2012 Holiday Gift Guide + Two Giveaways!


All Gifts are $70 or Under

  1. Baby Fortune Cookie Booties (Uncommon Goods Giveaway Eligible)
  2. Walnut Nut Cracker
  3. Footed Wood Tray
  4. State Aprons (UncommonGoods Giveaway Eligible)
  5. Faux Toast Coasters
  6. Matryoshka Doll Pepper Mill
  7. Jeni’s Holiday Collection Ice Cream
  8. Kombucha Home Brew Kit
  9. Knife & Fork Chopsticks (UncommonGoods Giveaway Eligible)
  10. Flying Pig Illustration
  11. Eggs & Soldiers Screen Print
  12. Weck Jar Set
  13. Recycled Glass Wine Decanter (UncommonGoods Giveaway Eligible)
  14. Rick’s Picks Top Seller Pack
  15. Himalayan Salt Tequila Classes (UncommonGoods Giveaway Eligible)
  16. The Preservation Kitchen (plays nicely with #12. Weck Jar Set)

Need More Ideas?

Take a look at last year’s guide2011 Holiday Gift Guide

UncommonGoods Giveaway

Up For Wins

Did you read where it said ‘UncommonGoods Giveaway Eligibile’. Welp, that means, if you’re the randomly chosen winner, you can select from those products and have one sent to you for f-r-e-e.

UncommonGoods is an online retailer of creative gift ideas for everyone.(Take a look at their Christmas Pinterest board for more nifty-gifty inspiration.) Not only that, but their biz model focuses on sustainability, hand-made artistry, recycled products and UncommonGoods donates $1 of EVERY purchase made to your choice of select non-profits.

To Enter

Like Health-Bent + UncommonGoods on Facebook (+ follow Health-Bent on Twitter). Then, comment below with the worst Christmas present you’ve ever received or given (just because I like to laugh).

Details

One winner will be selected at random. Health-Bent will notify the winner via email, so please triple-check that your email has been entered correctly. Winner may choose from any UG eligible product as their “prize”.

Ends

Thursday, December 13th @ 11:59 Eastern. Email will be sent Friday.

 

H2O Labs Water Distiller Giveaway

People are under the false impression that their tap water, and even bottled water and water produced by home filtration systems is “pure”. It isn’t.
Distilled water is the purest form of water. Tap water is loaded with many types of suspended pollutants, chemicals, toxins and other contaminants. Bottled water is usually plain tap water that has been minimally filtered to get rid of the bad odor and taste. And home filtered water, (even reverse osmosis), is not pure either. Many microscopic contaminants make it through the filtering process to end up in the water you drink. And filters become clogged and neglected and can turn into breeding grounds for bacteria. If this happens, “filtered” water can actually become MORE contaminated than the source water!

The process used by H2OLabs Water Distillation Systems is the only method that produces the purest drinking water possible.

Up For Wins

H2O Labs’ Best-in-Class Countertop Home Water Distiller model with 100% Stainless Steel Steam Chamber and Condensing Coil, this water distiller has White Baked-Enamel Metal main body and New One Gallon Break-Resistant Food Grade, (BPA-FREE), Polypropylene Carafe. Worth over $200.

To Enter

Like Health-Bent on Facebook (+ follow Health-Bent on Twitter), then comment below with your thoughts on the 5-second rule…in other words, do you eat food if it’s fallen on the ground?

Details

One winner will be selected at random. Health-Bent will notify the winner via email, so please triple-check that your email has been entered correctly.

Ends

Thursday, December 13th @ 11:59 Eastern. Email will be sent Friday.

You may enter both giveaways one time (one comment per giveaway). Cheaters will be hanged–I mean, disqualified.


Comments

146 responses to “2012 Holiday Gift Guide + Two Giveaways!”

  1. I already LIKE Health-Bent on FB!

  2. I LIKE’d Uncommon Goods on FB! Love their whimsical gift ideas!

  3. Sara Grambusch

    The worst Christmas gift I’ve received is probably just any kind of calendar where you can tell someone bought it for you just for the sake of having something to give you. That’s just a waste of everything.

  4. I gave a huge bag of Kingston coal to a former roommate anonymously. I couldn’t have sent a bigger statement to the kind of roommate she was.

  5. Yes, I am guilty of the 5-sec rule, even though I’ve taken enough microbiology classes to know that it doesn’t matter.

