One mother’s day I gave my mom fresh cow manure and a large rock.
A friend’s birthday: I went through IMDB and Wikipedia, picked out about 25 people with the same birthday as my friend, and wrote short summaries of their lives and accomplishments. Also in that birthday bag was a big spoon from Ikea (I have one that I use as a rice spoon when I make sushi rice; she uses hers to mix cookie dough) and a tiny plushy fox toy because she likes the character Basil Brush.
Hey, I’ve given away a life-sized concrete bust of Elvis, too! In fact, I’ve given away two of them. They make great gifts.
The guy at work who picked mine during the 2004 White Elephant exchange keeps Elvis on his desk. He likes to change his look around, depending on the season. Currently he’s wearing a lei and a pair of sunglasses. In a few weeks, he’ll switch to his Cincinnati Bengals paraphenalia.
Another year I wrapped up Elvis, addressed it to my neighbor’s wacky FIL who was always flirting with me, and secretly stowed it under the Christmas tree of my neighbor. Which was no easy feat given that he weighs about 50 pounds. Anywho, I wasn’t there when he opened it but he reportedly knew IMMEDIATELY that it was from me! A few weeks later, the neighbors and we went to dinner at a local restaurant and when I went to sit down, there was Elvis on my chair!