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

But if you're still undecided on what you should get your coworkers this year, perhaps knowing what not to give is a good place to start.

According to a new survey from CareerBuilder, conducted online by Harris Poll among 3,907 employees and 2,257 HR professionals, about a fifth (22%) of employees say they plan to buy holiday gifts for coworkers, and 22% plan to buy a gift for their boss.

As a general rule, it's the thought that counts when it comes to gift-giving, which means gifting something thoughtless doesn't leave a very good impression. You're better off avoiding gifts that are inappropriate, offensive, or that might leave your coworkers scratching their heads.

To help you avoid these gift-giving faux-pas, here are 34 gifts real employees have received from someone in the office during the holiday season, according to CareerBuilder, CooperKatz, and Business Insider survey respondents:

Thoughtless gifts

• A bunch of stationery from the stationery cupboard

• A broken ornament

• Expired canned food

• Too-small, company-branded apparel

• A pad of paper

• Saran wrap

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

• A jar of glitter

• Chicken earrings

Jacquelyn Smith contributed to an earlier version of this article.

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

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