  6. Sara Grambusch

    I absolutely will eat food that fell on the floor (depending on the floor) but I eat expensive real food and it’s getting eaten!!

  7. Follow you guys on Twitter! @mrschef05

  8. I was once given a broken statue of a bird (that I knew was from the dollar store) and a few of those dollar dvds that people buy and then never watch.

  9. And yes, I do follow the five second rule. The only time that I don’t is when I can see dirt (esp hair) stuck on the food.

  10. The worst I got was a furby from you grandmother when I was about 23. She gave my cousin and I matching ones. When I threw it away I probably scared the crap out of the trash guy since the furby was still talking in the garbage bag saying “Dark scary.”

  11. I already like Health-Bent on FB.

    I think best and worst is in the eye of the beholder. 🙂 One year, my husband and I gave his sister a box of half-eaten chocolates. Enclosed was a picture of us taste-testing them. You know, quality assurance. Personally, I think that’s one of the best gifts we’ve given but if you ask her, well, she vehemently disagrees.

  12. I already follow Health Bent on FB and Twitter…just liked Uncommon Goods. 🙂

    The worst gift I ever received hands down was at a work “White Elephant” gift exchange. I received a roll of the funky office toilet paper and a can of air freshener. Wow! LOL

  13. Facebooked and tweeted, the worse gift I ever got was a used puzzle with lots of pieces missing

  14. Heck yes on the 5 second rule.

  15. Worst Christmas present ever:

    When I was a kid, all I wanted was a Turbo Hopper. It was this remote-controlled off-roading car…thing. According to the commercial, which was of course the expert source of info to my 12-year old girl brain, it could do flips and amazing feats of jumping proportions. Instead, I received a large red remote control car from Radio Shack. I think it was a sedan. In retrospect, Turbo Hoppers were probably very expensive, but at the time, I felt like my parents didn’t know me AT ALL. lol beginning of teenage angst years.

    Runner-up: 1st grade, birthday, my mom forgot to buy me a present, and stopped at Hallmark and bought me a calendar of Victorian-drawn bears. There is a photo of me with this and a WTHeck look on my face. That was my only present, and at some point, she took the calendar and framed the pictures up as decoration in our house. hmm.

  16. Following all three! The worst Christmas gift I received was a box of those liquor filled chocolates while doing the whole30.

  17. I totes liked you on FB! Is it horrible if I say yes to the 5 second rule? I rinse it off for sure…

  18. I follow the 5 second rule if I haven’t swept in a while. Unless it’s chocolate. Chocolate will be eaten.

  19. Like both on Facebook!

    Worst gift ever, hmmmm….probably not the worst gift I’ve ever gotten, but one year I got a really ugly tie that I told my aunt I didn’t like. The next year you know what I got from the same aunt? The same exact tie.

  20. Hey!! I’d love to win because my family always buys gmo’s and tells me that i need a job to pay for real food…. my life seriously sucks and i wish i could make you laugh but ive never had a birthday present in 19 years 🙁 Please let me win this so i can drink good water

  21. 5 second rule: yes for meat, no for most everything else. I am never letting meat get wasted in my household. Never.

  22. The worst gift I ever received was one of those furry, knit scarves that were semi-popular a few years back. It was the color of vomit and looked like my childhood homes’ shag carpeting. Needless to say the giver knit it by hand and I had to wear it for her the rest of the day. To this day I still pretend to not know how it was “lost.” 🙂

  23. The WORST christmas gift I ever got was a COUPON for a jcPenney store… I got it from one of my uncles when I was 14. I went up to him and told him I would exchange the coupon for 5 bucks hehe.

  24. Chocolate has immunity and does not get a 5- second rule (except in public places ew). The rest of foods…. its more like 10 second rule as long as I am in my own floor.

  25. Already done & done!

    Worst gift that I received was some car products- armor-all wipes, a squeegee, & a dashboard duster.

  26. Liked health-bent on FB! Worst Christmas gift was a bag of lindt truffle chocolates from my hubby. Not exactly figure friendly!

  27. I’d eat anything that falls off the ground. I would just wipe it off or wash it real quick and its still as good as it was before i fell

  28. I totally live by the 5-second rule! (Unless, of course, I pick the food up and it’s covered in dog hair.) Thanks for the giveaway! Keeping my fingers crossed!

