grand prize at the end of the year.

Rodrigo

Say hello to Rodrigo. My sister and her girlfriend gave him to me for my 21st Birthday. Such caring souls. He's made of terracotta and he's extra creepy because he's only got one eye painted on. He almost made the cut for contender for the top prize but he missed out to the helmet.

12 Days of Christmas

Keeping with the Christmas theme I thought I'd post some pictures of my Mum's Christmas present from my sister and I. We found this treat at our local op-shop and couldn't resist. It think it might have been the balding part of the whole thing that lured us in. For $1, I think it was the cheapest fugly present to date, and maybe the most impressive.

Christmas: The Season of Giving

Christmas is always associated with family, elaborate meals and of course, gifts. As a particular competitive family, and with the awards season upon us we all felt the pressure to step up to the plate and produce something truly wonderful (or awful in our case). I personally believe that my sister and I went above and beyond for our Dad's present who is probably the rightful owner of the trophy. But alas, that is another debate. I would say Dad is the proud owner of such a masterpiece, but I would be lying as I'm sure you can all sympathise with. So without further ado I present to you all, the nameless, unidentifiable ..thing, that is now sitting snug and cosy on a bookshelf at Mum and Dad's.





I'm sure you can see why Dad was less than pleased when this met his eyes on Christmas morning. A gift I'm not sure my sister and I will be able to surpass. We'll just have to prowling through op shops and do our darndest. Here's hoping.

Daughters of the Year

My sister and I are such loving daughters we thought we'd be especially nice and give Mum something extra lovely for her birthday. Finding something adequate proved quite a dilemma. You could find us traipsing through op shops, sifting through piles and piles of those unloved gems that are always buried towards the bottom. Luckily for us, there is one particular op shop that seems to deliver without fail each time we need something decidedly worthy of the ice cream trophy. I hereby present to you the indescribable pink mass that is Mum's birthday jewelry box.







My sister and I also helped Dad out a bit to find something from him. Dad's gets bonus points for size and weight on top of the fugly factor.