(I mentioned in a previous post that we had gone to Cambridge Springs to buy an “ugly gift” we spotted there and that I’d show it to you after Christmas.)

Among the traditional holiday meals, gift opening and get-togethers, some years include something out of the ordinary. Something that is quite fun. The Ugliest Gift Contest. I found ours in Cambridge Springs when antique shopping. It was in a pile of junk at a junk/antique shop and I remarked to my husband, “If they have the ugliest gift contest this year, this would win it.” The next week it was announced among the extended family members that such a contest was taking place this year. Most of the gifts come from the “used” stores, Salvation Army or Mission so the money goes to a good cause. And believe me they wouldn’t have sold these items if there wasn’t an ugly contest! We headed back to to Cambridge Springs and brought home what I thought couldn’t be beat.

Our find.

There were about 15 that brought ugly gifts. We were upstaged by these.

This Cricket book is quite ugly. Just look at that ugly horse!

We dubbed her “Miss Kitty” after Gunsmoke. She looks like she has had a very hard night. Her makeup is smeared and her dress is torn. It looks like someone tried to iron her dress and used too hot an iron. We can’t figure out how her eyes got like that. She was purchased at a “Thrifty Shopper” type of store.

And then there was the winner of the contest. A large crocheted Christmas tree. The yarn is crocheted around some wire hoops. You lift it up and it unfolds into this Christmas tree completely decorated with yarn ornaments. Think of the amount of yarn it took to make this!! We wonder who made it and whether they thought it was pretty. We’ll never know. It was purchased at one of the used charity stores a few years ago.

There was an eyeless owl stuffed animal on a branch, a sock reindeer, a florescent orange animal of some sort and assorted other ugly gifts. We found out later that the ugly gift we brought is actually a collector’s item (it is missing his nut-nose.) Who knew? Anyway we all had fun and it got all of us laughing. Below is a little video clip laughing about the winners.

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