  29. Pearce Herchenrader

    For Christmas when I was 18 I think, my grandmother bought me a beach towel that had tons and tons of kittens on it. She said it would help me get all the girls at the beach lol.

  30. The worst gift I have ever received was a night gown from my grandma. I’m talking taking us back to Little House on the Prairie, floor length, pink flower pattern, lacy turtleneck collar, night gown. I kept it for years and would put it on every now and then to get a chuckle out of my family. Thanks for the giveaway!

  31. My family is notorious for giving bad Christmas gifts. The absolute worst was a fake snakeskin bomber jacket four times too big. I and a friend were able to both get into it and zip it up. The second worst gift I was given was a jar of goo that made a farting noise when you put your fingers into it. { I was 25 years old when I received this gift]

  32. Liked and Followed. The worst Christmas gift I’ve ever received was a calendar. I always seem to get the worst gifts with the White Elephant and Secret Santa exchanges.

  33. I don’t follow the 5-second rule. Meaning that I will eat things long after 5 seconds have elapsed, ew. (Not if they have floor goop stuck to them though. Dry goods only!)

  34. Oh and the 5 second rule, I know it makes no sense, but if it’s something good, I’ll eat it off the floor. Also depends on the floor though.

  35. The worst christmas present I ever received was when I was 28…..I got the book “He’s just not that into you…..from my DAD (yes, you read that right). As a bonus, I got to open it in front of my entire extended family too (about 25 people)!!

    I followed the rules – liked you guys on facebook and liked uncommon goods and followed you on twitter too!

    Happy Holidays!
    Elissa

  36. As a 14 yr old avid hard rock and metal enthusiast, I received a Mariah Carey CD. Needless to say i was speechless.

  37. The worst Christmas gift I ever received was absolutely nothing, two years in a row, at an annual secret santa exchange among my friends. (I did end up receiving one of those missing gifts 3.5 years later, though!)

  38. OriginalCyn

    Worst Christmas gift ever, I was seven. My dad gave me a huge jar of pickles. I mean, I like pickles but they’re no Barbie Ferrari…

  39. OriginalCyn

    Five Second Rule… a little camp spice never hurt anyone.

  40. The worst gift was a crystal shaped into a tennis ball… It really was just an over-glorified, super-heavy paper weight. And worst of all, it came from my fiance… After 13 years of marriage, I’ve almost completely forgiven him 😛

  41. Considering that the bacteria that may possibly be living on my kitchen floor is nothing compared to the normal conditions in a third world nation, I don’t even think about not eating something that briefly met with my floor… But it’s only applicable when I can beat my dog to it! Seems she like eating paleo just as much as me 🙂

  42. The worst Christmas gift I ever got was an enormous coffee table book of the Chicago skyline… I live in Boston.

  43. The worst present I ever received for the holidays was a this horrific, dark purple/black lipstick. Yuck!

  44. I once got a toothbrush that jingled if you were brushing the “right way”. I was not a child when it was given to me.

    Lately, my boyfriend was given a travel chess kit that was missing about a third of the pieces.

    Oh, and one of my students once brought me a box of chocolates for Christmas that she’d already eaten half of.

  45. Mary McDaniel

    My boyfriend’s (at the time, now husband) mom gave me a terrible denim shirt embroidered with sunflower seeds.
    That could be cool.
    But it was very, very, very far from cool. It was like I was a 20 year old Grandma. Dang it.

  46. So, I pride myself on being a Great Gift Giver, and I don’t think I’ve ever given a bad gift. A few years ago, my husband’s cousin gave us ice scrapers for your windshield. They were the kind that you plugged into the cigarette lighter in your car and it would heat up. She claimed that she had one and loved it so much that she got one for everyone. Clearly, she just stopped at CVS prior to coming over and bought 10 boxes of these scrapers to pass out. It sat in the closet for a few years before we threw them out.
    I used to follow the five second rule, but we have a Siberian Husky who sheds all the time, and if something falls on the ground, I swear all of the hair on the floor instantly sticks to it. No more five second rule in our house. If it hits the floor, it’s done. Even if it’s bacon, unfortunately.

  47. I received a brass dolphin sculpture… yep, brass. dolphins. I live in land locked Atlanta and received this from my prospective in-laws for Christmas. It was beyond hideous and unfortunately rather large. Imagine my surprise when they said, “we saw this and knew it was the perfect gift for you.” And they were serious. I kept thinking, how do I respond? Lucky for me, they took my jaw drop and silence as me being overwhelmed with excitement and joy.

