Mean Gifts to Give: An April Fool’s Gift Guide

In the spirit of the day of tom-foolery and practical jokes, you may be considering mean gifts to give to your frenemies. Whether it’s a co-worker, a spoiled cousin, or your friend’s insufferable boyfriend, we all have individuals with whom we just can’t see eye to eye. And, ironically, they’re usually the people we can’t seem to avoid. The situation may become even more frustrating or awkward when we have to offer them a gift!

Fortunately, we’re experts in all things gifts. And, yes, we even dabble in the kind of gifts to send to recipients you aren’t too fond of. So, if you’re bold enough, take a dive with us as we provide you with ‘shady’ gift suggestions, fun wrapping ideas, gifts for friends, and some plain old April Fool’s fun. And like good friends should, we also give you some tips on how to make sure there are no hard feelings when the jokes are all over.

Mean Gifts Don’t Have to be Mean : 

We think that it’s important to disclose that when we say ‘mean gifts to give,’ we don’t really mean…well..mean! Everyone has someone (or more than one person) in their lives that they feel they tolerate – that’s okay! And, when you have to present said person with a gift, you might as well have a little fun with it. So, mean gifts don’t have to be nasty or life-threatening (please no!). And that’s why we’re here to help you strike a balance between what could pass as a decent gift and also be totally passive-aggressive. All in the name of good fun! 

5 Mean Gifts to Give to People You “Don’t Like”: 

Maybe it’s a picky mother-in-law who rejects almost every gift (but doesn’t reject the tradition of gift-giving). Or, perhaps it’s one of your spouse’s co-workers who gives you ‘eh’ vibes, but you have to keep a polite face. As we’ve mentioned, we all have someone lurking in the background of our lives that we’d prefer not to. And, while exchanging pleasantries at the dinner table for an hour or two is enough not to give your true feelings away, exchanging gifts could be a bit trickier. 

Luckily, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to help you find the perfect ‘shady’ gift for the less-than-pleasant giftee in your life. And, although these gifts aren’t completely terrible, they’ll do just enough to rub them the wrong way: 

For the Unhygienic: Liquid Soap  

Do you have a co-worker who doesn’t wash their hands after they use the bathroom? Firstly, ew. Secondly, this shouldn’t even be a discussion considering recent world events. You can drop the hint by gifting them with liquid soap. If you want to be discrete about your shadiness, make it a fancy soap gift set instead! 

For the Late Comer: An Alarm Clock

Whether it’s a frenemy who can never show up to events on time or a colleague who causes delays and inconveniences with their bad time management—an alarm clock can serve as a subtle reminder (pun intended) that they need to quit their tardiness. 

For the BFF’s BF: Itchy Socks 

It’s awkward enough to have to find your best friend’s boyfriend a gift, even more so if you can’t stand the guy. But nothing subtly says, I don’t like you, never have, never will, like a pair of itchy socks. And, the uglier, the better! 

For the Narcissist: A Self-Help Book 

It’s true that it is often the person who thinks that they’re perfect who could benefit from a little self-improvement. If you’re thinking of mean gifts to give to the egocentric individual in your life, a self-help book will drive them beautifully mad. 

For the Spoiled: A Budget Gift 

Have to give a gift to someone who seemingly gets everything they want? See it as an opportunity to provide them with a rude awakening. Whatever you decide to buy, spend as little money on it as possible. And if it’s an item you know they have no interest in, that’s a bonus! 

Mean Ways to Wrap A Gift 

If you don’t have the heart to give them a mean gift, wrapping their gift in a slightly inconvenient way could be a more savory (but still savage) route to take! Here are a few of our mean gift-wrapping suggestions: 

The Old Misleading Oversized Gift Box 

This gift-wrapping style is probably the very inception of dad jokes. But, we have to admit, it never gets old! If you’re gifting them something small, placing it in an oversized gift box is the perfect way to add a little saltiness. 

Overdo the Wrapping 

You don’t really want to give them a gift, right? It’s most probably a courtesy. So, why not make the gift extremely difficult to open? Our suggestion is to go crazy with unnecessary layers of wrapping and heavy-duty duct tape. 

Don’t Conceal the Gift at All

Or, if providing gifts without wrapping or a gift bag goes completely against your moral code, at least make very little effort to conceal what the gift is. 

The Other Misleading Gift Box Prank 

You can wrap the gift normally. In fact, wrap it as beautifully as possible, but make the gift box radically different from what is actually inside. For example: placing a book inside a PS4 box—don’t do exactly this though, it’s borderline cruel! 

Not Just Mean Gifts: Our Top April Fool’s Prank Ideas

We all know how quickly April Fool’s jokes can get out of hand. But, we’ve gotten hold of some hilarious yet harmless tricks that are bound to make your friends, family members, and even your co-workers giggle. No matter who you have your eye on, these April Fool’s pranks are easy to pull off and are safe for everyone to try: 

A Whoopie Cushion 

Old but gold, the whoopie cushion prank has our hearts! Or, should we say, our farts? If you plan on placing this on the seat of a co-worker, it should preferably be one that you are close with. 

The Poop Prank 

We tried, but it’s really difficult to leave poop out of an April Fool’s prank list. This prank is as simple as buying fake poop and placing it literally anywhere! 

Googly Eyes 

Glue googly eyes on every single item in the fridge or items in your victim’s cupboard. 

Balloon Pillow: 

Before your significant other heads to bed, replace their pillow with a bunch of balloons. Make sure you position the balloons properly so that their pillow still looks like a pillow! 

Good Friends Make Amends

These ideas for April Fool’s gifts and pranks should only be used in the spirit of good fun! While you won’t find any prank gifts on our site, you will find plenty of goodies to surprise your friends when they least expect it. And let’s be honest, that’s way more fun than mean gifts. When you participate in April Fool’s pranks, you should always be ready to make amends. After all, even with the best intentions, sometimes a joke isn’t as funny to everyone as we hope it will be. For those moments, an apology gift can help your friends understand you really only meant the best.

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