Basic Good Manners - Gifts

Another quote from 'Basic Good Manners' - this topic is close to my heart: Gifts.

"Receive with grace and give with thought. If you are given a gift, accept it with grace, take a moment to look at it and admire it. If you give a gift, be thoughtful. A good idea is to give something you would like to receive yourself. Gifts do not have to be expensive, indeed the gift must not embarrass the recipient by its generosity. For Good Modern Manners the thought really does mean more than the cost."

That's one key thing about Italian Charm jewellery that everyone appreciates, because it doesn't have to cost the earth to create a really thoughtful gift. From a simple keyring with a couple of icon links for around a fiver, to charm watches with gemstone links from under 20 pounds, Italian Charms are versatile and great value.

So, what's your worst gift ever - either given or recieved? Here's mine:

Worst ever given: the sound-activated stuffed bunny rabbit that sang lullabies while it's nose glowed like a nightlight. I put it in the cot that bedtime and the baby, normally a placid little chap, took one look at it and proceeded to scream the place down, all the while the deranged rabbit' ice-cream van tune rising in volume with each scream. That darned rabbit cost me a week's grocery money. No added cost for therapy, though.

Worst ever received: It has to be the pewter peacock from my Mum. Like a lot of her generation, she seemed to my sister and I to have an abnormal obsession with ornaments in general, and we cringed each time she would hand over a suspiciously ornament-shaped package at Christmas or birthdays. This hideous thing went in the pile to the charity shop fist chance I got. Couple of years ago, Mum asked if I still had the solid silver peacock. What?! Solid silver?!