    Well, fast forward a few months after the holidays… the dolphin hit the Goodwill (sorry Goodwill!) and the engagement hit the road. Phew, that was a close call of many more gifted brass objets d’art…

  48. One time I was participating in some sort of a “White Elephant” with work members on a staff retreat (I work at a church). Turns out everyone brought nice things, I however, didn’t have anything and had completely forgotten that we were to bring something. I found a tiny plastic dog in a drawer and one of those HUGE pickles in a bag. That was my present.

    Also, I definitely eat things off the floor, 5 seconds plus.

  49. I follow all on FB (Sarah Cramer) and health-bent on twitter (@chunkytales)!

    The worst present I ever got were lady bug earrings from my mom. When I was 22. She tries!!

  50. Yes, on the 5 second rule…depending on the floor. My house absolutely! 😉

  51. One year, I received a giant ceramic rooster. I think it was a cookie jar. But it became the worst gift I’ve ever given the following year….

  52. The worst present I ever received was a black leather fanny pack with a half used roll of toilet paper in it. I think my aunt or uncle used it then decided to gift it to me. (I don’t want to know why the tp was in there…yuck!)

  53. I would eat nuts off the floor.

  54. Already liked you on fb. Just followed you on twitter and liked uncommon goods on fb. My sweet, adorable grandmother gives me these furry socks every single year. They are horrid, but I don’t have the heart to tell her. And then I regift them to some of my nieces on the other side of the family. Terrible, I know.

  55. Mary Frances

    In an office grab bag, I ended up with the Beef Bullion. I wasn’t a white elephant, just a grab bag but I am pretty sure I got the worst one!

    Five second rule…..I think it’s really 10 or 20 seconds! No big deal!

  56. By far the worst gift ever was from my first husband – a cream colored pant suit from Lane Bryant after I gave birth to my daughter. Keep in mind I was only a size 12.

  57. oh and for the 5 second rule, I always eat it. Unless it’s somewhere in a gross, public place then no way.

  58. 5 second rule is a no go in our house…unless you want a hand bitten by my crumb-stalking dog. If it hits the floor, it’s her territory.

  59. Liked you and uncommon goods on facebook. I don’t have a twitter so I can’t follow you there. The worst present that I received was a filling cabinet when I was 12 from my dad.

  60. The worst gift I ever got was when my parents gave me a journal in high school…the gift itself was fine, until my parents later READ the journal and I got in a heap of trouble! #entrapment

    The five second rule is definitely in play so long as the food and floor are both dry.

  61. I like HB on FB. I would only eat the food if it falls on my kitchen floor. We don’t wear our outside shoes in the house and I clean a lot.

  62. I remember back when I was young and in Girl Scouts and we exchanged gifts by playing a game where you pass it around the circle. I always got the yucky gifts.

  63. Worst x-mas present was a ladies tool set.

  64. With no visible yuckiness, I do employ the 5 second rule.

  65. Yep, I sure do eat food off the ground.

  66. Worst gift ever was from a white elephant (that was NOT supposed to be gag gifts): someone’s old rec sports league trophy.

  67. Re: The 5 second rule: If I can’t wash it off after it’s fallen to the ground, it goes straight into my trash.

  68. I use the 5 second rule at home… not anywhere else.

  69. Love your recipes, follow you on FB, and now on twitter. Just liked UncommonGoods. The worst gift I have received just won’t come to mind! But I definitely remember the worst gift I have given… A group of girlfriends decided to have a gift exchange last year, and the wording was “Please bring a gift for the white elephant gift exchange…the tackier the better”… for some reason I was the only one who got the memo on the “tackier” part of that. One of the gifts was starbucks coffee, one was a set of wineglasses. My heart was racing as these gifts were opening as the gift I brought was a TACKY HIDEOUS ceramic vase from the dollarstore (that was given to me as a wedding present 4 years earlier…) I felt like garbage for the girl who ended up opening it and having to take it home…. BOO. I now refuse to participate in tacky exchanges… or at least raise my standards on “tacky”. Haha. Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

  70. Sarah Al-Khayyal

    LOVE your website, and asked for your book for Christmas 🙂 I’m new to paleo, and as a University student it can get pretty tough sticking to it, but your website has both motivated me and made things easier! I liked you guys and UncommonGoods on facebook.
    As for the worst present I’ve ever received: toenail clippers. Needless to say, I was insulted haha

