31 of the most bizarre holiday gifts employees have ever received from a coworker

Second-hand gifts

• A used Yankee candle

• Used plaid tennis shoe

• Old backpack full of old shoes

• Piece of cake that was already being eaten at the party

Mean gifts

• A bottle of axe and a card that said, "Take a shower."

• Lump of coal

DIY disasters

• Handmade quilted chicken

• Lampshade made out of egg cartons

• Music CD of a coworker

Living things

• Live fish

• Live lizard

Unfunny joke gifts

• Farting Santa

• White elephant, literally

• A pen holder that looks like a crime scene victim

• Oversized pencil (1 1/2 inches in diameter, 12 inches in length)

• A fake lottery ticket

Inappropriate gifts

• Jewelry

• Coconut bra

• A whip

Head-scratchers

• A book about using playing cards to predict the future

• Rain stick

• Shoe box with a ping pong ball inside

• Two left-handed gloves

• Meat injector

• A real stuffed duck

• A jar of gravy

Jacquelyn Smith contributed to an earlier version of this article.