  71. I almost always use the five second rule! When I’m not at my own home however, I prefer not to.

  72. Worst Christmas gift was a gift card to a store that I hadn’t heard of.

  73. One year I received the absolute WORST gift possible! Remember when you’d by a Nokia phone, it would come with a home charger and a little extra plastic stand that you could plug into and have the bulky Nokia sit up-right in? If not (http://di1-4.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/2f/6c/bf/107895874-260×260-0-0_global+marketing+partners+cisco+7925g+dual+charger.jpg)

    Well, yes….I got that free piece wrapped up as a present. All mine.

  74. Worst Christmas gift was pocket mirrors.

  75. Depends on what it is I dropped… the yummier the food the more likely I am to apply the rule!

  76. Worst present – a dickey from my grandmother – the faux turtlenecks that aren’t really shirts. Yep. That happened.

  77. Monique C. M.

    I already like you on facebook!
    Before getting a dog, I had no problem with the 5 second rule. Now the dog gets to it within a split second. Stealthy dog.

  78. the five second rule, Never, I have a cat and a dog and if the dog doesn’t get it in the first 2 seconds, it is more than likely to have a dog hair on it somewhere, no matter when I cleaned the kitchen last. At work, not a chance if I want to live to a ripe old age, the carpet is the same as it was 5 years ago and has never been shampooed!

  79. Worst Christmas gift ever was from my Nana. She and her husband would buy one particular item each year in bulk and then pass them out for Christmas. One year it was VERY cheesy cartoon character shirts (Tweety, Sylvester, etc…). I got a Tweety Bird shirt in adult XL when I was 9 and weighed maybe 80 pounds. It was huge and very ugly, but it made a great nightgown (yes gown, it was all the way to the floor).

  80. The worst present, hum there are several, but probably the 3 size to big underwear when I was at my top weight!

  81. Love some Health-Bent and UncommonGoods. As for the 5 second rule, the rule varies based on the “stick ability” of said food. Tater tots are safe, but a slice of melty cheese gets tossed. Only in the safety of my home though! And as for the worst gift ever? A chia pet. They still freakin make those?!?

  82. I liked you on FB and I also like Uncommon Goods on FB. I love that place…they have such cool gifts! I can’t think of the worst gift I’VE ever gotten, but a friend of mine has gotten the worst I’ve ever heard! He got some m&m’s wrapped up in a piece of paper towel from the bathroom, with a shoelace to tie the top together. And the m&m’s were old ones that had been sitting out on someone’s desk for a month!

  83. worst xmas present-tweezers. just tweezers. & i don’t have excessive facial hair! 🙂

  84. 5 sec rule doesn’t apply for me as i have 2 dogs who watch every move i make & would be on top of the dropped item before i had a chance to even consider picking it up!

  85. Brendan McGreevy

    Last year I re-gifted some “imperfect” under shirts and socks that my grandmother gave me (and has given me evey year for Chrstmas and Birthdays…they make for amazing dish rags I might say). These went to my little brother who also receives the same gift from my grandparents. Lucky guy got a huge bundle of dish rags!

  86. Brendan McGreevy

    Oh the 5 second rule…how I loved the concept until I minored in Public Health and learned of all the scary flesh eating, vomit/diarrhea causing, and deadly bacteria that linger everywhere.

  87. The worst gift I have ever gotten….was a Fanny pack….Awesome right?

  88. 5 second rule?
    That doesn’t exist in my world….Too many germs!

  89. When I was really young (around 6 or so) I decided to give “Thoughtful” gifts to my family. I gave my sister a toothpick Chinese umbrella and a Ticonderoga pencil and my parents each a homemade picture. They weren’t nearly as excited as I was, haha. Thanks for the giveaway!

  90. A pressure washer….hmmmm kind of a duel purpose gift from my hubby!
    5 second rule no problem off of our floor!! 🙂

  91. worst holiday gift was from my mom (of course!)
    it was during a time where she didn’t know me and my likes too well (when does she ever? well, ok, she got better)

    long story short, she got me some sort of new age waterfall rock thing from sears i think, the look on my face was priceless… i just gave her this look, she knew…

  92. My family did a horrible white elephant and I got used socks. Ewwwww!

  93. Following you and Uncommon Goods on FB and Twitter. Worst Christmas present ever? An elephant statue made from little shells. Or… the crochet refrigerator magnet in the shape of a butterfly and a matching pot holder… they were brown and orange.

  94. Follow you anywhere! (on FB and Twitter. And re: 5 second rule, I’m sad to say that we do follow it here, even when we shouldn’t.

  95. The worst gift I have received was a red sweater with a large reindeer on it. It may have been a great present as a kid, but I received it in college.

  96. I wish I could paste or attach a picture here as a picture’s worth a thousand words…

    The worst Christmas gift I’ve ever received is the same one I’ve also given many times. The story goes like this: My paternal grandmother was famous for giving used Christmas gifts to those family members she was angry with. She was always angry with Aunt Sharron, who was thus always getting gifts like threadbare kitchen towels. One year, my grandmother gave her a particularly bad gift – an old pilled acrylic sweater vest that smelled like moth balls. My sister and I (who had had a few too many cocktails at that particular family Christmas party… or at every family Christmas party, come to think of it) found it hilarious, but Aunt Sharron did not and vowed revenge. My sweet grandmother passed away some years later, and we began the tradition of playing bingo (her favorite game) at our family Christmas parties in her honor – you get a bingo, you choose a gift from under the tree or steal a gift from someone else. And there under the tree, unbeknownst to us, was the wildcard gift: The Sweater, which Aunt Sharron had held onto for years and had now embellished with bows and ribbons. For twenty-ish years now, The Sweater has come back as the wildcard gift each Christmas. The person who wins it one year embellishes it and brings it back the next year for someone else to win in bingo. And it really is a “win”. Everyone wants The Sweater! My favorite embellishment is a picture I ironed onto the back of it of my cousins mooning my camera at another family function. Aunt Sharron was not happy about that and glued hula skirts over their bums when it was her year. My sister got the sweater last year and she’s an apparel designer, so it should be pretty awesome this time around.

    I have a 2yo and a 4yo so you have got to be kidding me about the 5 second rule. We were leaving a restaurant this summer, and I noticed my 4yo was chewing gum. We don’t do gum so I was perplexed. “Grace, where did you get that gum?” “Oh, I found it over on the ground by that bench where we were playing hide and seek after dinner.” “Grace! We do not pick random things up off the ground, and we especially do not put them in our mouths!” “I KNOW, MOM, but it just looked so DELICIOUS! And it was BLUE!”

    Yes, the whole family is nuts.

    What’s the worst gift you’ve given/received?

  97. the worst gift i’ve ever recieved were hand warmers! i was thinking to myself, “is this for real?” …and they were dead serious

  98. Charne Claassens

    Worst Christmas Present Ever:
    An over hugely sized panty stuffed in a pencil pouch with some soap!

    ps. I liked you both on facebook!

  99. Charne Claassens

    5 sec rule…totally depends on where food fell and what type of food it was!

  100. Back in my day it was the 10 second rule (it was always about candy too). I still hold to “a little dirt never hurt anyone”. But the dog hair does gross me out, pick or rinse those off and we’re good.
    p.s. been eating paleo 5ish years now and I really enjoy your recipes, thank you!

  101. It depends where the five-second rule happens. If it’s at a busy restaurant or any other public location, no thanks, I’ll wait till I get home to get something to eat. If it’s at my house, sure!

    Liked Health Bent on Facebook and followed on Twitter as @lifesdeepcolors. Thanks for the fun giveaway!

  102. Worst (funniest) gift ever given to someone was a schnitzel and noodle candle!! Yum

  103. Well, maybe not the worst gift, quite helpful actually, but couldn’t have been given in a worse way.
    So, there I was, all 11 years of me, opening my stocking on Christmas morning with my family. Excited as all get up, pulling good gift after good gift out. Reaching close to the bottom, pull out – my first training bra! MOM! Ran into my room, mortified and unveiled the remaining, alone, without my two brothers and dad as peanut gallery.

  104. The worst Christmas gift I’ve ever gotten was a melted bag of dollar store gummy bears..or that’s what they looked like…oh kindergarten gift exchanges…

  105. It depends where it is and who’s looking! 🙂

  106. If it’s grassfed, I am definitely eating it even if it’s been on the ground. 😀 Other than that, I just tell myself it wasn’t meant to be hehe

  107. Worst Christmas present ever: I once got a sweater from a family member who smoked….I couldn’t wear it it smelled THAT bad. Also, my brother once got me a hat with ear flaps, but I don’t wear hats!

  108. 5 second rule for me depends – parents or Nana’s floor, good to go. My floor, debatable. Juicy or sticky things 5 second rule doesn’t apply. Cookie, candy or uncooked and washable expensive foods…good to go!

  109. This may not be the worst gift ui ever got but it was the most memorable! My aunt bought me a mini pottery wheel, which was made for kids probably about 10 years younger than me. We tried to use it but it was terrible and everyone teased her all weekend long. Her heart was in the right place and we all still laugh about it! Freakin pottery wheel!!

  110. The worst gift I ever got was a pair of socks from my MIL. They were knitted (not by her) and had actual teddy bear heads sewn on the ankles. The heads were big enough that my pants didn’t pull down over them 🙁

  111. The 5 second rule is totally legit in your own home and the homes of those you trust… outside or in public… not so much

  112. Hmmm, worst Christmas present? A copy of The China Study…

  113. Worst Christmas present? Although practical, I did not enjoy getting a tube of Chapstick from my aunt when I was about 12 years old.

  114. No way on the 5 second rule!

  115. I have a 20-30 second rule. Depends on the floor too.

  116. Worst Christmas present I’ve ever given: mini bags of coffee flavors -regifted!

  117. Yes to the 5 second rule if it falls on the ground outside or in my house. Anywhere else no but not like thats any better!

  118. Anyone who eats paleo should have an immune system thats up to par and able to fight off a few measly germs from your floor. I usually pick the food up and eat it if I get to it before the dogs do, especially if it is being cooked. Also, I have no problems serving other people food that fell on the floor either…bet that makes you want to have dinner at my house?

  119. The worst Christmas gift I’ve ever received was a high-five from my boyfriend in high school. Apart from that, on Christmas at the age of 23 my dad presented me with a giant box that was fairly heavy. Having just received a new laptop a few weeks earlier as a graduation present, I wasn’t expecting anything and so I got really excited when I saw the box… and when I opened it, there was a life-sized stuffed penguin inside…

  120. I follow the 5 second rule…and then some. But I do keep my floors (kind of) clean!

  121. Worst Xmas gift, which was also pretty clutch, was a bag full of quarters-hello meter money!

  122. For some reason my mother decided I liked the WB character Taz. Everything I got for Christmas that year, from shirts, to pot holders, to an alarm clock had Taz on it.

    I don’t like Taz.

  123. Worst gift I ever received: I loved it, but my mom didn’t. A kids bow and arrow. I wasn’t so accurate in the backyard and I think we lost a screen (or two).

  124. Do I eat food that’s fallen on the ground: Hell ya, but first I have to check it for dog hair, since dog hair is a condiment at my house.

  125. Worst Present EVER: I received a tampon case during a secret Santa event at work…Yes, a tampon case. The case reads “Vinnie’s Tampon Case – Holds a bunch”. There is also a picture of a man included on the front with both fists outstretched in front of him with “TAMP” on one set of knuckles and “CASE” on the other. It red, blue and yellow (to be discrete, of course), and has colored stars all over it. There are several very classy messages on the inside as well as a handy period calendar. Sadly, I am not making this up and can provide pictures to prove it.

  126. I think the most ridiculous gift I ever received was one of those giant candy canes that weigh 2 pounds. What was I supposed to do with that? Answer: it got pushed to the back of the cabinet until I found it a year later and threw it away… It was obviously meant as a joke, but I saw it as a waste of money. You could have gotten me 4 boxes of regular candy canes for the same price and trust me, those would have been eaten!

  127. Worst gift I ever received was a sandwich … Yep you heard right a sandwich from a VERY EX BOYFRIEND. Not even like a Subway, Quizno, or any of the chain sandwich places. Like two pieces of bread, mystery meat, cheese and a load of thoughtlessness ( makes for a tangy dressing) I understand that when your younger you don’t make a lot but seriously? I would of taken a foot rub over that any day :/

  128. Crappiest gift is one I get every year, I always get “chocolates” from a certain family member. These are not your average piece of candy, they are full of tasty hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup. I ask this every year to please not waste the money, as I will not eat them. i usually get a response like this, “it is christmas, indulge a little! it wont kill you, and besides you dont need to watch your figure” Or some other pathetic justification for wasting 30$ on something I am going to throw right in the trash.

    Of course all of my family members would say the worst gift that they ever got is some silly book about the paleo diet 🙂

  129. Worst Christmas gift, well I can’t remember getting a bad gift. But I do remember when I was young my father received a gift that was interesting, lol. It came all wrapped up. We put under the tree and waited till Christmas day to open it. It felt like it was a bag of gravel! We kept trying to figure out what in the world it was. We were sure it was going to be a horrible gift because we could not imagine what it was. Turns out it was a bag of pistachios! One of the best gifts ever!!! Never knew we even liked pistachios before then. That was a gift that kept giving. Every wonderful time I eat those delicious nuts I remember that bag of “gravel”.

  130. 5 second rule we for sure follow that in this house! Germs, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!

  131. I follow the 5 second rule 90% of the time. If we are out in public… definitely no. But at home or in the car… oh yeah. My kids are so young… we would waste ungodly amounts of food if we didn’t save it off the floor 🙂

  132. The worst gift I’ve received is probably a rice steamer… when I was in high school. Like I made my own food back then 🙂 My mom sure enjoyed the gift though.

  133. The worst chirstmas present i was ever given was from my grandma last year. She gave me halo risk. now im not saying this isnt a sweet gift. the part that made it so bad was that an hour before i opened it she didnt have a gift for me. this risk was suppose to be for my brother, who had recived halo risk from my mom the day before. SOOO since my brother already had Risk, and with only an IOU card for me i ended up with a last minute suppose to be your brother gift. how thoughtful is that.

    ( i love that game, my friends and i play it at University.)

  134. All depends on when/where it happens. Public place with people watching and all the dirtyness around I dont abide by the 5 second rule (unless it was something ridiculously amazing, like a Health-Bent paleo snack :). I’m pretty OCD about my home being clean, so if its there I could pretty much eat anything I drop, unless it was in the toilet thats a no go.

  135. I totally eat stuff I drop on the floor…as long as it’s my house and I can wash the dog hair off of it first.

    I’ve been pretty lucky with Christmas gifts, but when I was younger my Aunt insisted on sending me clothes every year. Let’s just say her taste was “unique” combined with the fact that she always sent a L or XL and well, I was a S.

    Just for the record, I LOVE your pizza salad and pizza stuffed SP recipes. Can you tell I miss pizza?

  136. Depends if the food is moist.

    Example: I made your Unrolled Cabbage Casserole last week. It was delicious, but if it fell on the floor I would not pick it up and eat it. Moist.

  137. The worst gift I have received is a heated massaging pad to put into a chair. It was really weird.

  138. Worst. Christmas present. Ever.

    My 5th grade teacher actually gave us all coal. Which means, not only was she a jerk, but the night before she sat up wrapping 25 pieces of coal in tissue paper AND tying ribbon around them. That’s a proud moment right there.

  139. The worst gift I ever received was a plunger. No Joke.

  140. I’m tall and lanky but looks are deceiving. This leads to a lot of clothing gifting accidents. Size small shirts for a not size small body is a common occurrance, to which I will generally try said shirt on and sing (a la Chris Farley), “Fat girl in a little shirrt!”

  141. My ex fiance bought me an iron for Christmas…I was totally devestated….I was a pretty, young, 20-something yr old woman and he bought me an IRON!!!!! I was convinced that he had some sort of “domestic slave” thing in mind 😉

  142. okay…and for the second giveaway…5 second rule…HELL YES!!!!! I have 2 kids…if I threw away every piece of food that fell on the floor they would go hungry!

  143. The worst gift I would say was clothes I didn’t like and would never wear. As for the 2nd one, yes I usually eat food according to the 5 second rule. It usually depends on what it is…..

  144. This is what I visualize . . .

    A bunch of germs hanging out together on the floor. A piece of food falls from the person standing above them and the germs all rush towards it. Suddenly one germ yells out, “Wait! We have to wait 5 seconds!”

  145. Liked (for a long time) and Followed!

    – There was lots of buildup for this gift from my first boyfriend. He dropped “hints” and seemed hardly able to wait to give it to me. On Christmas Day, with his face beaming… just as I suspected, I unwrapped a jewelry box… but opened it to find a… large, blue, heart-shaped, crystal.. paperweight/hand warmer???

    – Yes, 5 second rule is all good, unless there are obvious conditions for it not to be.